Madisonians love books. Try to ban their books, well then, they've got something to say about it.
As the pieces featured in Forward Theater's Out of the Fire: The Banned Books Monologues make clear, book censorship is still more widespread than one might think. Libraries receive hundreds of challenges to their collections each year. In 2014 alone, notable authors like Sherman Alexie, Isabel Allende and Alice Walker were all challenged, restricted or banned. Harry Potter and Toni Morrison's Beloved regularly come under attack. The material for Out of the Fire -- all written specifically for Forward's biennial monologue festival -- offer some surprising insights into the nature of censorship.
The opening piece, performed by Michael Herold and written by James DeVita, the veteran actor and director from American Players Theatre, takes on that most dangerous title of children's literature, Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss. DeVita satirically posits it as "an instruction guide on abusing fathers," skewering the author Colbert-style, from behind a news desk. In "The Shameshifter" by Doug Reed, Donavon Armbruster plays a shoplifter (a verbal play on shameshifter) who is embarrassed because he hasn't read Lolita and finds the book's premise titillating. Reed's hilarious monologue reaches beyond a simplified view of censorship to illuminate the real ideas and fears triggered by books.
One of the evenings most thought-provoking pieces is Laff With Two Fs by Kimberly Megna Yarnall. Jake Penner plays a grad student in an English lLit department who comes down in favor of banning books. At first, his rant is mostly comical, aimed at low-humor tales like Captain Underpants or insipid romance novels. But as the monologue continues, Penner reveals himself to be an ESL student, picked on as a child for being bookish and polite. To him, books like Captain Underpants undermine the needs of non-native speakers, misspelling words carelessly and instigating cool kids to pick on nerds. When her character makes a case for why books should be banned, Yarnall artfully convinces us of the power of words.
Sandra Dietrick's monologue, "Where We Are," -- beautifully acted and danced by young Freedom Gobel -- reminds the audience that, in the United States, we're still pretty well off compared to cultures and countries where the very notion of certain people, like women, reading a book -- any book -- is taboo.
All told, Out of the Fire: The Banned Book Monologues makes for a provocative, thoughtful night of theater. You'll want to run home to your library and hold your favorite books a little closer.
