A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Royal Exchange

The arts are free to an extent, it's also a business and it seems that the REX probably had reservations about some of the themes and the creatives wouldn't budge.

ugh that sounds like a nightmare place to put a production on tbh

Now we need to hear the other side

From the latest interview, it sounds like the theatre tried their best to find a compromise but the director refused to do so.

Maybe it's time for The Stage to just move on now, they seem completely obsessed with this story.

Stef O’Driscol’s full statement:

I believe that what happened to A Midsummer Night’s Dream is not an isolated incident but reflects a growing trend of censorship and fear-driven decision-making in the arts. As artists, we are losing the very spaces that are meant to challenge, provoke and speak to the issues of our time. 

In this instance, it is profoundly concerning and distressing that theatre artists have not been allowed to speak freely on a major UK stage. 

I grew up around rave culture – it’s in my DNA. I love it, I breathe it, it’s in my bones. So, I began exploring how Manchester’s drum-and-bass rave culture could intersect with Shakespeare’s text. The drum-and-bass scene in Manchester is pro-Palestinian, it’s a clear part of the identity and culture. It is my responsibility as a director to represent a culture accurately if I am putting it on stage. From the beginning of the process, all parties understood that the intention of the production was to represent this culture. 

In this production, the mechanicals were a group of Manchester based MC/rappers. Rave culture represents freedom of expression, historically and presently amplifying the voices of the oppressed. Characters expressed solidarity with trans people and the people of Palestine in a rap performed by a trans politically conscious mechanical. Executive staff stated that the production could not go on unless the phrases “trans rights” and “Free Palestine” were removed. It was stated to the full company that this decision was building-wide, including the board. The reason given was safety, citing concerns about potential audience protests and press backlash. 

The rap in question was created in rehearsals two weeks before our dress rehearsal, during which numerous staff members had access to the content via recordings, and some witnessed it first-hand during run-throughs. Concerns were not raised until the day we were due to do the dress run. 

In the final week of preparing to open the production, I received artistic and dramaturgical notes. I am used to having these conversations in my career, it’s a normal bit of the process as the work evolves. In this instance, there was a failure of proper and rigorous artistic support, leading swiftly to knee-jerk censorship. The venue conceded that we could include trans rights, but not mention Palestine. They eventually allowed a small badge to represent Palestinian solidarity, but it was categorically forbidden to say "Free Palestine" verbally. The executive staff allowed general mention of “genocide” and “ceasefire” but baulked at the specific call of “Free Palestine”. This feels especially unethical given that Equity recently passed a motion at the Trades Union Congress, which represents 5.5 million members, affirming that “artists and arts organisations should be free to critique institutions and bring attention to issues through overtly political art without fear of censorship or losing their public funding”.

After a week of artistic debate, and emotional toil, I decided that I couldn’t proceed under these conditions and made the difficult decision to step away from the show. I could not, in good conscience, continue with a production that undermined both artistic integrity and the well-being of myself and my team. Severe lack of management and support meant that members of our cast and community felt devalued, invisible, problematic and unsafe. 

Our production reflected the diversity and cultural richness that Manchester is known for, yet we were silenced on the very issues that matter to members of our cast and our community. By denying us the opportunity to preview this production, we were unable to truly understand (rather than second guess) how the audience would react to the piece.

I believe decisions and conversations from the executive team were driven by fear, undermining the audience and the very purpose of art. I am sorry to know that this building will lose significant resources in an already challenging economic climate as a result. I urge the Royal Exchange to take meaningful steps to repair the harm done and to ensure that this kind of harm does not affect future artists entering its space.

I am devastated by the loss of the production, which I have been working on since 2019. I have always dreamed of working at The Royal Exchange and this was the biggest, most important show of my career to date. I am heartbroken for the cast, the creative team and everyone who worked so hard to make it a reality. My heart goes out to the theatre staff who have been impacted and freelancers who were denied the opportunity to showcase their talents. 

As someone with a working-class Irish Traveller heritage, I have always been driven by the need to amplify marginalised voices. I believe in the power of theatre not just to entertain, but to provoke, challenge and advocate for social justice. Throughout history, and vividly in the works of Shakespeare, theatre has been a space for discourse and challenging the status quo – we must continue to fight for it to remain so. 

Thank you to the company for your extraordinary work. Your care for one another and your integrity are everlasting. I am also grateful to the wider theatre family for all the messages of love, support, and solidarity.”


www.thestage.co.uk/news/exclusive-royal-exchange-director-stef-odriscoll-breaks-silence-on-show-cancellation

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The fact the REX allowed them to mention Trans rights suggests that they did back down on some things even though personally I'm not sure how trans rights fits into A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Would Equity or the director call it censorship if it was say a Harold Pinter play and the characters started talking about things not relevant to the play? No, because his estate would get involved very swiftly.

But if it was an issue, why did it take the Rex 2 weeks to address it?

She says the lack of an artistic director (in the article) was a reason for why it happened.

I'd probably leave it but just to say if you hire someone to do something, you should probably leave them to it. A 'free palestine' rap in a rave based play isn't exactly a massive issue, esp if you've been working them for years and know how they work

Presumably the “right” (decision makers) people didn’t see it and the ones who did see it didn’t report up. And that’s the theatre’s fault.

If the Royal Exchange does ever comment on this hopefully they’ll be asked to explain why they put out what appears to be a bogus story of injuries to a cast member as the original excuse for the cancellations.

It's possible but I would be surprised, personally.

Having worked with and known the "decision maker" in this case for some years, and knowing what a micromanager she is, I would be astounded if she hadn't been involved with every step of rehearsals and knew about the rap and the style choices from the day they were introduced.

Perhaps I am cynical but I've been in the position where a venue waited till the last minute to voice concerns as a tactic to avoid long drawn-out negotiations where the creatives are able to take the time to seek advice and support, and without other bodies being involved (at least, not until after the fact). I think most writers and directors have experienced that in some minor way. And this is a theatre known for demanding press night re-writes. "Remove this or the show doesn't go on tomorrow" is a more effective threat than two weeks of back and forth wrangling with agents and Equity.

So glad the director and cast held firm and refused to be perform censored work.

Lots of lessons for the Royal Exchange to learn, but glad they’re starting to. And hopefully/maybe will get an Artistic Director back in place. Following what Hampstead did similarly is not a good route…

Further fallout from the cancellation - The Stage are reporting “Front-of-house casual workers claim that the venue opted not to pay them for three weeks of shifts they had been expecting to work during a run of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”