Theaters' suit up in smoke

On-stage smoking not exempt from ban, Denver judge says

Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 31, 2006 at midnight

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Plays are filled with characters who smoke, but the actors portraying them won't be doing it in Denver's theaters, a judge ruled Monday.

Smoking that is written into a production by a playwright isn't part of an actor's artistic expression and is not protected free speech, Denver District Judge Michael Martinez said.

The ruling was the result of a lawsuit by three theater companies who sued the state health department, contending that Colorado's smoking ban violates rights to free expression protected by the state and U.S. constitutions.

The companies were seeking an exemption to the state's smoking ban that went into effect in July. They wanted permission to smoke cigarettes made of tea leaves or a similar substance, not tobacco.

Boulder approved a similar exemption for theater productions after its smoking ban went into effect prior to the enactment of the state smoking ban, said Judson Webb of Theatre13.

But Martinez refused.

"I'm disappointed," said Chip Walton, artistic director for Denver's Curious Theatre, whose premiere of tempOdyssey opens Nov. 4.

The play tells the story of Little Genny, a temp receptionist who has fled to Seattle believing that she is an accidental Goddess of Death. One character in the play is a chain smoker - and smoking plays a pivotal and symbolic role in that character's development.

Walton said the theater companies will appeal the decision, but he didn't know if they could get a ruling before Saturday's opening.

"We don't think it's likely, even though we're looking at an expedited appeal process," Walton said.

Curious Theatre, Denver's Paragon Theatre and Boulder's Theatre13 challenged the law. They sought a court order exempting actors before one of them is arrested for violating the smoking ban. Their attorney, Bruce Jones, argued that smoking in certain productions is protected free speech, like nudity is in stage productions of the musical Hair.

"It should be all right as artists to practice our art and perform a work as written by the playwright," Walton said. "I would love to be able not to break the law and still express my artistic vision."

But Martinez said state lawmakers already rejected such an exemption. He said the smoking ban serves a public health interest.

"Smoking is not inherently expressive conduct," he said.

Theater directors said substitute cigarettes, like those containing talcum powder, look fake and distract the audience.

They also are only good for a few puffs and not suitable for a character like the boozing Martha, who chain-smokes through most of Edward Albee's play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, said Richard Devin, artistic director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival for 17 years.

Smoking takes center stage

The theater groups that are challenging the state's smoking ban argue smoking is often part of a playwright's vision. Sometimes, as in CuriousTheatre's world premiere of Dan Dietz's tempOdyssey, it is used to define a character.

Here are a few examples of other productions that used smoking to help shape central characters:

• Golda's Balcony, by William Gibson: Gibson's hit 2003 play is a one-woman show about Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, who died of lung cancer. She lights a cigarette before she speaks her first words onstage.

• A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams: The 1947 play, considered a classic, contrasts Blanche, who sees herself as a southern belle, with the rough-hewn Stanley. She is courted by Stanley's friend, Mitch, whom she asks for a cigarette and who offers one to her.

• Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller: Also part of the American canon, the 1949 play tells the tragic tale of salesman Willy Loman, as well as his two stunted sons, Biff and Happy. Early in the play, Happy offers Biff a cigarette in their bedroom and Biff accepts, saying, "I can never sleep when I smell it."

• Bug, by Tracy Letts: Curious Theatre won two Henry Awards for last season's production of the disturbing drama about two lost souls who find each other and their demons in a motel room. The female lead, Agnes, opens the show by silently smoking a cigarette.

lindsays@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5181;

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