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From: Laurie Baefsky
Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2004 2:40 PM
To: Wigley, Elizabeth
Subject: The slap
Dear Beth,
I have received phone calls and a stream of feedback from teachers/administrators about the student audience's surprising response (cheering) last Thursday to Othello hitting Desdemona. So much so, that I am interested in getting some specific feedback from the students themselves - it is clear that the way some of our students responded was disturbing/upsetting/inappropriate.
What Lester Purry (Othello) said about the students' response to him hitting Desdemona was thought provoking...he said several things: his biggest regret was that there wasn't a post-performance discussion about this. It needs to be talked about. He was saddened, because he really thought most of the cheering was coming from black male students, as a kind of reverse racism. Saddened because this, to him, was an indicator that the upcoming generation of young black men in our audience are continuing a pattern of/buying into nonverbal conflict resolution. This, in a way, is a reminder that we are indeed in the south, that there is still a power play going on between the races, that the slap-response served as an indicator about deeper issues of power and place and roles. He said that however upsetting the audience response was, we need to pay attention to it - to all responses - that it indicates something important about our society and the direction our society is going.
I challenge your students to explore what that "something" could possibly be? I will forward all responses to this onto Lester.
p.s. Thursday night's performance also had the displaced cheering from some students, albeit a much smaller group -- way more gasping.
Laurie Baefsky, Education Director
Virginia Arts Festival
220 Boush Street
Norfolk, VA 23510