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Featured Case EDIT PAGE Artist: John Cariani, theater students Year: 2014 Date of Action: October 14, 2014 Region: North America Location: Maiden Highschool, NC Subject: Sexual/Gender Orientation Medium: Theatre Confronting Bodies: School principal, Rob Bliss Description of Artwork: Almost, Maine is a play, comprising nine short plays that explore love and loss in a remote, mythical almost-town called Almost, Maine. The Incident: Local churches and parents of students were complaining that the scene 'They Fell' is containing explicit sexuality between two men which fell in love with each other, although the scene is not containing any swearing or physical contact. After that, Rob Bliss the School principal cancelled the play with the cause, that it has sexually-explicit overtones and multiple sexual innuendos that are not aligned with our mission and educational objectives. Results of Incident: Playwright John Cariani tried to contact the school to find a solution, but he didn't heard back. Rob Bliss statement: 'As principal of Maiden High School, I have an obligation to ensure that all material, including drama performances, are appropriate and educationally sound for students of all ages. 'Our faculty and staff are still in review of potential performances to be conducted by our students this fall. At this time no final decision has been made regarding whether and what drama performances are to be presented this fall.' Source: • http://www.playbill.com/news/article/high-school-cancels-student-production-of-almost-maine-john-cariani-responds-333621 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2799828/north-carolina-high-school-bans-student-play-sexually-explicit-gay-scene.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almost,_Maine http://ncac.org/incident/why-the-curtain-almost-went-up-on-almost-maine/ What is Censorpedia? Censorpedia is a crowdsourced online database of censorship cases within the arts and in culture. It is aimed at those researching censorship, at activists working for freedom of expression and at artists and other cultural producers whose expression has been subject to censorship or attempted censorship. Censorpedia documents censorship incidents by providing the who, what, when, where and why. By providing a repository of information about what is vulnerable to censorship and about the strategies and tactics that have defeated previous’ censorship attempts, Censorpedia aids the fight for free expression. Researchers can search for a specific case, year or keyword using the search box, as well as browse by medium, by grounds for censorship, or explore a random case. Activists can search for ongoing cases or contribute a case that is ongoing or recently resolved. Artists and cultural producers are similarly invited to add cases they are directly involved with or are familiar with first hand. Censorpedia builds on the landmark 1994 art project The File Room, initiated by Muntadas. For more information about censorship visit our Annotated Bibliography Feel free to: add a case Browse censorship cases by: medium grounds for censorship region all cases ongoing cases random case Censorpedia Terms of Use