Scrutiny grows on Sour Lemons after Royal Court Theatre issues apology and changes character’s name amid complaints of antisemitism
The Royal Court Theatre has issued an apology and changed the name of a character after receiving complaints of antisemitism.
The theatre received backlash after the new play Rare Earth Mettle, from writer Al Smith, which is coming to the Royal Court this week, used the name ‘Hershel Fink’ for the character of a Silicon Valley billionaire.
In response, the theatre wrote on Twitter that it was “grateful to members of the Jewish community who got in touch with the Royal Court to communicate the name of one of the characters in Rare Earth Mettle is antisemitic.” It went on to state that “the character is not Jewish and there is no reference to being Jewish in the play,” but that the theatre acknowledged that this was an “example of unconscious bias,” stating that they will “reflect deeply on how this has happened in the coming days” and that it was deeply sorry.
The theatre later released a separate statement on its website, in which it said: “The Royal Court Theatre apologises unreservedly for this situation. It was a mistake, it shouldn’t have happened, and we are sorry it did. We stand in solidarity with our Jewish staff, artists, audiences and friends and are grateful to those who got in touch to communicate that the character named Hershel Fink was perpetuating an antisemitic stereotype. In response, the writer has decided to change the name to Henry Finn – this will be effective from the first performances next week, and we shall reprint all communications and the play text with this change.”
The statement continued: “Now we are looking towards the dialogue that will help us reflect on the process that enabled the name to remain and what is missing in our systems that would have mitigated this unnecessary harm. Our anti-racism work is current and ongoing, and this experience proves once again how necessary and wide that work must be. We will work hard now in the hope of building trust and confidence within our Jewish community.”
Notably, the theatre is partnered with an organisation called Sour Lemons, which describes its mission as “dismantling systemic racism in the arts and culture sector.” The partnership, which encompasses the Royal Court and Young Vic theatres, is described as “a strategic two-year partnership to identify and dismantle systemic racism within the organisations.” It is remarkable that Sour Lemons did not speak out against the use of the stereotype.
The founder and Chief Executive of Sour Lemons, Sade Banks, has in the past tweeted her support for the boycott of Israel. An overwhelming majority of British Jews find the tactics of those seeking to boycott businesses that sell Israeli products to be intimidating.
