Dramatists Guild 'Outraged' By Canceled Show at the Kennedy Center

As BroadwayWorld reported earlier this week, following Trump's massive leadership overhaul at the Kennedy Center, it was announced that a tour of children's musical Finn, which was to be produced by the theatre, has been canceled. The Dramatists Guild of America has now responded to the news:

The Dramatists Guild of America is outraged by the Kennedy Center's announced cancellation of its scheduled production of the show Finn by Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond, both members of the Dramatists Guild. We find it appalling that the Center is backing out of their commitment to bring this joyful children's musical, one that they commissioned and produced to much acclaim, to communities across the country. At its heart, Finn has a universal message of love and acceptance.

The new board of the Kennedy Center claims the show was cancelled for financial reasons, but we find that difficult to believe considering the ideological purge now being employed by the new administration, impacting every nook and cranny of the federal government.

This is coming at a time when The Arts have been specifically targeted for attack, as is pointedly reflected by the new "guidelines" for grants that were announced by the National Endowment for the Arts. The guidelines not only disqualify applicants who serve historically underserved communities, including those theaters that value diversity and inclusion in their productions, but they have also criminalized the process, if it is later judged that grantees have, in some way, violated the new vague and overbroad guidelines. It is an obvious ploy to chill speech and intimidate applicants in violation of the First Amendment.

These actions go beyond censorship. It may set the stage for a constitutional crisis that transcends parties and ideologies and cuts to the heart of our democracy.

We stand in solidarity with Kooman and Dimond, the Guild members who wrote Finn, as well as the writers of other shows still scheduled for the Kennedy Center, like Parade by Guild members Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry, and Eureka Day by Guild member Jonathan Spector. And we stand with all the other writers of shows that will have productions canceled by theaters that will no longer be funded by the NEA.

We will, however, do more than just stand with them and issue statements. In collaboration with our non-profit affiliate, the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, we intend to develop, finance and employ strategies to defend all dramatists from having their voices silenced.

As was stated in a legal brief 27 years ago, in the landmark Supreme Court case of NEA v Finley, “...art plays a critical checking function, providing alternative perspectives on the world and often challenging the status quo. This is why artists, along with universities and the press, are often the first targets of repressive regimes."

Amanda Green
President, Dramatists Guild of America

Since its inception in 1919, the Dramatists Guild of America has been the professional association for playwrights, librettists, lyricists, and composers writing for the American stage. With over 10,000 members around the world, the Guild is guided by a governing council of writers who each give their time, interest and support to advance the rights of dramatists everywhere, including the right for dramatists to own and control their own copyrighted work. The Guild’s advocacy, programs, events, publications, and other services provide dramatists with the resources, the community, and the support they require to protect their property, their livelihoods, and their unique voices in the American theatre.