This weekend, the curtain goes up on "Cannibal! The Musical."

The silly, comic-booklike romp about cannibal Alferd Packer was written by "South Park" creator Trey Parker and based on Parker's 1994 R-rated film of the same name.

But there's nothing silly about what it took to produce the play.

Student-run Declare Productions will stage "Cannibal!" Friday and Saturday at the Downtown area's Zuzi Theater, but it was originally scheduled to be Ironwood Ridge High School's season-closer. That was before school administrators decided that it was too violent, the language too graphic and the innuendos too much.

Students say that's censorship. Administrators say that's being responsible.

Ironwood sophomore Zach Singer loves the movie and wanted to direct the stage version. Just before this school year started, he made a presentation to his drama teacher, Joe Borunda, explaining that he'd edit the material to make it appropriate for high school.

"He was impressed and said yes," recalled Singer, a still-growing, gangly 16-year-old with dark, curly hair.

The school paid the $250 royalty fee, Singer said, and he cast the show, with 19 students signing up for parts. Then the cutting began.

It was about this time that Principal Sam McClung got wind of the project.

"The first I really knew about the play," McClung said, "some of Zach's classmates objected to the content of the play and what they were being asked to do." Students in the advanced-drama class have the right to opt out of the experience without losing credit, but McClung still thought administrators needed to step in . His assistant principal, Mike Brown, began to review the script.

"There wasn't an intent to shut down the play," said McClung. "There was more of an intent of 'how do we address this concern?' "

Singer edited the script again. He and Borunda would eventually tone down the language three times.

But Ironwood Ridge administrators were still on edge, following a production earlier in the school year of Herb Gardner's "A Thousand Clowns." A few parents had objected to that play's language.

In the wake of "Clowns," McClung said, the administration makes the final decision on what the drama department stages.

Late last year, Singer began a presentation to the administration's decision team - teachers, parents, students and administrators - with a short history of Alferd Packer, a legendary figure in Colorado who murdered, then ate fellow prospectors. Then edited scenes from the play were performed.

The committee found a song Packer sings to his horse, "When I Was on Top of You," offensive. They also were bothered by the violence, though Singer staged violent scenes behind a silhouette screen.

"At the end we met, and out of the whole committee, only one person thought it appropriate," said Brown, the assistant principal. "Everyone else thought it was inappropriate."

The day the students returned from winter break, Singer was notified that the show was canceled.

"I was shocked," he said. Principal McClung "told me that the community was not ready for a play like this," said Singer. "He's my principal. I respect him. I said 'OK.' "

Still, Singer said, this was a clear example of censorship .

"They objected to the profanity, and they thought it was gory, though we explained it wasn't going to be," said Singer. "They said it still wouldn't be appropriate because of the innuendos. I do feel this is a form of censorship."

McClung said he was fulfilling his responsibilities.

"I had parents and students saying, 'We don't feel comfortable with this,' " he said.

Brown explained that there's a difference between censorship and telling students, "You can't do certain things." In Brown's eyes, the plain fact is this: "Cannibal!" is "inappropriate to our school and our community."

The school administrators did the right thing, said Todd Jaeger, associate superintendent and legal counsel at Amphitheater School District, Ironwood's district. He points out that K-12 students don't have the same rights as adults.

"The courts have ruled that students have more limited rights than they do in other settings," Jaeger said. "Our job is to reflect and fulfill a local mission of public education, and that often will be driven by local community standards."

Art Almquist, the drama teacher at Tucson High Magnet School, heads off such trouble at the beginning of every school year. The parents of all students taking Almquist's upper-division drama class must sign a form saying they understand that some plays may contain mature themes and questionable language.

"If it's not signed, the student can't attend the class," Almquist said.

"Shielding our students from the world does them no favors," he said. "In theater, sometimes you have to offend people. You have to believe in what you're doing, and not everybody will like what you do."

Over at Ironwood, "The Crucible" - Arthur Miller's play about censorship and the McCarthy era - went into "Cannibal's" slot. The classic play deals with the burning of witches, has an intense seduction scene, and at the end, the stage lights are up as the just-executed main character swings from a rope.

The move perplexed Singer, who felt the Miller play could also be deemed inappropriate for a high school audience. Students may have seen hypocrisy in the situation, McClung said, but he pointed out that "The Crucible" is accepted high school fare.

Singer didn't let McClung's "no" be the last word. "I figured I had two options," he said. "Keep fighting the school or put the show on by myself."

A classmate, Royce Sparks, 16, talked to his mother, Oksana Sparks, about Singer's dilemma. Tucsonan Oksana Sparks owns Matlou Ranch in Botswana, where she spends much of her time.

Oksana Sparks plopped down $5,000, telling the students to "use it wisely." She asked them to give all proceeds to Botswana's orphaned children with HIV/AIDS through the Matlou Ranch Foundation. The students didn't hesitate.

Kevin Johnson, founder of Arizona Onstage Productions and a teacher at BASIS School, stepped in as a mentor. A theater was found, lost cast members were replaced and the show went into rehearsal.

When the curtain goes up this weekend, Jason McHugh, the producer of the original movie, will be in the audience. "South Park's" Parker and Matt Stone - who can't attend - have bought a block of tickets, with two intended for the Ironwood principal.

Singer said the first three performances will be the edited version, while the 10 p.m. Saturday show will use the original Trey Parker script.

[ source: DAILYSTAR ]