Pressed Flowers

Pressed Flowers

In his first year as Artistic Director, Jim Vilé created a festival event called September for Peace at La Boite, the Theatre’s contribution to the International Year of Peace and the 25^th Anniversary of Amnesty International. Although professional Youth Theatre staff were yet to be appointed, three of the four productions showcased youth performance projects.[i]

One of the projects was a production of And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers by provocative Spanish writer Fernando Arrabel directed by Ian Leigh-Cooper for the young adult performance group Neobody. To Vilé’s surprise the play was the subject of a complaint before it reached production stage and was subsequently withdrawn. For mature audiences only, it was advertised as “a shout of anger through a cascade of sexual and religious images which confront us with the pain and anger suffered by the politically oppressed”.[ii] According to Vilé, the complainant objected to its perceived anti-Catholic stance and “went political on us”.[iii] All the publicity had gone out; a performance had to open on September 24. Instead of cancelling, Neobody presented its own devised Pressed Flowers, a play about the suppression of a play. The fuss attracted police interest, television and radio coverage and “a baptism of fire” for Vilé, shocked at the level of conservatism still rife in Queensland.[iv] The explanation to audiences was:

The Management Committee of La Boite has reluctantly decided not to proceed with this season due to the risk of legal action. Instead, La Boite presents Pressed Flowers … about the suppression of free speech, the pervasive threat of self-censorship and the limitation of artistic freedom in a society where some presume to speak for the ethics of others.[v]

Writer: Christine Comans