The Protest and the Play
The Protest and the Play
Podcast Description
In this two-part series, The Protest and the Play, we look back at two very different plays that were cancelled before they hit the stage – Behzti in 2004 and Exhibit B in 2014 – and use their 10 and 20-year anniversaries as a jumping-off point to ask: where do the limits of artistic freedom lie? Who has the right to tell certain stories? And would these plays be commissioned today?Behzti, a play by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, was cancelled by the Birmingham Reparatory Theatre after protests by members of the Sikh community, who were angered by the playwright’s depiction of a rape in a Gurdwara. The protests caused thousands of pounds in damage and forced the playwright into hiding.Exhibit B, a performance by the South African artist Brett Bailey, which featured Black actors chained and in cages, was described by its creator as a critique of "human zoos." It received five-star reviews when it opened at the Playfair Library in Edinburgh, but its run at the Barbican Vaults was cut short after a national protest campaign.The Protest and the Play is presented by Museum of Colour Director Samenua Sesher and actor, playwright, and director Kwame Kwei-Armah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores themes such as artistic freedom, the responsibility of storytellers, and community response, with specific episodes centered on the controversies surrounding Behzti, which depicted sensitive cultural issues, and Exhibit B, which critiqued racist historical practices, both leading to significant protest movements that raised questions about the appropriateness of certain narratives in performance.
In this two-part series, The Protest and the Play, we look back at two very different plays that were cancelled before they hit the stage – Behzti in 2004 and Exhibit B in 2014 – and use their 10 and 20-year anniversaries as a jumping-off point to ask: where do the limits of artistic freedom lie? Who has the right to tell certain stories? And would these plays be commissioned today?
Behzti, a play by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, was cancelled by the Birmingham Reparatory Theatre after protests by members of the Sikh community, who were angered by the playwright’s depiction of a rape in a Gurdwara. The protests caused thousands of pounds in damage and forced the playwright into hiding.
Exhibit B, a performance by the South African artist Brett Bailey, which featured Black actors chained and in cages, was described by its creator as a critique of “human zoos.” It received five-star reviews when it opened at the Playfair Library in Edinburgh, but its run at the Barbican Vaults was cut short after a national protest campaign.
The Protest and the Play is presented by Museum of Colour Director Samenua Sesher and actor, playwright, and director Kwame Kwei-Armah.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2024 marks the 20-year anniversary of the cancellation of Behzti at the Birmingham Reparatory Theatre.
Behzti (Dishonour) was a play by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, scheduled to be staged at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 2004. The play, which depicted a rape in a Sikh temple, was cancelled after violent protests caused thousands of pounds in damage and forced the playwright into hiding. In the months leading up to the protests, the theatre attempted to engage with members of the Sikh community who were angered by the play’s setting, but the two sides were ultimately unable to find a compromise. The incident provoked a debate on the balance between artistic freedom and religious sensibilities, the status of women within minority communities, and whether a theatre should prioritise artistic principles over the safety of its audiences and employees.
In this episode, playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah and Museum of Colour Director Samenua travel back to 2004 to talk to the people involved in the play and its cancellation, asking: Does art have the right to offend? Is protest under threat? And do venues have an obligation to stand by their artists, no matter what?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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