Stockwell Day on Culture

[Ron Chambers]

Hi all,

In the fall of 1996, there was a reading of the beginnings of my play
Respectable at the Banff Centre.  About three weeks later, I received a
cc of a letter that two audience members sent to several Alberta MLAs.
The letter protested the language and content of the play and went on
suggest that I should be fired from my job at the University of
Lethbridge.  One of the recepients of that letter was, of course,
Stockwell Day.  I fired off a letter in my defence and about two weeks
later received a handwritten note from Day himself.  (He was the only
MLA that responded, we must give him credit for that I suppose.)  I
think the contents of that note outlines quite clearly Day's position on
culture and the arts:


               Dec 20, 1996

               Ron,

               Thanks for taking time to write.  Frankly,
               there are similarities between your
               occupation and mine.  That is, we both
               face harsh (and sometimes inaccurate)
               critics.  If you or I can't take the heat
               maybe we should get out of the kitchen.
               Freedom of speech cuts both ways.

               My ongoing concern is the public funding
               issue.  The critics' reports which you
               attached indicated some tiny audiences.
               Should taxpayers support what the market
               won't?  (And I include professional sports
               in this question.)

               Another thing makes me scratch my head.
               Why does the Edmonton Fringe festival, a
               supposed "freedom of expression" venue,
               refuse entry to overtly Christian drama
               groups?  Go figure.

               Stockwell Day

You might be interested in knowing that Respectable, the play that
prompted all this, will be premiering at Alberta Theatre Project's
panCanadian playrites festival in February, and will be produced again
in March at Workshop West Theatre in Edmonton.

Ron Chambers




--
You think therefore I am.
http://home.uleth.ca/~ron.chambers/Ronhome.htm

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://artsservices.uwaterloo.ca/pipermail/candrama/attachments/20001030/e1d624ef/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: vcard.vcf
Type: text/x-vcard
Size: 424 bytes
Desc: Card for Ron Chambers
URL: <http://artsservices.uwaterloo.ca/pipermail/candrama/attachments/20001030/e1d624ef/attachment.vcf>