Banning Stage Props to Save Lives

Powerline points to a piece about a play at Yale which has suddenly been changed following the Virginia Tech shooting:

In the wake of Monday’s massacre at Virginia Tech in which a student killed 32 people, Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg has limited the use of stage weapons in theatrical productions.

Students involved in this weekend’s production of “Red Noses” said they first learned of the new rules on Thursday morning, the same day the show was slated to open. They were subsequently forced to alter many of the scenes by swapping more realistic-looking stage swords for wooden ones, a change that many students said was neither a necessary nor a useful response to the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

According to students involved in the production, Trachtenberg has banned the use of some stage weapons in all of the University’s theatrical productions. While shows will be permitted to use obviously fake plastic weapons, students said, those that hoped to stage more realistic scenes of stage violence have had to make changes to their props.

This reminds me of my previous thespian days when in 6th grade I played the starring role in Macbeth. In a pivotal point in the elaborate production I engaged in a sword fight with another actor. The seriousness of our performance was somewhat diminished by the *click* *click* *click* of our clashing plastic swords. Sort of took some of the drama out of it. I'm sure the Yale kids are feeling more than a little bit silly.