Royal Court Theatre publishes encouraging report on Rare Earth Mettle controversy but “the proof of the pudding will be in the eating”

The Royal Court Theatre has published a report into last year’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.

This week, the Sloan Square-based theatre has published its full report, which comes at the conclusion of an investigation. The report explains that, over the course of successive stages of redrafting, the context and background for how the central character came to have what was, by the end, a clearly Jewish name, had been removed without adequate substitute, and that there were “structural weaknesses” that meant that this problem was not identified earlier.

As for the failure to heed the warnings and concerns by those who did identify the problem, Mr Pirie, who is an Associate Director at the Theatre and is at the centre of the scandal, expressed his remorse. Oddly, the review included a reference to medical treatment that Mr Pririe was apparently undergoing at the time which may have affected his judgment, but the report was at pains to insist that Mr Pririe did not himself rely on this in explaining his conduct, and his apology, reproduced in full in the report, makes no reference to this or any excuse.

The report notes that “a number of contributors were severely shocked and saddened by these events, especially as the Royal Court prioritises inclusivity and support for marginalised groups.”

The report proceeds to list numerous actions that the theatre will now be taking, including “both urgent and long-term specialist training on issues relating to antisemitism”, ensuring Jewish representation in creative teams, introducing new systems to record complaints, inject more senior oversight, and provide wellbeing resources to staff, among other policies. 

Last December, in Episode 4 of Podcast Against Antisemitism, we discussed the controversy at the Royal Court Theatre with the critic and journalist who broke the story, Kate Maltby. You can listen to the episode here or watch it here.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The Rare Earth Mettle scandal is not the first to rock the Royal Court Theatre’s relations with the Jewish community, which is why it is vital that this report be more than a tick-box exercise. The content of the report is encouraging, but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, and it will be up to the Theatre, liaising with Jewish organisations as it has begun to do, to rebuild the community’s trust and introduce the right oversight and support to prevent incidents like this from recurring and ensure that Jewish artists and staff are comfortable collaborating with the institution going forward.”