Wilton, Conn. – She could not look at her principal. His words infuriated her.
There would be no play about the war in Iraq, he told the drama class at Wilton High School: The topic was too controversial, too complicated.
Erin Clancy squeezed another drama student’s hand and tried to hold back tears. They had been preparing “Voices in Conflict” for two months.
Bonnie Dickinson, 53, a 13- year drama teacher, wanted the class to perform something with substance.
She began collecting sources in which soldiers talked about their experiences.
The goal, she told the class, was to offer different viewpoints, piecing together vignettes from real people.
Outraged by the censorship, theater directors contacted Dickinson. Two New York venues wanted “Voices in Conflict” off-Broadway in June.
With the help of a First Amendment attorney, the students got to New York City.
“This is high school with kids who could, at any minute, enlist,” Dickinson said. “Can’t they learn about (the war), for God’s sake?”
The final show in New York’s Public Theater drew a standing ovation. Audience members wiped away tears.
