Intolerance is stifling the stage
The Independent has a long and rather depressing article on the state ofc British theatre and the extent to which theatres across the UK are running into problems caused by intolerance, religious zealotry and political interference.
Some of the lowlights include:
John Botteley of the Grand Opera House in Belfast said staff were regularly picketed by groups such as the Free Presbyterians, who objected to productions such as the musical Jesus Christ Superstar or any discussion of homosexuality.
Hamish Glen of the Coventry Belgrade Theatre said he had been forced to resist calls from his local authority to eschew plays of a religious or politically controversial nature.
An Arts Council officer in the West Midlands said she had been contacted by another, unnamed, authority, wanting to know whether its funding agreements forbade works that might cause religious offence. There was no such wording, she had told them, as such a clause would prevent the kind of activity which her organisation wanted to promote.
Other speakers expressed alarm at the situation in Wales, where the Assembly has taken direct control of funding major arts institutions, raising the prospect of “intellectual censorship”, speakers feared.
Read the full story here.
0 comments Friday 20 May 2005 | Paul | UK
