Angels in America (play)
Date: 1995
Region: North America
Subject: Sexual/Gender Orientation, Nudity, Religion
Medium: Performance Art, Theater
Artist: Kushner, Tony
Confronting Bodies:Religious Fundamentalists
Dates of Action: 1995
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina and other places world wide.
Description of Artwork: This play depicts scenes from American life and has several gay characters in it--one of whom is also a black nurse. It contains subject matter pertaining to HIV.
The Incident: The New York based touring company doing this Pulitzer Prize winning play was engaged by a Charlotte theatre group to perform this play. The touring company arrived and was ready to perform the play which had previously been advertised in an area covering three states. Religious fundamentalists protested this and got Senator Jesse Helms involved to pressure the Auditorium to cancel the play . Some of the protesters were members of the American Family Association, Bob Jones University and One Million Moms (and Dads) which is part of the American Family Association.
Results of Incident: Despite the efforts of Pentecostal preachers, outraged demonstrators, callers on radio talk shows, the Mecklenburg County District Attorney and the board of the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, the show went on. Less than three hours before the opening, a judge issued a court order to protect the cast and directed local officials not to carry through with threats of arrest.
Source: The Charlotte Observer Newspaper; Charlotte, N.C. The Greenville News Greenville, SC The Associated Press
Date: 2011
Region: North America
Subject: Sexual/Gender Orientation, Nudity, Religion
Medium: Performance Art, Theater
Confronting Bodies:Fremont School Board
Dates of Action: March 2011
Location: Fremont, California
The Incident: English teacher Teri Hu requested that the play be used in her school as secondary material for her Advanced Placement class. In spite of receiving a unanimous recommendation by the Textbook Advisory Committee, the school board rejected the work due to concerns of "divisiveness" and potential offense to "people of faith."
Results of Incident: In spite of a letter from NCAC, the play remained rejected.
