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Theatre to unite against censorship

Published Wednesday 1 November 2006 at 15:55 by Alistair Smith

Playwright David Edgar, National Theatre artistic director Nicholas Hytner and Behzti director Janet Steel are to unite against the threat to freedom of artistic expression posed by fundamentalist religious groups and the attempted censorship of plays such as Jerry Springer - the Opera.

A one-day conference, organised by Equity and sponsored by The Stage, is to be held at the National Theatre later this month, with a number of high-profile panellists also including director Michael Bogdanov, writer John Mortimer and freedom of expression campaigner Lisa Appignanesi, which will attempt to confront what organisers warn is a growing danger to theatre in the UK.

The decision to stage the event has been taken after a series of productions were affected by attempts from religious organisations to censor or shut them down. This year’s tour of Jerry Springer - the Opera has been dogged by protests by evangelical group Christian Voice, while a Birmingham-based production of Behzti was forced to close in 2004 after the theatre where it was staged was subjected to violent attacks.

Jean Rogers, Equity vice-president and chair of its censorship working party set up in the wake of those protests, said that performers and writers could no longer take for granted freedom of artistic expression and that it was important that the industry established a common standpoint.

She commented: “It will be good for the industry as a whole to be seen to be standing up for this…What would be good is for everybody to know that everybody feels the same, so that when an incident happens again, we can pounce on it.” Rogers added that it was crucial that, following the event, government “took a very clear lead” on the issue.

As well as representatives from the theatre industry, Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris and entertainment lawyer Sean Egan will be involved at the conference, which will address three core issues - ‘Should there be a right not to be offended?’, ‘What is the place of the law in performing arts?’ and ‘How can artists resist the pressure to self-censor?’.

Appignanesi, an outspoken proponent of freedom of expression, who is on the panel for the first of the discussions, said: “I would have hoped that given the people who are coming to the event, it will shore up the courage of directors, administrators and people who run things, to put on plays that if they were unsupported they might feel too intimidated to put on.

“Offence is an easy emotion. Religious offence of the kind expressed by the Sikhs protesting against Behzti or the small Brick Lane group against the film of Monica Ali’s book or the evangelicals against Jerry Springer - the Opera, has as much to do with power politics as it does with faith. It is important once more that we stand up for artistic freedom. In societies where artistic freedom goes, most of the others follow after.”

Attendance at the event on November 30 is by invitation only, for more information contact mbrown@equity.org.uk

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