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Supporting our troops on Veterans Day November 11, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Crime and punishment at Morton West, Drama in Wilton.
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Nine months ago this coming Tuesday, Timothy Canty, the principal of Wilton High School in my home town of Wilton, Connecticut, rescinded permission for the school’s Theater Arts II class to perform “Voices In Conflict”, a staged recitation of letters from soldiers and participants in the Iraq War.

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“We were holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya’ and ‘Give Peace a Chance’.”* November 8, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict".
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* Which would’ve gotten them thrown out of a lot of the anti-Vietnam protests I was in … 😉

Expulsion vote delayed in Morton school district

Penalties called unfair by protesters at board meeting

By Joseph Ruzich
Special to the Chicago Tribune
2:42 PM CST, November 8, 2007

Hundreds of parents, students and anti-war and free speech advocates at a Morton High School District 201 board meeting Wednesday urged officials not to expel a group of students involved in a school sit-in last week to protest the Iraq war.

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NCAC to honor Voices In Conflict cast October 29, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Larry Horne at 212-807-6222 x17 or lhorne@ncac.org

Wilton, Connecticut Students to be Honored in Free Speech Gala Event

New York, NY – On November 6, 2007, as part of its 4th annual Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defenders, The National Coalition Against Censorship will honor Wilton High School theater arts teacher Bonnie Dickinson and her students, for their courage and determination to write and perform “Voices in Conflict,” a play about the war in Iraq.

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A letter to Gary Richards September 15, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton.
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Dr. Gary Richards
Superintendent of Schools
Wilton Public Schools
395 Danbury Road
Wilton, CT 06897

Re: Bonnie Dickinson
Dear Dr. Richards:

As you know, Bonnie Dickinson has been a teacher in Wilton Schools since 1993. She has, as you do, copies of all of her evaluations and staff appraisals dating back to 1997. Each evaluation by the high school administrative staff concludes with Ms. Dickinson being referred to as an excellent, organized and supportive teacher.

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Voices In Conflict: the Empire strikes back September 1, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton.
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As the dog days of summer wane, high school students shop for clothes and supplies, bus drivers plan their routes, teachers prepare lesson plans …

… and in Wilton, Connecticut, the superintendent of schools and his flunkies get into character by lying like a GOP senator caught in an airport bathroom.

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Patriotism, 2007 July 4, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton.
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The Wilton High School Theater Arts II class will be giving what will most likely be their final performances of Voices In Conflict, on July 11 through 13, at the Vineyard Theater in Manhattan.


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It’s catching on June 27, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton.
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You let a bunch of snotnosed, liberal high-school kids stage a play about the Iraq war, and the next thing you know, this kind of thing starts happening …


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“You take that play somewhere else!” June 23, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton.
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I didn’t think anything could have bettered Amy Goodman’s interview with cast members of Voices In Conflict, but Erika Hiyazaki’s piece in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times is the best account I’ve read of just what Bonnie Dickinson’s Theater Arts II went through, and why the Wilton school administration, and some of their fellow students, ought to be ashamed of themselves.

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Voices in Conflict on Democracy Now June 21, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton, Theater.
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A week ago I posted a link to Amy Goodman‘s syndicated article on the Culture Project performance of Voices In Conflict.

From her program Democracy Now, here is Goodman’s in-depth interview with VIC director Bonnie Dickinson, choreographer Courtney Stack, cast member James Presson and Charlie Anderson, who Presson portrayed in Voices In Conflict.

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Welcome news from the Wilton Board of Censorship Education June 19, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton, Theater.
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Bonnie DickinsonOne of the clouds that’s been hanging over the Voices In Conflict matter has been the Board of Education’s response to the accusations of Wilton High School parent Barbara Alessi against theater teacher/VIC director Bonnie Dickinson (right). Alessi’s charges, and an editorial supporting them, were published in the April 5 edition of the Wilton Bulletin, Wilton’s “newspaper of record”.

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“What we saw tonight was the reason to have a theater” June 19, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton, Theater.
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Every time I start wondering if the Voices In Conflict saga has lost its capacity to fascinate and move me …

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Voices in the newspapers of record June 14, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton, Theater.
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“Wilton Bulletin” masthead

The New York Times has published a followup article by Melena Ryzik about the June 9 Vineyard Theater performance of Voices In Conflict.

And then there’s the Wilton Bulletin, “newspaper of record” for the Connecticut town whose Board Of Education prohibited performance of the play that has now become the hottest ticket on off-Broadway.

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“Voices In Conflict” encore performance in Fairfield June 13, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton, Theater.
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The Wilton High School students involved in the play, “Voices in Conflict,” will return to the stage at the Fairfield Theatre Company for an encore performance on Friday, June 22. The play begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12, or $7 for members of the theater.

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Voices on video June 12, 2007

Posted by Jeff in "Reality has a well-known liberal bias", "Voices Of Conflict", Drama in Wilton, Theater.
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In conjunction with their print interviews with six VIC cast members, the Fairfield Weekly posted a video on their website including clips from the production:

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