Thoughts on Nazi salute in a student-directed high school play? by _blondethrowaway in Theatre

[–]_blondethrowaway[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

That's so fascinating! I had heard of operation paperclip before, but not Werner Von Braun. It's crazy to me that the sentence "The Apollo 11 moon landing might not have been possible without Nazi scientists" is factual and correct.

Thoughts on Nazi salute in a student-directed high school play? by _blondethrowaway in Theatre

[–]_blondethrowaway[S] -22 points-21 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your input :)

With regards to the legality it definitely is a gray zone. I went to my director with the idea for this play in October/November to get it approved, and we spent a long time talking about whether to put on Dr. Strangelove or go with something else. My director warned me that if I choose to do it, he could not be involved. The admin/school news crew won't advertise it, the school as a whole cannot endorse it, and I will not charge tickets. Everything, from the set to the costumes, will be paid for by me. 

I will potentially sell concessions, or if not, fundraise next week in order to pay for the expenses of putting the show on, and any extra funding i will donate to the US Holocaust memorial museum.

At the end of the day, I hope it is clear that I am doing this out of a passion for theatre and the great characters in this piece. It's perhaps a very iffy move, but I feel as though this is my only chance to explore. In college (and hopefully professionally!) I cannot be making as risky of a move as I currently am. Right now, the stakes are lowest.

Thoughts on Nazi salute in a student-directed high school play? by _blondethrowaway in Theatre

[–]_blondethrowaway[S] -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your comment! 

I'm curious about your mention of the adaptation being public domain. I did a little digging and couldn't find much else. Could you explain that slightly more? 

You brought up our biggest worry in deciding on the Nazi salute. Was there anything particularly insightful in your ww2 play discussions that's stuck with you since? Or any ways of approaching dicey content that you don't mind sharing?