Who gets the last laugh?

Brandon Chase Goldsmith said he was shocked when he found out his political theater performance, "Make America," was banned from Republic Coffee because management felt it could be "polarizing" for its customers.

"I don't blame Republic," said Goldsmith, communications graduate student at The University of Memphis. "I blame the way the nation is right now."

Bonnie Cameron, assistant to the general manager at Republic Coffee, contacted Goldsmith about the canceled show. She said the theme of the performance could interfere with the coffee shop's "chilled atmosphere."

"While he has every right to perform his show, it cannot be at this venue," she said.

The political tone of the performance, which was a project for Goldsmith's Place, Community and Communication class, could impede the ambient atmosphere of the coffee shop and was the reason for its cancellation, Cameron said.

"The tone of the monologue chastises people for not being committed Americans," she said. "We're in the business of serving excellent coffee and food and providing a relaxing environment."

Goldsmith, however, was counting on the coffee shop's laid-back atmosphere.

"I thought I had found a place where you can speak freely, and that was the most ironic part," he said. "It's kind of funny that a show whose sole purpose is creating community isn't even allowed into a community." 

Goldsmith booked the performance more than a month in advance because venues in Memphis tend to get booked early, he said.

"I can't get another show until February," he said. "So when you cancel something a week out, you're basically killing that show for a while, and that's a power issue."

Goldsmith said he was uncertain how to address the situation.

"I'm trying to stay away from the word 'censorship' and just go toward being the victim of political correctness, but I don't know. It's just assumptions," he said. "They made assumptions on me, but I don't want to make assumptions on them."

Because Republic Coffee is a private club, its owners and managers have the right to cancel performances without contracts, said Barbara Kritchevsky, director of advocacy and professor at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at The U of M.

"If it's a private club, then they're not bound by the Constitution," she said. "As far as free speech goes, they have every right to (cancel)."

Republic Coffee is a public venue but can refuse to allow performances as they see fit, she said.

"The bottom line is a private club, with the absence of a contract, can do whatever it wants, as long as it's not violating a statute," Kritchevsky said. "If he wants to perform there, he needs to make sure it's what they want."

Chris Jordan, junior economics and finance major, said Goldsmith should be allowed to perform at Republic Coffee because banning him would only shelter people from the real world.

"(It) closes the door to exposure, which is the only way you learn about life," he said. "You need to be exposed to conquer danger."

A coffee shop could be an ideal setting for political theater, and audiences might enjoy Goldsmith's monologue, Jordan said.

"People go to coffee shops to read news, surf the Internet and become aware," he said. "I think it would be an appropriate environment for that type of discussion."

Brandon Shaw, sophomore philosophy major, said he shares the same view.

"It limits society in a way and keeps it from reaching its full potential," he said. "If children are sheltered their whole lives, and then they go out in the real world, then they're faced with problems they're not used to, and they don't know how to deal with them."

Future U of M student Hanna Connell said the owners should prevent performances that may not appeal to their clientele.

"It's their establishment, and they have every right to cancel," she said. "You can't go to Chuck E. Cheese and have a dirty poetry reading."

Because the content of the performance invokes communication about politics, Goldsmith said it would help not hurt.

"I wanted to create a space where people can discuss politics without beating each other up," he said.