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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.
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Brighton Beach Memoirs is a family coming-of-age comedy/drama about Eugene Jerome, a 15-year-old boy who is just coming to terms with girls, his family, and dreams of becoming a famous writer or playing for the New York Yankees. The play takes place in Brooklyn in 1937 and concerns a Jewish family trying to make ends meet in the shadow of the Great Depression under the looming threat of World War II. The family consists of Eugene's hard working father, his sharp tongued mother, his older and more experienced brother Stanley, his widowed aunt and her two young daughters—one of whom Eugene is in love with and secretly lusts after. The play deftly mixes drama with comedy as it examines a few days in the life of a struggling Jewish household.
LANGUAGE: Although Brighton Beach Memoirs is a "family story" with strong family values and a clear sense of ethical and moral responsibility, the play does contain language potentially offensive to some audience members. Eugene repeatedly uses the word "sh**" which in the play is always admonished as an undesirable and "low brow' expression. Other words and phrases such as: "damn," "hell," "bastard" and "I swear to God" are used minimally. To illustrate Eugene's typical adolescent preoccupation with sex, he twice uses the phrase "Golden Palace of the Himalayas" to describe a part of the female anatomy. Eugene's older brother, Stan, makes the following comparison to help "educate" Eugene to the mysteries of the opposite sex: "Her breasts were gorgeous. Like two peaches hanging on the vine waiting to be plucked...Maybe nectarines. Like two nectarines, all soft and pink and shining in the morning sun..." All such language is used exclusively for comedic-effect.
SMOKING AND DRINKING: No drinking. In one scene Stanley smokes a cigarette.
SEX: Many of the play's most comical moments deal with Eugene's awkward obsession with discovering girls. Eugene looks to his older brother, Stan, as a source of information for his hormonally-driven curiosity in all matters sexual. Stan serves as Eugene's reluctant teacher, which leads to conversations about masturbation, prostitutes, and pornography. Their conversations are in the typical vernacular of teen-aged boys.
VIOLENCE: None
FOR WHICH AUDIENCE: Brighton Beach Memoirs is suitable for most general audiences. Some audience members might be put off by discussion of sexual situations. This play is well-known and enjoyed by many high school students, but they should attend only at a parent's discretion.
- Kyle Kennedy