You know ... I love free Broadway tickets as much as the next girl. Free stuff is good. Actually, free stuff is GREAT, especially for Broadway shows that cost way the heck too much. However, I just couldn't make myself take advantage of the offer that came pinging into my Outlook mailbox this afternoon for:
Tickets to Equus for tomorrow night, starring Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe.
Now, I like theater. I love me some o'the Brits. I love their accents. They could sit and read the phone book and I would be perfectly happy to hand them my money to do so. I have thoroughly enjoyed both of these actors in their various roles on film and the telly. That being writ, I couldn't bring myself to go to the show because of a) the very mature, disturbing, and adult subject matter and b) because I would have to see the young boy wizard get naked. For me, it would be creepy on so many different levels--mostly because I'm old enough to have been his teen-aged mother!
Call me a prude. (Ummm, Okay. You are a PRUDE.) I'm not sure I'm up to seeing people get butt-naked on stage. My last Broadway play experience, Shakespeare's Cymbeline of all things, had gratuitous nudity in it as well. It was so unexpectedly jarring that it took me completely out of the rythym of the play. Since it happened in the first act I had to sit there wondering if I'd have to see other people get naked at another point. I've still not recovered from the experience, (though it was mostly due to Phylicia Rashad's horrific accent and acting). A little warning would have been nice. I could have chosen not to attend or to look away.
Sadly, I'm used to the use of foul language in everyday use and on stage. (I'm a guilty party here too). I'm also regrettably getting used to suggestive situations and content creeping into my many forms of entertainment. Unfortunately, I am not used to the gratuitous nudity that is starting to crop up everywhere, even on the stages of the highest of the high-brow, the opera. Even The New York Times has noticed (see article here).
There should be a quick way to know about a staged show's "adult" content, aside from first-hand experiences, word-of-mouth, reviews, and other publicity. Some productions have a clue in the title, i.e. Naked Boys Singing, but other shows seem innocuous, i.e. Avenue Q. If all you see is the poster with the cute puppets, would you know that this musical addresses issues like sex, drinking, and surfing the web for porn? Avenue Q's website is very good about being upfront about what ages the show is appropriate for, but not every one will take the time to do the research.
For all that the systems are criticized, the television and film industry has a well-established rating mechanism. Is it time for stage productions to have one too?
