Director speaks as play prep ramps up

The Cardinal School Board’s Feb. 8 decision to restore the drama club’s spring musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” by playwright Rachel Scheinkin after an abrupt Jan. 25 cancellation has set the normal rhythms of the theater program back in motion, more or less.

“When my production team and I met with the kids and their parents to tell them the board’s decision, we specifically asked how they wanted us to proceed,” director Vanessa Allen tells The News-Herald in her first public comments. “If they had said we don’t want to fight this, let’s just pick something else, we would have honored that. But they didn’t.”

The production itself — March 10, 11, and 12 — would figure to be well-attended, and that will be the first opportunity many who have been following this drama will have to see the show for themselves.

“From the beginning, all I asked for were clear, specific things the board had a problem with in the script,” Allen said. “I knew we could address these issues and request changes with the licensing company if I knew what they were but I couldn’t take vague complaints of ‘vulgar’ and ‘not family-friendly’ to MTI, they would have just asked for clarification.

“The news of this spread far and fast, so much so that the writer of ‘Spelling Bee,’ Rachel Sheinkin, actually reached out to me via email before I could contact her or

“People recognized the dangerous precedent this situation could set regarding censorship in schools. And theater people knew this show was more profound, heartfelt and deeply relatable to kids than a cursory glance might suggest.” — Vanessa Allen, director

the licensing company,” Allen added. “Once I was finally given a list of specifics, Rachel was kind enough to take the time to address all of them with thoughtful and thorough responses.”

The debate around the two-week drama in Middlefield gained national attention is still being discussed at that level.

“The response from the theater community was overwhelming,” Allen says. “People recognized the dangerous precedent this situation could set regarding censorship in schools. And theater people knew this show was more profound, heartfelt and deeply relatable to kids than a cursory glance might suggest.

“I am incredibly grateful for the love my students have gotten from this experience,” she added. “In the end, I hope the positives outweighed the negatives.”