The current policy of Loyola University’s Theatre Arts
department is to allow no more than five instances of the f-word in any given
production. Other curse words are not limited, and other adult content and
situations unrelated to language are frequently allowed if called for in the script.
As members of the Theatre Department and the Loyola Community, we feel that
this policy of limiting use of the f-word is ineffectual and harmful to the
integrity of the department and its productions.

Foremost,
this censorship is a violation of copyright law. In purchasing the rights to
the scripts it produces, Loyola’s Department of Theatre Arts and Dance agrees
to perform those scripts exactly as written. In addition to being illegal, this
violation of copyright compromises the artistic and thematic intentions of the
playwright. That being said, the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance does not
produce plays that include gratuitous adult content. If a script being produced
includes such language and situations, the playwright has incorporated them
intentionally to best convey the themes of the production and remain as true to
life as possible. If a Loyola production includes adult content, the playwright
has called for it in order to best convey the true-life, social justice themes
of the play. In censoring the playwright’s language, not only is our department
violating copyright law, but it is also compromising the themes of its
productions.

In
addition to violating copyright law and playwright intent, the current policy
is patronizing to the adult students, faculty, and audience members involved.
If a production is inappropriate for children, the department specifies that
there is adult content on any advertisements or marketing materials. The
current policy allows for five uses of the f-word per production. Therefore the
audiences and all else involved have already been exposed to the word multiple
times, making the censorship of further use of the word nonsensical. To censor
the performance of a single word to an adult, collegiate audience is not just
unnecessary, but also patronizing to all involved.

In
summation, we feel that the current policy of censoring more than five uses of
the f-word to be not only in direct violation copyright law and playwright
intent, but also grossly unnecessary in an adult academic environment. If the
Department of Theatre Arts and Dance is to produce scripts that include
true-to-life, often adult themes, the current censorship policy must be
abolished to maintain the integrity of the department and its productions. 

We, the undersigned members of the Department of Theatre
Arts and Dance and the Loyola community, ask that the current policy of
censoring more than five uses of the f-word be abolished to protect playwright intent
and integrity of our department.