Scratching at Controversy

By Justin Sondak in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 8, 2005 3:01PM

Late last week, seven-year old Darragh Quinn Dolan, one of two actresses portraying Kayla in the Steppenwolf Theatre’s “The Pain and the Itch,” was released from the production amid a controversy over the role of young children in a rather adult show.

The Kayla character is exposed to adult language and a lot of adult situations (including the sounds of porn) and repeatedly scratches at a genital rash. The parents of Dolan and Lillian Almaguer, the actresses sharing the Kayla role, actively involved themselves in the rehearsal process. They read the script and got to see all questionable material prior to opening night. While offstage, both children have been constantly supervised by a “child wrangler” who shelters them from the show’s content. The Dolans were fine with their daughter’s place in the show for the first five weeks of its run but claimed that the critical backlash 'blindsided' them.

Pardon us if we can’t quite fathom how Bruce Norris’ provocative script is acceptable for the first five weeks of the run, but suddenly becomes inappropriate when a few patrons start complaining. Why demand changes to a script that was perfectly fine a month earlier?

Powerful theater is about difficult choices. And so it is with controversial productions. We respect Mr. Norris’ refusal to alter his script to sooth the very patrons he sought to disturb and respect the Dolans’ prerogative as parents. The temporary (and somewhat ironic) solution is for first grader Almauguer to perform the role each night, potentially provoking a new round of complaints, until a replacement is found.