Red, White & Banned

To salute the bedrock American freedom to read what we choose, the North Carolina State University Libraries is partnering with University Theatre to present Red, White & Banned , a program featuring student performances of scenes and songs adapted from banned and challenged books. Participating students are members of NC State's chapter of Alpha Psi Omega (ΑΨΩ), a National Theatre Honor Society that recognizes participation in collegiate level theatre.

The program, which is free and open to the public, is part of NCSU Libraries' celebration of Banned Books Week, an annual event celebrating the open access to information and the importance of the First Amendment in our society. During Banned Books Week, which runs this year from September 24 through October 1, bookstores, libraries and campuses all over the country design events to remind us all of the benefits of intellectual freedom and to highlight the dangers of censorship by spotlighting the history of actual or attempted book bannings across the United States.

Jillian Varner, president of APO and a senior in economics is pleased to be taking part in Banned Books Week activities. "Red, White & Banned is such a great fit for APO and other members of University Theatre because, as artists (actors, designers, musicians, writers, etc.), we all strive for the same thing -- unique self expression," Varner said. "Censorship in the arts takes away some of our ability to connect with an audience by sharing our individual perspectives, which in my opinion, is the whole point of art."

Students performing in Red, White & Banned are: Jason Cooper, performing "Big River," a song from the musical of the same name, based on Mark Twain's classic 1884 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ; Jillian Varner, performing a scene adapted from J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series; Leanna Hall, performing a scene adapted from Judy Blume's Deenie ; Diana Quetti, performing a scene adapted from S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders and Lizzy Ozamiz and Brittany Patterson performing songs from Wicked , the Broadway musical based on the Oz series by L. Frank Baum. All these works have either been banned or challenged.

For more information on Red, White & Banned, please contact 513-3481 or marian_fragola@ncsu.edu.