Theater teacher alleges he was fired from Tennessee private school due to content of plays

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A drama teacher at an elite Chattanooga all-boys school alleged that his firing was due to the LGBTQ+ and anti-Christian themes in some of his program’s productions. The school denied the accusation, instead claiming it was the result of restructuring. 

Key Players

Stevie Ray Dallimore served as the director of the McCallie School’s theater program from 2013 until his termination in 2023. He is also an actor, and his credits include being Daniel Craig’s understudy in the Broadway production of Macbeth and playing a small role in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1. 

The McCallie School is a Christian all-boys boarding and day school in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ranked as the top high school in the state in 2023 by Niche, McCallie places an emphasis on the ideals of honor, truth, and duty, and its motto reads: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” While the school maintains a “commitment to Christian principles,” its website states that it “does not unlawfully discriminate in its admission policies, hiring practices, educational policies, or any other program, policy, or practice.” 

Further Details

After taking the latter part of the 2021-22 school year off to work on Broadway, Dallimore returned to McCallie on Aug. 9, 2022, for a meeting with the assistant head of school. Dallimore alleges he was told that beginning in the upcoming 2022-23 school year, his plays could no longer feature LGBTQ+ characters or themes. 

Dallimore said the censorship was preemptive; no parents had complained about content in past plays, but the head of McCallie and its board apparently felt that the school was “just not there yet” and that they would not allow such content in the current “environment.”

In the winter of the 2021-22 school year, Dallimore had organized a winter festival in which students submitted and performed 10-minute plays. Performances included same-sex couples and stories, all of which he deemed mild and appropriate, and he saw the festival as a sign of progress, not just because students felt free to express themselves in this way, but also because he received no complaints or negative feedback. In the spring of that same year, Dallimore’s program put on John Cariani’s “Love/Sick,” which features 10 love stories, two involving same-sex couples. He was not present for the official showing, as he was working on Broadway then. However, like the play festival, “Love/Sick” only received positive reviews, and he said he was made aware of no pushback from faculty, students, or parents.

Dallimore said he challenged the censorship during the August 2022 meeting, telling school officials this would be dangerous for the many queer members of the school community and questioning what his role was, if not to help students grapple with uncomfortable topics. He told them, “You are saying ‘It’s not ok to be who you are.’ I can’t do that. There are too many people who are hurt and even killed by this kind of thing. I’m not ok with it.” His misgivings, however, were ignored, he said. 

For his first production of the 2022-23 school year, Dallimore proposed to put on “Three Sisters” with McCallie’s sister school Girls Preparatory School (GPS). The play, by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, does not have any LGBTQ+ characters or storylines; nevertheless, he says, he received a call from his supervisor telling him that he was not allowed to do “Three Sisters” because it has adultery in it and some McCallie students might have had to act as girls. He ultimately decided “Our Town” was a safer, more conservative choice. Also that year, productions of “She Kills Monsters” and “Shakespeare in Love” at GPS were both nixed, the former for gay content and the latter because McCallie students would have had to cross-dress in it. 

Yet, the most blatant example of censorship by the school, Dallimore alleged, occurred during the 2022-23 festival. A GPS student submitted a vignette about an engaged lesbian couple, and while the play’s content revolves around the couple’s (fictional) cat more than their sexual orientation or relationship, McCallie’s administration told their counterparts at GPS to cut the play. 

During a meeting with the head of school, assistant head of school, and the attorney, Dallimore says, he tried to save the play but was unsuccessful. “There is the outward- facing McCallie and the inward-facing McCallie, and we are not going to put our imprimatur on something that is seen as divisive in our conservative community,” he quotes the head of the school telling him. 

Dallimore says he emphasized how the school’s decision had hurt its community members, and highlighted the hypocrisy of cutting LGBTQ+ plays while proudly proclaiming to be a safe place for all, regardless of sexual orientation. Again, the administration was unswayed, and the play was not allowed to be performed; however, festival attendees protested the decision by wearing rainbows and cat shirts that referenced the cut play. 

This incident was not the first time McCallie had faced criticism in recent years for how its administration, faculty, and students have allegedly contributed to an exclusionary culture toward the LGBTQ+ members of its school community. 

In 2020, past and current students began writing open letters to the administration and submitting stories to the Instagram account “Queer@McCallie,” detailing their harsh and often traumatic experiences at the school, in some instances triggering decades-long battles with depression and addiction. In the wake of these criticisms, the school’s headmaster and board repeatedly affirmed that McCallie was committed to serving all its students, regardless of sexual orientation, Notably, the head of school spoke about treating all students with dignity and respect at the schoolwide convocation on the first day of the 2022-23 school year, just weeks after Dallimore was told that his plays could no longer feature queer characters or storylines.  

Outcome 

McCallie cuts Dallimore 

During a meeting with the school’s attorney about the proposal and content for the spring 2023 play, Dallimore was told that the two schools — McCallie and GPS — had decided to restructure their theater programs, combining them under one teacher and program. Although he was assured by the lawyer that his firing was not related to the content of or controversies surrounding his productions, Dallimore believes that it was the culmination of a year of censorship and crackdowns on student expression and artistic freedom. 

A spokesperson for McCallie rejected the presumption that the school’s decision was content-driven rather than a mere restructuring, and emphasized that both Dallimore and GPS’s theater director were allowed and invited to apply for the new joint position. The representative further pointed to the school’s “Judeo-Christian heritage” and mission, saying that it is entitled and justified to make decisions that align with its long-established values.

Dallimore remainsl adamant that his firing is not an isolated or insignificant incident, telling the The New York TImes, “It’s definitely part of a bigger movement — a strongly concerted effort of politics and religion going hand in hand, banning books and trying to erase history and villainizing otherness.”

Neither Dallimore nor GPS’ theater director will serve as the combined instructor for the upcoming school year. According to Dallimore’s LinkedIn, he started a new position as performing arts educator at Phoenix Country Day School in Phoenix, Arizona, in July 2023.