Bulldog and Tomcat Ideas

Last night I got to see Heritage High School's excellent production of Fahrenheit 451. I wanted to share Director Larry Hart's comments from the playbill about the play and book.

"In a world..." -- to steal the ever popular opening line of so many movie trailers spoken by the late great Don LaFontaine-- but seriously; in a world where the printed word is outlawed what happens to individuality and the life of the mind? While such a scenario may seem far fetched to many, to others it may seem chillingly similar to our modern reality.

The ironies at the heart of Fire Chief Beatty make him, in my opinion, the most memorable character in Ray Bradbury's classic novel. Many of his lines, though first put down on paper over a half a century ago, ring truer today than when they were first written.

Examples:

"... Zip, bam, whip, run, jump, lots of action, plenty of scores... Organize and super organize super-super sports so you talk all the time, but all the talk is scores, nice safe stuff, scores for basketball, scores for baseball, football, tennnis, scores, scores, no substances, no politics, no philosophy, not a shred of a bulldog or tomcat idea... let's have a nation where everyone is not only born equal but damn well crushed down and made equal, right? Right!"

So, in a world where a 52" flat screen television consumes one whole wall of the "family room" and where sports occupy a complete section of the newspaper and the evening news, not to mention many channels reserved exclusively for specific sports on the dish-- golf channel, anyone?-- in this world, perhaps it is not so inconceivable to imagine that society might just give up on the printed word.

I've heard it told many times that Fahrenheit 451 was considered very controversial when it was first printed and that, ironically enough, it was banned by several conservative groups. I have heard also that Ray Bradbury's inspiration for the novel came from the book burning in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and early 1940s. I'm pleased that Amazement Square has joined with the Big Read and offered the city of Lynchburg such a challenging book to bring us all out of our comfort zones. Hopefully, we will be inspired by both book and play to talk about its major themes and broader implications to our world and to our future. I'm honored to be a part of this project and to be able to share this great work with so many open minded young people. It is my desire that they will leave this show thrilled with theneed to share every bulldog or tomcat idea that they have with the entire world and not just live their lives statistically.

L. Biff Hart
Director of Pioneer Theater

Thanks Larry and the whole cast for such an awesome show!