Duke Committee Explains FUN HOME as Reading Selection: 'Sheds Light on Important Issue'

As BWW reported yesterday, Duke University's Duke Chronical reported that several members of the college's incoming class of 2019 have refused to read the assigned graphic novel, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, "because its sexual images and themes conflicted with their personal and religious beliefs." Fun Home is the source the 2015 Tony Award winning Best Musical, with book and lyrics by Lisa Kron and music by Jeanine Tesori.

As reported, the controversy began when Freshman Brian Grasso posted in the Class of 2019 Facebook page that he would skip the assignment "because of the graphic visual depictions of sexuality." Though many students replied in support of reading Bechdel's autobiographical story of her sexual awakening and her relationship with her closeted father, others supported his stance, saying they too would skip the assignment.

Today, BWW has obtained the original DUKE press release, assigning the book to incoming students as the official selection of the Duke Common Experience, a committee comprised of students, staff and faculty. The group is designed to give incoming students a shared intellectual experience with other members of their class, with the summer reading choice as a key focal point. During orientation welcome week activities, students are scheduled to discuss the book in small groups and as a larger community as part of an event held at the Durham Performing Arts Center.

Explains Duke Common Experience selection committee member Ibanca Anand of the group's choice, "'Fun Home' is a book like no other. The author uses the unique graphic medium to tell a story that sheds a lot of light on important and weighted issues like mental health, interpersonal relationships and human rights, all critical issues that students will become acquainted with in college."

She adds, "The book is a quick read but not an easy one; it made me uncomfortable at times, which I think is one of the most telling reasons why it's so important for students to read. It has the potential to start many arguments and conversations, which, in my opinion, is an integral component of a liberal arts education."

Offers selection committee member Simon Partner, a professor of history and director of the Asian/Pacific Studies Institute at Duke, "I think it will be a great vehicle for conversations among the incoming class about art and storytelling; about personal and sexual identities; about truth and lies, and the harm both can cause; and about judgment and forgiveness. Because of its treatment of sexual identity, the book is likely to be controversial among students, parents and alumni. I think this, in turn, will stimulate interesting and useful discussion about what it means, as a young adult, to take a position on a controversial topic."

Read the official press release in full here

About Fun Home:

With music by Tony Award-winner Jeanine Tesori, a book and lyrics by Tony Award-winner Lisa Kronand direction by Tony Award-winner Sam Gold, Fun Home opened to rave reviews at the Circle in the Square Theatre (235 West 50th Street) on Sunday, April 19, 2015, and won five 2015 Tony Awards.

Featuring a cast led by 2015 Tony Award-winner Michael Cerveris, as well as 2015 Tony Award nominees Judy Kuhn,Beth Malone, Sydney Lucas and Emily Skeggs, Fun Home also featuresRoberta Colindrez, Zell Steele Morrow,Joel Perez, Oscar Williams, Lauren Patten, Gabriella Pizzolo,Marrick Smith, Jim Stanek, and Nicole Van Giesen.

FUNHOME introduces us to Alison at three different ages, revealing memories of her uniquely dysfunctional family - her mother, brothers and volatile, brilliant, enigmatic father - that connect with her in surprising new ways. This intimate and emotional theatrical experience is performed entirely in the round, bringing audiences closer to Alison's story than ever before. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, wholly original musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.

PHOTO: Walter McBride

Photo: Joan Marcus