Royal Court Theatre faces torrent of abuse over new play highlighting antisemitism

The Royal Court Theatre is facing a torrent of abuse for putting on a play highlighting antisemitism, according to the JC.

Jonathan Freedland’s new play, Jews. In Their Own Words, examines the history of antisemitism while also drawing material from interviews and real-life experiences.  

The play, created in response to the increase in antisemitism, also discusses Royal Court’s Rare Earth Mettle controversy.

The theatre, which is considered to be a significant cultural voice but has a history of controversy relating to the Jewish community, received backlash after a play late last year, Rare Earth Mettle, from writer Al Smith and director Hamish Pirie, used the name “Hershel Fink” for the character of a greedy Silicon Valley billionaire.

The theatre issued two apologies when the controversy first arose in November 2020, with questions raised over how the character came to have such a name and the failure of senior figures at the theatre either to notice the problem or to respond properly to concerns raised earlier in the process by Jewish colleagues.

The character’s name was shortly thereafter changed and the incident was described by theatre critic and JC columnist Kate Maltby as an act of “unconscious bias” on Podcast Against Antisemitism. 

It has now emerged that the Theatre has been on the receiving end of antisemitic comments following the staging of Mr Freedland’s play, which has included abusive phone calls to its staff and a series of complaints to its switchboard and social media channels.

Mr Freedland told the JC: “As soon as that piece of mine appeared in the Guardian — setting out what the play was about — the trolls were out in force, not only on social media, filling up the Royal Court’s timeline, but in real life, harassing the theatre’s box office staff with phone calls, many of them abusive.”