How To Deal With Rigsby's Racism...

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22537153
Like all the "racist" sit coms of this era the real target of ridicule is the racist himself so do we really need to censor the stage version of Rising Damp?

[sp1814]

ToraToraTora

It depends on the lines. There are some storylines that will absolutely work with rewritten lines, and some that won't.

Remember though, this is a stage production, and not a like for like copy of one of the shows. Therefore it's been rewritten anyway.

[douglas9401]

No need for censorship. Those who 'call' for it to be changed out of all recognition will have their heads so far up their fundaments as usual that they won't be able to see it.

[ToraToraTora]

Yes of course SP but I hope they keep Rigsby's psuedo racist antics with the innevitable comeuppance at the end! Remember the wood of the love tree? priceless!

[andy-hughes]

There is a fine line to be walked here.

On the one hand, as a period piece, the dialogue must retain the attitudes and predjudices that made that characters who they were.

On the other hand, modern society cannot simply suspend the progress it has made in eradicating bigotry simply to pretend for an evening that such attitudes are - or ever were - acceptable.

I am sure that a writer of the calibre of Eric Chapel can walk that line successfully - and leave out the more outre references to Rigsby's small-minded attitudes to race and education.

Audiences are more sophisticated these days, sledgehammer satire is no longer required, you can subtley lay the attitude down in the script, and let the audience build the inference for itself. That way, the only offence caused should be to people who are actively looking for it in the first place.

[Canary42]

The target was [i the racist, but it didn't work out that way - many people looked up to Alf Garnett as a hero which is why [i] 'Til Death Us Do Part ] was eventually cut.

[ludwig]

The whole point about Rigsby is that he's a bit of a plonker, racist attitudes and all. I don't think they should change any of it.

It would be like rewriting Fawlty Towers and changing Fawlty, so he didn't do anything unpleasant, like beating up his spanish waiter.

[Baldric]

The racism always backfired on Rigsby, which was what gave the show a lot of it's humour, no it shouldn't be changed imo!

[woofgang]

well looking at the other revivals that the same company has done, I don't think we need to worry about a national wave or Rigsby. Scroll down to the other revivals they have staged, did you know they were on tour?

[Iluvspikey]

Shouldn't be changed - like It ain't Half hot mum, another brilliant comedy.
The only so-called 'comedy' that would bury for all time, was produced and directed by 15-1 host William G Stewart, was Love thy Neighbour hated it back then too.

[woofgang]

"The BBC article implies that the original cast are dead."
that's interesting Methyl, have you actually read the article?

There's a present tense quote from Don Warrington, who is named as one of the people interviewed for the article (spiritualism at the BBC?????) the actors who have died are named and Frances de la Tour is only mentioned as being 35 years older.
Not sure how that "implies that they are dead"?

[vulcan42]

Removing racism from Rigsby is changing his character, he is no longer Rigsby.The play is a pastiche of Rising damp and they're just using the name to help fill seats.

[sp1814]

vulcan42/douglas9401/Iluvspikey

The whole show is new. It's not like they're taking a script from the tv show and performing it word-for-word.

If they tailored in storylines from the show, I'm sure that any writer worth his salt would be able to convey meaning and character traits which are appropriate for 2013 audiences.

And there are other examples of old comedies that would be difficult to repear now without some form of rewrite.

Remember Barbara Windsor in Carry On Camping? That scene where her bra flies off and hits Kenneth Williams in the face?

How we laughed.

She was playing a schoolgirl.

[bazwillrun]

This is getting ridiculous.
One of the best comedys of all time

if he was such a racist he wouldnt even have let him rent the room off him in the first place.

He took the pizz out of everyone, so if you really think that Rigsby was racist then youre the ones with the problem...oh hold on

[modeller]

How about banning Shakespeare's plays especially , The Merchant of Venice . As far as I know all the original actors are dead.

[anotheoldgit]

sp1814

sp1814

/// Remember Barbara Windsor in Carry On Camping? That scene where her bra flies off and hits Kenneth Williams in the face? ///

One she wasn't a schoolgirl, maybe a student at a Ladies Finishing School but never a 'school girl' in the real sense, and secondly as the bra flew off her hands straight away covered her modesty.



She was playing a schoolgirl.

[sp1814]

AOG

Really? I thought that they were schoolgirls. My mistake.

I think your last comment may have been a cut 'n'; paste gremlin getting in.

[naomi24]

They shouldn’t ‘deal’ with it at all – they should leave Rigsby exactly as he was. He was the object of fun. He was the one everyone laughed at - and just like Alf Garnett, I think his ridiculous attitudes were instrumental in encouraging the demise of stupid and irrational prejudices.