In an article in the “Journal of the American Revolution,” David Malinsky writes that the First Continental Congress passed the Articles of Association making a distinction between what were acceptable pastimes and what were not: “…and we will discountenance and discourage every species of extravagance and dissipation, especially all horse-racing, all kinds of gaming, cockfighting, exhibitions of shows, plays and other expensive diversions and entertainments.”
This declaration had a chilling effect leaving theaters empty and even forcing one homegrown theater troupe, the American Company, to leave the country and set up shop in Jamaica. Big, bad politicians huffed and puffed, and for a time, blew the house down. Around the same time, individual states also passed laws banning plays, and in 1794, the president of Yale College, Timothy Dwight IV, declared in his “Essay on the Stage,” that “to indulge a taste for play-going means nothing more or less than the loss of that most valuable treasure: the immortal soul.”
Apparently a few of our founding fathers did not subscribe to this proclamation. George Washington recorded detailed entries in his diaries commenting on his frequent attendance at theaters in Williamsburg, Philadelphia, New York, and Alexandria, Virginia to see productions by professional acting troupes. Washington had favorite actors and was known to attend a production he liked more than once. According to Odai Johnson in his book, “Jefferson and The Colonial American Stage,” Thomas Jefferson and Washington attended the same theatrical performance on eight occasions.
The efforts of some to block or ban what they deemed offensive or distasteful has been going on since…well, forever. Fortunately, arts and entertainment have survived and thrived regardless of efforts to restrict or prohibit artistic expression. Imagine wagging a finger at God and admonishing, “Hide the naughty parts,” when it came to sculpting Adam and Eve.
There is an expression of someone being “raised right.” I’m not sure of its origin, but I do believe my siblings and I were raised right by parents who gave us a beautiful mixture of a living, breathing faith that looks like something, and a passion for and participation in the creation of all things artistic. This includes a love for all those individuals involved in such pursuits. Our imagination might be the greatest gift we humans have and such a gift cannot be banned by laws or restricted by misguided biases.
