Rita, Sue, and Bob Too (Out of Joint)

Agree with this or not, this is the result and how a lot of people will view it. A shame.

Anyone up for a trip to Wales?

It’s not that far from London

Sod the RC

The same theatre

That presented and will present

Tim fountain sex addict
My mums a Tw*t

This decision of theirs

Almost smacks of the superstitious
The more I think about it

It’s so weird and bizarre

Mock politically driven over sensitisation

Making decisions on the behalf of the audience

Max Stafford-Clark may have been forced out, but in Bolton, at least, he retained billing as co-director and co-script editor.

Well, since I created this thread after I saw it, you could start by going back to the very first post.

There is something about this that leaves a nasty taste.  Others have pointed out plays that complicate the debate and which were programmed during VF's "reign".  I'll add another one: "The Nether".  I believe this play, that imagines a virtual world where paedos are allowed to safely indulge their fantasies, even transferred to the West End. They might well say that they wouldn't programme such a play today and my question is "why not?"  If indeed they wouldn't programme this play today it makes them complicit in what happened before the whole sexual harassment stuff came to light.  If theatres are going to start censoring they'd better take a good look at themselves and their own culpability in the process. 

I'll probably regret wading in BUT...I think there's a hell of a lot of 'what if' happening right now. RC pulled this, which may or may not turn out to be for the best. If the whole remaining tour had been cancelled that is one thing, as it stands the piece is still being shared, therefore the playwright's voice is still out there and the hard work of the rest of the company (SC aside) is still being seen. In difficult and complex circumstances that's good enough I think.

It's also fair to acknowledge that Kate Wassarberg and the team at Out of Joint are dealing with a complex situation that's difficult to navigate- and is also steeped heavily in a theatrical past. They don't have a map for that so I take my hat off to a team who seem to be keeping their heads down and doing the best to work out what next. And if the RC have their reasons for pulling, and/or it's a joint decision then fair play. Given the timing, it's lucky this play got on it's feet at all.

These are new waters both at OOJ and everywhere, we hope and in a good way, it's not going to always be a smooth ride and I expect some 'art' will be 'sacrificed' along the way. But I'll take a handful of that for a greater good emerging somewhere down the line personally.

Actually, I just read a vile article from Spiked articulating the same views as expressed here by Brendan O'Neill (who once wrote that Jimmy Saville's victims should just shut up and move on). former communist now libertarian (read, never got past being a student). You want a wider context then there you go, a number of men using Dunbar, in her absence, to complain about contemporary feminism and the #metoo movement.

I am finding this complex debate very engaging, but when someone links my comments to such vile ideas as those above then it becomes odiously personal.  I am sure (I hope) that the poster did not mean what is suggested here: That I - and any other woman - who expresses dissent of any kind is colluding with predators, Saville apologists or anti feminists.  My comments were levelled at an institution (all theatre institutions, actually) which should be able to answer difficult questions from its audience/public.  I am not going to offer unquestioning support to any AD's - not even the female ones.  Behind the scenes some people have questioned the sexual harassment prevalent in theatre for years, but nothing was done about it.  Theatres should not be given a pat on the back for drawing up guidelines that other workplaces have had in place for over thirty years. For me, what is happening with this issue may indicate that a lot of theatre personnel are  out of their depth.  And my question about "The Nether" remains.

Of course I wasn't saying you were colluding but people like that are ready to jump on and twist such things around to their own ends. Should that stop anybody expressing them? Of course not, but it should make us wary of how our words and actions can be turned against us. 

So now VF has done a dramatic U-turn and is allowing it back! Can't tell if she's just a people pleaser or a good leader