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Content Advisory for SFA's Mainstage Productions
Part of the mission of the School of Theatre is to provide meaningful cultural and entertainment experiences for the university and the people of East Texas. In doing so with our Mainstage productions, we most frequently turn to widely recognized writers of the past and present, and because they tell the stories of people in conflict—stories that are, in a word, dramatic—their words and works are usually challenging and controversial.
We never seek to offend, but we recognize that people of various sensibilities and sensitivities might choose to avoid some of the language, situations and behaviors that some of these plays use or depict.
For this reason, we offer the following as a source of information, and we resolve here to make a good-faith effort to let patrons, parents and teachers know about the material in our Mainstage productions we believe is most likely to be of concern.
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn draws its 19th century regional language as well as its first-person narrative directly from Mark Twain's classic novel of antebellum life along the Mississippi. While I believe that most parents will find this widely-read and well-loved story suitable for the entire family, audience members may want to be aware that in his satire of intolerance in American society Twain repeatedly uses the "n-word," which may be unacceptable to some people even when used in a context of a story such as this one, with an anti-racist theme. Also, some younger children may be frightened by the story's villains and its more intense moments of action and adventure, which include the wounding of young Tom Sawyer when he is shot in the leg.
In ranting against the "gov'ment," one of the characters uses the words "bastards," "sons of bitches" and "God-danged." A fantastical creature that is ludicrously depicted by con men in the story is described as having "one big breast in the middle of its chest." Finally, the phrase "Lord God" is used once as an exclamation of relief and the phrase "Jesus, Mary and Joseph" is invoked in seeking help in an emergency.
- Scott Shattuck