CLT president was overly apologetic
Dear editor,
Re: Reader disgusted with CLT’s choice of play, Greta Jansen letter, Feb. 18.
Greta Jansen appears to believe that the purpose of art is to massage and confirm the politically correct ideology of the present, and thereby omit any provocative representation of past attitudes and practices that people today might find offensive, or even historically interesting.
Also, the art of social satire, of which Woody Allen is a recognized master, is a very effective weapon against the very attitudes that Greta Jansen finds so repugnant. Perhaps if she had attended the reading, as she was invited to do, she could have made a more informed comment on the language from the play.
Val MacDonald, as president of the Courtenay Little Theatre, has a responsibility to defend art and educate those members of the public who raise questions regarding the artist’s purpose and methodology. I commend her for accepting this difficult role but I find her accommodation of Greta Jansen’s position to be supinely apologetic. Why be so apologetic to someone who won’t even attend the reading to learn if her criticism is justified? The Courtenay Little Theatre does excellent work and should be steadfast in the face of politically correct whining and all other mob utterances that attempt to eviscerate art.
Phyllis Baldwin
Comox