Letters and Comments for June 18, 2009

Letters and Comments for June 18, 2009

Used play to build character

To the Editor:

I have been thinking about the Picasso play and I feel I need to say something.

My daughter is a student in Seattle and “Picasso at Lapine Agile’’ was playing in Seattle the week after it played here. I was going up for a visit so I thought we should go see it. I wanted to see what she thought and I wanted to see what it was like in another venue, one not intended for high school student, but for adults.

I saw the play here and was very impressed. I did not see that there was a problem with it. The sex and drinking

were secondary to the issue of being true to yourself.

I saw the play in Seattle with my daughter and two of her girlfriends. She goes to Seattle University, a Jesuit College that supports spiritual thinking and growing. Her friends reflect that environment.

The play was very different. It might have been the same script but the difference was profound. All of the girls felt it would not have been appropriate for the high school — too much sex and too much drinking. I agreed. It was surprising how different it was. 

So, I think that the people who read the play and were against the play probably had sound reasons. The problem, however, is that we did not trust Mr. Cahill and Mr. Potter to have the students’ best interest in mind in the production of the play.

I am sorry that the naysayers did not see the play. It was good and the students were fabulous. In speaking out against the play we stopped the process of learning by not asking what the education intent was, but assumed that there was none.

We cannot really understand the educator’s plans if we come to them as an adversary. Mr. Cahill used that play to build character. The play could go either way, but he directed it. He was the director and we should have trusted him. 

Linda Carter

La Grande