So, what's on offer? A chorus line of dancing Mohammeds? Live depictions of the Danish cartoons? Biting satires of Sufism? Mockery of Islamic hypersensitivity? A drama denouncing the effect that Jihadism has on moderate Muslims? Sorry, not here. Instead we have such feats of bravery as:
- Petrol Jesus Nightmare
- Mary and The Stripper
- Jesus: The Guantanamo Years
None of this surprises me. My years in the theatre have long left me with the impression that artists tend to posture as people of great courage, yet when push comes to shove, 99.999 percent of them will go for the safe targets every time. Go to any fringe theatre production in Seattle on a Saturday night and you'll see all sorts of plays that push the envelope-- provided that said envelope expansion does not even approach goring any left-wing sacred cows or pissing off any minority group that doesn't regard turning the other cheek as an option. Attack Christians, Republicans and the family by all means, but do be careful not to upset anyone who is gay, vegan, feminist, Wiccan or a member of an officially sanctioned ethnic minority. And definitely not Muslims.
When someone does a fringe play guaranteed to make the audience's blood boil by, for example, doing a treatment of a homosexual character that concludes that his sufferings are due to his sexual appetites rather than society's reaction to them, and then I'll say that someone is doing some envelope pushing.
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