@Clizby, I'd like to quote something from the archives of the boarding school that I went to for my high schooling (it was a boys private boarding school). This is from our "Spring Festival," in 1963, when I was in Grade 9.
The Grade Nine group gave us the best piece of dramatic acting of the evening in their play, "The Valiant." This was the story of a condemned man who steadily refused to disclose his true identity to the sympathetic warden. AE (that's me), as the prisoner, and HM, as the warden, gave excellent performances. Both boys exhibited warmth of character, an understanding of their roles, and a possession of stage presence. Their talents should be encouraged. JL gave a good account of himself as the chaplin. DD would have been an excellent Josephine had he not contracted a severe case of giggles which marred the entire performance.
DD (who was my roommate that school year) was performing in drag. He was a boy, dressed as a girl, acting as a girl, pretending to be a girl, in an audience full of schoolboys. As I recall, none of the boys in the school (which included grades 7 and up) was marred for life for having witnessed it. DD is, in fact, married with children and grandchildren, and living on Mercer Island next to Seattle, Washington.
But I wonder why you chose the clip you did? Have you determined that it represents the totality of all such performances in schools in the United States? Is it the case that we must ban one entire art form (I use the term loosely) because one or a very few actors misuse it?
