Censorship

I've been taking a playwriting class since January and I'm currently working on my first play. It's been an incredible learning curve already! When I started the class I had a very clear message that I wanted my play to state for the audience, my whole purpose was to tell them what I wanted them to hear but I have found that the more I write and the more the characters take on a life of their own, the less I am able to put words into their mouths that speak the message I initially intended. That is not to say that I feel I have lost the whole theme that I began with, if anything I have probably gone deeper into that theme than had I stuck firmly to my intended message. It is an interesting dilema to face, on one hand I am over the moon that the characters are coming to life but on the other I am having to battle with myself to let go of ideals that I carried into the project to begin with.

The whole thing has left me pondering the issue of censorship. If I want to tell a real story through characters who are believable, if I want to stick to their truth and only put words in their mouth that they would say, how much of what I want to say is compromised? And further still, can I stop them saying things that I personally would rather they didn't say?

Take for example, profane language - if the character is in a pressure situation where they would, being true to themselves, rhyme off a string of expletives, must I allow them to do that? Does the scene and the character lose an element of truth if I censor what they say? I feel that most likely the answer is yes, but that throws up further complications for me.

As a follower of Jesus, I want for all that I do and create to glorify Him. Can I create a play that doesn't compromise anything of what the characters would do or say while still glorifying God?

I think so.

The things of the world which used to be censored in the media seem to be censored less and less, in many ways there is no escaping them. Perhaps instead of attempting to brush over them and ignore them what we need to do is face them head on? We were not called to bury our heads in the sand. We were not given a spirit of timidity but one of courage and boldness. We're never going to create convicting theatre if we gloss over the way the world really is. And how much brighter does the light shine when we see it next to the darkness?