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Non Smoking Ordinances vs. Smoking on Stage
By Gordon Firemark | January 30, 2007
Zachary Pincus Roth has written an interesting piece about on-stage smoking in the theatre.
Does the 1st Amendment apply to smoking as a form of “speech”. If the stage directions call for a cigarette, and it’s a significant part of a scene, isn’t a ban on smoking a ‘prior restraint’ on the expression of ideas?
Could this conceivably have a chilling effect, by causing producers to NOT select material that calls for on-stage smoking?
Couldn’t it also cause playwrights to self-censor by excluding or altering scenes that involve smoking?
Should government be in the business of dramaturgy?
Topics: Art, Entertainment law, Intellectual property, Law, Theatre law
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