From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli

THE time has come for the silent majority to tell the vocal minority to back-off! Wokeism, with all its extremism, must be curbed.

Published research reveals Australia is not as egalitarian as posited. The resolve of one militant group to impose their philosophy on others is cause for apprehension. We should do unto others as we would expect. Social media has impacted in a way we never imagined. It has changed our perspective. Many are wearied by those who believe their ‘no’ carries more weight than the opposing ‘yes’; dictating what it is we may, or may not, say, or think; arbitrarily deciding, what is, or is not, humour! Free speech is an ambiguous notion, but definitively it is not the right to say whatever you want; conversely, it is not the prerogative of any vested group, however well intentioned, or misguided, to prescribe decisive comedic strictures.

I have worked on more comedies of manner and period, farce, satire, black humour, romantic, tragicomedy, and anti-humour, than most woke fanatics have had hot dinners! I wager, they would not know a comedy from a farce, yet they presume to sit in judgement; pontificating, as if they were informed arbiters; the guardians of the public’s sensibilities.

Stage acting is a highly charged, emotional discipline which demands an instant understanding of other people’s idiosyncratic susceptibilities. One inappropriate word can be devastating. It has been said I have impeccable manners, and they were not referencing, “please and thank-you” — that is innate. It was explicitly highlighting a deep awareness of other people’s nuanced sensitivities and sensibilities — something we all should cultivate. I am secure in my theatrical empathy, and the character of my humour.

The atmosphere of the rehearsal room fluctuates between strained and hysterical. Humour, sometimes of the blackest form, dominates. It is amplified should you be doing a Joe Orton play. Nightly, I have heard an audience at performances of Orton’s play, Loot, shriek with laughter at a joke about necrophilia.

I had two blind, diabetic dogs with Cushing’s – Rocky and Buddy. I spent $8000 attempting to save Rocky’s sight. In these puritanical days, a joke about two blind dogs and moving the furniture for entertainment would be unacceptable. Did it happen? No! Do I think it amusing? Yes!! The woke patrol might think otherwise.

Like the musical, The Book of Mormon, The Rocky Horrow Show is filled with inappropriate jokes — I added several for the production on which I worked. Always, I was cognisant of the many laughs which came in appreciation of the wit and humour — and there is a difference. Had I deemed a joke, or an ad lib, inappropriate-in-spirit, it would have been cut, without consideration, or discussion.

Life is too short to engage with mean-spirited, embittered souls who spend their waking-hours, hovering like carrion crows, listening and looking for dark shadow where there are none; and who are committed to the unravelling other people’s lives. These gutless, keyboard warriors, desperate to make some little sense of their own inadequate existences, send missives of condemnation. Opportunistic mischief-makers, they complain with alacrity. The aggregate is decidedly imbalanced in their favour. They would have us buckle to their ultimatums — their jaundiced view of the world. The silent majority must raise their voice above the babble, in opposition; to respond; to take time to register their approval.

Stop listening. Ignore. Push-back. Their woke, humourless perspective cannot prevail!

Roland joins Brett Macdonald 3BA each Monday 10.45AM.

Contact: [email protected]