When the satirical comedy "Greater Tuna" opened Friday night at the Draper Theater, it included the swearing and ethnic slurs authors Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard wrote in the original script.
In announcing the production a few weeks ago, theater co-owner Vanessa Nelson said "All profanity has been eliminated . . . in an effort to further promote the family status of the play."However, Samuel French, the licensing agency, learned of the intended editing and contacted Nelson, requesting to see what cuts would be made.
Arden Heide of French told Nelson Wednesday that all requests for changes were denied by the authors.
"The play is a satire," said Heide. "The authors felt the changes would blunt the intended theatrical piece as a whole. If the Utah group or its community are offended by the language of the play, they should choose another play."
Nelson said she is a novice and was unaware that swear words and other material could not be cut from a script without permission.