Today's New York Times features the happy/sad news that the students of Bonnie Dickinson's Theater Arts II class at Wilton High School will be performing Voices In Conflict in June, at the New York Public Theater, the Culture Project, and probably in at least one Connecticut venue.
The article by Alison Leigh Cowan, who wrote the article that brought the VIC controversy to international attention, is here.
I am thrilled and not a little verklempt that Ms. Dickinson's students are getting to see their play produced ... and at the Public Theater, no less.
But I'm not in the last bit surprised. Ever since this story broke I had no doubt that the students could have found a venue for their production. But I think it will almost certainly not be performed at WHS.
How generous of the school district to give their students permission to do something on their own time. Canty's offer to "let the play be performed in some modified form" on-campus is perhaps the most ludicrous statement from any Wilton school official to date on this issue -- and that's saying a lot. The town of Wilton is the biggest loser in all of this, and they will continue to lose so long as hacks like Canty and Richards continue in positions of authority.
I know Ms. Dickinson and the Theater Arts II class is very happy. And I'll bet Joe Papp and Kurt Vonnegut are pleased, too.
More on the Voices In Conflict controversy on my blog.
PS WHS principal Tim Canty's picture in the Times article is the spitting image of Tony Soprano.