A WWU student petition couldn’t keep the school’s theatre faculty from performing a play written in 1943.
The Western Front reports the department decided earlier this month to go ahead with the production of No Exit despite student concerns over its content.
The petition complained the show’s lead female character was written as “shallow”, while another portrayed lesbians as predatory.
A gender history PhD was quoted by the paper as saying that engaging with the portrayals was “a particular form of privilege.”
The faculty department responded that “[that] way of thinking is a dangerous underestimation of the curiosity and intelligence of the community and its audience.”
However, the department agreed to content warnings over the 78- year old play.