inappropriate subjects in year 5/6 play

[earlycomputers]

Not sure whether to complain to the school but I have just seen an end of term play put on by the year 5's & 6's and there were scenes where the children were acting out being drunk with pretend glasses of wine, lewd conduct between a man/female scene (the woman who was married wanted to sleep with another man she found attractive and was making advances to him), and then there were scenes of stereotyping various nationalities in an exaggerated way - ie French wearing strings of garlic round their neck).
I know it's just a play and is hardly crime of the century, but it rankles with me that schools should be presenting a better moral example to such a young age group. I guess it's no different to acting out scenes of other drug taking or stereotyping races based on physical characteristics. I cant think of any benefit to encouraging young kids to act out such things and it wouldn't lessen the entertainment value of the play to leave them out.
And yes, play acting getting drunk wont necessarily lead to them becoming alcoholics, but I still think its better not to include such scenes.
Would you complain if you were me?

[ShellyF]

No

[ShellyF]

Was it a version of a known play or a made up for end of term one?

[earlycomputers]

It makes no odds whether it was a known play or not surely?

[rabbitstew]

Well, it depends on whether it was a play the year 5s and 6s wrote themselves, in which case it might be a case of over excitement on their part and seeing what they could get away with, or whether it was a play written by one of the teachers (a bit odd in terms of subject matter), or whether it was a famous play of artistic merit which you have misinterpreted.

[earlycomputers]

It was produced by the teachers, not the kids. I think it was an adaptation of a well known play

[inthename]

just about everything you've mentioned comes into the schools version of 'Joseph' - is that what you wemt to see? It seems a bit extreme to complain if it was clearly in the context of the play and they surelu watch dramas on tv which have different themes.

[jeee]

What's the play called?

[somedizzywhore1804]

What was it- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

No I wouldn't complain. I'm sure no ones been scarred for life by their taking part in a slightly weird play. When I was in year 4 we did a play about Boudicca with beheadings and raping and pillaging. Looking back, a bit weird, but we didn't bat an eyelid.

[earlycomputers]

Yes but how is this different from films on tv which are PG, 12 or higher rated for their references to sex or drugs? The film could be an animation or cartoon - but still have inappropriate scenes. And this is absolutely fine if there's a warning/rating system in place which every film has. It's like saying to your child there's a load of people getting drunk on TV but it's ok because it's part of the film story. If this were the case there would be no need to rate films!

[fledermaus]

The "lewd conduct" bit is the only bit that would concern me really, but it depends how it was presented/what the advances were. Are they very clearly talking about casual sex?

[jeee]

But what was the play? I mean, was it an updated version of 'The Romans in Britain', or as inthename suggests, Joseph?

[TheFirstOfHerName]

When DS1 was in Y5, he did a play about the Aztecs. The children's favourite scene was one involving graphic beheading and ritual sacrifice.

I also thought of 'Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat' when I read the OP.

[KateBeckett]

Was it Shakespearian? It sounds Shakespearian!

[TheFirstOfHerName]

DD and DS3 did their Y5 play on the Tudors, and DS2 did Midsummer Night's Dream. Both quite difficult to do as a U production, but they did manage to keep it within the bounds of PG.

[inthename]

Plays don't have a rating system, schoolss know which ones they can rely on. I'm intrigued which play it was (as previously memtioned potiphers wife jumps all over joseph in the schools version and the brothers dress up as french, and comboys and fall all over the place)
Judging by the popularity of series like 'Horrible Histories' and the associated stage plays children this age have no difficulty discerning between a theatrical production and reality.

[inthename]

excuae the typos!

[ShellyF]

Pardon me for asking.

[rabbitstew]

Yes, I really want to know what the play was, now!!!

[KingscoteStaff]

It's The Tempest, isn't it?

Our Year 3s enjoyed doing the Stephano and Trinculo drunken scene!

[KingscoteStaff]

Oh no, it's Joseph, isn't it? The sexual come on was Potiphar's Wife?

As for the racial stereopyping, Lord Lloyd Webber wrote 'Those Canaan Days' as a pastiche of a French Cafe Chanson, and the West End version staged it with berets and onions and red and white checked tablecloths.

What can you expect from the Bible, eh? Filth all the way.

[EvilTwins]

My yr 3 daughters did The Tempest with their drama group recently - they found the drunken scene hilarious.

I also watched some 11-14 yr olds do a play which featured beastiality, drug taking, arranged marriage, death threats to the daughter who refused the arranged marriage, oh, and fairies.

[KingscoteStaff]

How disgusting, Evil Twins. I bet there was a horrendous custody battle over a minority ethnic boy as well. Ban it, I say.

[EvilTwins]

Kingscote - you're right! All most distasteful. Also quite a lot of jokes about unmentionable parts of the human body.

[Hulababy]

At primary school DD was involved in various plays including Joseph, Oliver, Macbeth, etc.

All much more PG than U in content.

But even PG have some references to alcohol, sex and even some language you'd rather primary school children didn't say