Offensive Fouls
{{Short description|Play}}
{{for|the basketball penalties|Offensive fouls}}
{{Infobox play
| name = Offensive Fouls
| image =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| caption =
| writer = Jason Long
| chorus =
| characters = Joey
Christine
| mute =
| setting = Canada
| premiere = 1999
| place =
| orig_lang = English
| series =
| subject = Basketball
Racism
| genre =
| web =
}}
Offensive Fouls is a Canadian play about racism written for young adults, for use in secondary schools.{{Cite journal|journal=Gig City|title=Theatre: Fiction stranger than truth in Offensive Fouls|author=Mike Ross|date=November 22, 2011|url=http://www.gigcity.ca/2011/11/22/theatre-fiction-stranger-than-truth-in-offensive-fouls/|accessdate=August 20, 2012}} It was written by Jason Long.{{Cite journal|website=NiagaraThisWeek.com|title=Ten theatre companies presenting works at Courthouse Theatre|date=October 3, 2010|url=http://www.niagarathisweek.com/what's%20on/article/881858--downtown-arts-mecca|accessdate=August 20, 2012}}
History and plot
The play premiered in 1999 and was initially produced by All Nations Theatre, the organization that commissioned Long to write the play.{{Cite journal|journal=Uptown|title=Keeping it real: Offensive Fouls takes an honest look at racism, as seen through the lens of teenage love|author=Jared Story|date=February 16, 2012|url=http://www.uptownmag.com/arts/theatre/Keeping-it-real-139390553.html|accessdate=August 20, 2012}}{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Hustle n' Bustle Theatre made its debut with the play in 2011.{{Cite journal|journal=Now|title=Fouls flies: The birth of Hustle n' Bustle Theatre, Scrabble With The Stars, and more|author=Jon Kaplan|author2=Glenn Sumi|date=March 31 – April 7, 2011|volume=30|issue=31|url=http://www.nowtoronto.com/stage/story.cfm?content=179920|accessdate=August 20, 2012}} There are only two characters in the play:{{Cite journal|journal=Winnipeg Free Press|title=Racially charged play sure to score with teen audience|author=Alison Mayes|date=February 17, 2012|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/arts/racially-charged-play-sure-to-score-with-teen-audience-139501463.html?device=mobile|accessdate=August 20, 2012}} Joey, a 17-year-old Irish-Canadian basketball player;{{Cite web|title=Offensive Fouls|publisher=Concrete Theatre|url=http://www.concretetheatre.ca/OffensiveFouls2012.html|accessdate=August 20, 2012}} and Christine, his Chinese-Canadian girlfriend.{{Cite web|title=Offensive Fouls|publisher=Theatre Direct|url=http://www.theatredirect.ca/index.php/company/archives/offensive-fouls/|accessdate=August 20, 2012}} The plot follows Joey as he is benched from his basketball team after Christine suspects that he was involved in a racially motivated corner-store vandalism incident.{{Cite web|title=Young Company Touring Show|publisher=Neptune Theatre|url=http://www.neptunetheatre.com/default.asp?mn=1.23.148|accessdate=August 20, 2012}} Offensive Fouls is intended for an adolescent audience.{{Cite web|title=Manitoba Theatre for Young People: Offensive Fouls, February 13–18|publisher=Winnipeg Arts Council|url=http://www.winnipegarts.ca/index.php?/wac/article/6326/|accessdate=August 20, 2012}}
Reception
The play was written for performances in secondary schools, and has been performed throughout Alberta.{{cite book|editor-last1=Brennan|editor-first1=Kit|title=Things that go bump|date=2009|publisher=Signature Editions|location=Winnipeg|isbn=9781897109366}} Performances have also been held in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Neptune Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as well as in Winnipeg. It was performed in Edmonton, Alberta as recently as 2011.
The dialogue has been praised for presenting "teenagers who really sound like teenagers.”
The play was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award.{{Cite web|title=Offensive Fouls|publisher=Manitoba Theatre for Young People|url=http://www.mtyp.ca/offensive-fouls.cfm|accessdate=August 20, 2012}}
One reviewer remarked, "It’s not often the public gets a chance to see “what they’re teaching the kids these days,” so when you do, it behooves us to pay attention because the target audience will be calling the shots before too long."
Offensive Fouls was published in a collection of Canadian plays for young adults titled Things That Go Bump in 2009.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
Category:Anti-racism in Canada
Category:Basketball mass media