Bill would OK smoking by theater actors

By: Walker

15 Comments

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  shroud March 9, 2007 6:45 am

  Legally bound to have actors with lit cigarettes actually smoking on stage? Really?

  That brings “suffering for your art” to a whole new level.

  Does that mean they use real alcohol in scenes where folks are drinking?
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  twistofreality March 9, 2007 8:18 am

  I wonder if there are exemptions for high schools that want to put on plays with smoking in them, or if they have to avoid those kinds of plays altogether. For that matter, I kind of wonder if this so-called legal binding to smoke in plays where prompted to do so is really real.
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  Walker March 9, 2007 8:46 am

  Yeah, sounds a little fishy to me. Maybe we have some theater actors/producers on the board who can fill us in on this one?

  I guess I can understand obtaining the rights and reproducing copyrighted work for profit would entail not taking much artistic license with the content, but yeah, I’d think things could be at least a little flexible for things like this.

  As for High School plays, they typically don’t do the works for profit do they? I’d think educational institutions may be expempt from copyright rules when work is used for non-profit educational purposes.
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  shroud March 9, 2007 9:40 am

  I don’t know the full details of how it works, but schools do generally need to get the rights to put on a particular show, and those that don’t open themselves up to trouble — for example, there was the recent story about Disney shutting down a student (LBGT!) version of Sister Act…
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  turbo ninja March 9, 2007 11:44 am

  Meanwhile, set design and wardrobe are left to interpretation of stage direction.

  I’m imagining some playwright getting hoppin’ mad because his tragic hero can’t smoke (“It’s a symbol of his hopeless struggle against bourgeois expectations in America during McCarthyism!!! The second act is meaningless without the smoking!!!”) but brushing off the director’s idea to set the play in ancient Rome.

  The Schiller Park Shakespeare plays are infamous for this – it seems like EVERY SUMMER has a play set in, or costumed for, the Civil War. Maybe the legal obligations are different for Ancient Plays?
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  WorkingMusician March 9, 2007 12:33 pm

  twistofreality wrote I wonder if there are exemptions for high schools that want to put on plays with smoking in them, or if they have to avoid those kinds of plays altogether. For that matter, I kind of wonder if this so-called legal binding to smoke in plays where prompted to do so is really real.

  I played in the pit for a local high school production several years ago where smoking was called for in the script and the one of the students did smoke.

  No controversy concerning it either.
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  twistofreality March 9, 2007 8:21 pm

  Walker wrote As for High School plays, they typically don’t do the works for profit do they? I’d think educational institutions may be expempt from copyright rules when work is used for non-profit educational purposes.

  I don’t think that copyright in itself is flexible, even if the work being (re)produced is not for profit. The last high school play I went to, for instance, didn’t allow video cameras in the audience because the play was copyrighted.

  I just I just find it odd that leaving out the actual act of smoking could be considered an issue. What if smoking were simulated through gesticulation? All I really meant by bringing up high school plays was that I can’t imagine a high school being prohibited from performing a play because the players were underage and couldn’t smoke. Maybe I’m wrong, though, given what WorkingMusician shared (though I’m surprised that they allowed the student to smoke in the production).
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  WorkingMusician March 10, 2007 12:45 am

  twistofreality wrote
  

  Walker wrote As for High School plays, they typically don’t do the works for profit do they? I’d think educational institutions may be expempt from copyright rules when work is used for non-profit educational purposes.

  I don’t think that copyright in itself is flexible, even if the work being (re)produced is not for profit. The last high school play I went to, for instance, didn’t allow video cameras in the audience because the play was copyrighted.

  I just I just find it odd that leaving out the actual act of smoking could be considered an issue. What if smoking were simulated through gesticulation? All I really meant by bringing up high school plays was that I can’t imagine a high school being prohibited from performing a play because the players were underage and couldn’t smoke. Maybe I’m wrong, though, given what WorkingMusician shared (though I’m surprised that they allowed the student to smoke in the production).

  I believe he was of legal age. No one complained about it in the least.

  The play had a run of two or three shows. The scene stayed after opening night. This wasn’t so long ago, but before the media made “second hand” smoking the neo-black plague and the sheeple followed the lemmings over the cliff.

  Also he put the lit cigarette in his mouth when he was caught smoking in the play(it was part of the script). Still can’t figure out how he did that exactly.

  This guy might make lots of bucks now sharing this secret.

  We can smoke in the bars and when the nanny number is called and the pencil pushing gestapo shows up…… just do the same thing.

  “You smell smoke?” “It’s just your imagination” ” “Go see a shrink for your olfactory hallucinations”. Not even Altoids boxes would be needed anymore.

  LOL

  I think a road trip to Colorado is in order soon, if you’ve been keeping up with the crowd with some…err….backbone :wink: ….. concerning these draconian laws.

  Speaking of road trips….there has been some talk in states that have car smoking bans (look what we have to look forward to in Ohiya rolling out the red carpet for these things that follow like clockwork after bar smoking bans are implemented…….) of some tricks to entice cops to stop cars and waste their time on this added on law. Some have said they’ll buy a baby seat, put a doll in it and openly smoke in the car….

  Too funny. Gotta love these folks.

  I do enjoy some of Thoreau’s writings, too BTW :twisted:
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  Guest March 10, 2007 1:24 am

  I would have thought an exception in this instance would already be in place. It’s hard to believe that one, or a couple, actors smoking on stage in an artistic performance is going to have an impact on people’s health, which I felt was at the heart of the smoking ban. Artistic endeavours already have exceptions to certain laws and this seems to be on the mild side.
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  twistofreality March 10, 2007 7:16 am

  WorkingMusician wrote I think a road trip to Colorado is in order soon, if you’ve been keeping up with the crowd with some…err….backbone :wink: ….. concerning these draconian laws.

  Speaking of road trips….there has been some talk in states that have car smoking bans (look what we have to look forward to in Ohiya rolling out the red carpet for these things that follow like clockwork after bar smoking bans are implemented…….) of some tricks to entice cops to stop cars and waste their time on this added on law. Some have said they’ll buy a baby seat, put a doll in it and openly smoke in the car….

  What’s happening in Colorado, and which states have car smoking bans? I haven’t heard of either.
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  WorkingMusician March 10, 2007 6:56 pm

  twistofreality wrote
  

  WorkingMusician wrote I think a road trip to Colorado is in order soon, if you’ve been keeping up with the crowd with some…err….backbone :wink: ….. concerning these draconian laws.

  Speaking of road trips….there has been some talk in states that have car smoking bans (look what we have to look forward to in Ohiya rolling out the red carpet for these things that follow like clockwork after bar smoking bans are implemented…….) of some tricks to entice cops to stop cars and waste their time on this added on law. Some have said they’ll buy a baby seat, put a doll in it and openly smoke in the car….

  What’s happening in Colorado, and which states have car smoking bans? I haven’t heard of either.

  Colorado:

  http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=19674&template=article.html

  Car ban news:

  http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/109545.asp

  http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2006/12/post_8.html

  http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/070112smokinglaw.html

  Might be more than this for all I know as I did just a quick google.

  Starting to feel a little “Iron Curtain” in the good ole US of A, don’t cha think?

  A repeal or partial repeal of Issue 5 is necessary to stop these kinds of things from coming to Ohio. it’s generally the “next step” after all inclusive bans are approved of.

  I addressed these things with some SmokeFREE Ohio folks on forums before the election…and guess what I got?…….SILENCE.

  They wouldn’t even TOUCH the topic…..even with all the evidence out there that these things happen and are next agendas (note “hidden” agendas) once a smoking ban is passed. Google Belmont County CA if you really want to read some dirt….

  Or read this:

  http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-11-27-smoking-bans_x.htm

  John Banhaf of ash.org is nothing but an ambulance chaser.

  But “no one” seems to listen to me. :evil:

  That’s ok. I’ll still say it and as many times as need be.

  The preferred convenience of not smelling others’ smoke has many deep layers.
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  twistofreality March 11, 2007 6:53 pm

  Hm… I have to admit that, even as a smoker, I find smoking in enclosed spaces around children and pregnant women reprehensible.

  Thanks for the links. I’ll have to ponder these things a bit more to figure out how I feel about them. One of my issues with the smoking ban in Ohio is that it limits choice, and I feel that non-smokers have the choice whether to patronize a bar that allows smoking. Children, on the other hand, and incubative babies certainly have little choice whether to be confined in a smoky place with their parents.

  One of the articles you cited has a decent point in that parents need to be educated and persuaded not to smoke around their children instead of being legislated against it, but the same could, technically, be said about many other actions that are (I believe) rightly considered crimes.

  Food for thought, nonetheless.
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  Slay March 12, 2007 9:34 am

  Hey there. I’m a theatre producer.

  It’s funny, I actually hadn’t yet realized that the law would affect our productions, but I guess that makes sense.

  As for all the talk about legality, yes, we are legally required to do as the script instructs. That’s negotiable, to the extent that changes have to be approved by the playwright, which is not usually an easy thing. As for changing the setting of plays to “Ancient Rome” and such, that’s only legally permitted with plays in the public domain (like Shakespeare).

  Then again, a lot of theatres do a lot of technically illegal stuff and most of it passes under the radar. (Use of copyrighted music, for example.)

  My question would be this: If the cigarettes are herbal, are they still banned by the law? Most actors I know prefer to use “fake” cigarettes for necessary smoking, anyway, so it doesn’t screw-up their voice production as much.

  I too am surprised there’s not already an exception in place. Aren’t we already allowed to do a lot of stuff on-stage (public nudity, for example) that’s not kosher elsewhere? Usually, all our liability for that kind of stuff is covered by posting a warning sign in the lobby (Warning: this play contains nudity, gunfire, simulated sexual contact, harsh language, and a lot of violence, etc., etc.) and the assumption that theaters are not technically public spaces. I guess I need to read the law in detail to find out.

  Hmm.
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  Walker March 12, 2007 9:44 am

  Hi! Thanks for the clarifications on this! :D
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  twistofreality March 12, 2007 4:19 pm

  Slay wrote My question would be this: If the cigarettes are herbal, are they still banned by the law? Most actors I know prefer to use “fake” cigarettes for necessary smoking, anyway, so it doesn’t screw-up their voice production as much.

  Thanks from me, too, for providing some industry perspective on this, and welcome to the forum! Unfortunately, the state ban also prohibits using any smoking implements for burning any plant. That is, the ban isn’t just limited to tobacco.

  That being the case, I certainly hope this exemption makes its way into legislation.