Birmingham theatre forced to withdraw play
8:24AM GMT 21 Dec 2004
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/147...osed-show.html
A theatre company is seeking a new venue for a controversial play which was dropped after members of the Sikh community staged angry protests.
The play Bezhti was pulled after crowds clashed with police outside the Birmingham Repertory Theatre where it was being staged last Saturday.
Sikhs claimed the play, which depicts a rape scene and violence at a fictional in a temple, demeaned their religion.
The theatre said it could not continue to stage the play because it put their staff in danger.
Now Birmingham Stage Company said it is prepared to put it on somewhere else.
The minister for race equality at the Home Office, Fiona Mactaggart, said that both the theatre and the Sikh protesters had a right to free speech which should be respected.
It was a matter for the theatre how it responded to protests, she said.
Ms Mactaggart told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "Art always offends someone, but that doesn't mean it incites hatred of people.
"There's nobody suggesting that this play would incite hatred of the Sikh community. It does, however, distress the Sikh community and they exercised their free speech right to protest.
"It's a great thing that people care enough to make a protest. There are two bits of freedom of speech here. The free speech of the protesters is as important as the free speech of the artists.
Neal Foster, actor-manager of the Birmingham Stage Company, said he was looking to discuss moving with officials from the Rep and other venues in the city with a view to staging the play.
He added he hoped the Rep would change its decision.
But if it did not, his organisation, which is based at the Old Rep theatre in the city, would be prepared to put on the play.
"The story cannot end here. I will be willing to produce the play in Birmingham. I think freedom of expression is more important than health and safety."
He claimed West Midlands Police were prepared to fulfil their responsibilities and protect the theatre for the remainder of the play's run.
But he believed the Rep had been "hasty" in its decision, adding: "As far as I am concerned, the theatre's responsibility is to protect freedom of expression."
He said: "I have full respect for the Sikh community. I did a production with them last year. I can fully understand their position.
"But that doesn't entitle violence to be used to stop something being shown."
The Birmingham Rep earlier defended its decision to abandon the run following the protests, which led to three men being arrested for alleged public order offences. They were later released on police bail.
Stuart Rogers, the theatre's executive director, said the board had no option after Sikh community leaders could not give them assurances there would be no repeat of the violence.
He said the decision, which was later backed by the Conservative, Lib Dem and Labour leaders on Birmingham City Council, had been taken solely to ensure public safety.
"We are determined not to go down the road of censorship but when one stands in the foyer with 800 women and children and sees stones being thrown and police officers injured, then security and safety issues come to the fore. They have to," he explained.
The protesters claim the black comedy, which has a cast of seven, demeans Sikhism by depicting rape and murder taking place in a fictional temple.
The writer of the play, actress-turned-playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, has declined to speak to the media but has been informed of the decision.
Mohan Singh, from the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in south Birmingham, welcomed the decision.
But he said the Rep could have avoided the disturbances more than a week ago.
"It's a sad fact, but it's a very good thing that they have seen common sense on the issue," he said.
"But the fact of the matter is that it has taken things to become violent before it happened."
The decision was condemned as a blow for freedom of speech and expression by groups including the performers' union Equity and the Index on Censorship.
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