Israeli Show Banned AT Edinburgh Fringe

From link:

A show by an Israeli theatre group has been cancelled by the venue after protesters disrupted other nearby events.

The show was due to take place as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, an annual cultural festival in the Scottish capital that celebrates theatre, music and comedy. However, the Underbelly theatre was forced to cancel all performances of ‘The City’ by the Incubator Theatre group after anti-Israel demonstrators gathered outside, disrupting nearby events.

Described as “Humphrey Bogart meets Jay-Z in a gritty and darkly comic whodunit hip-hop opera”, ‘The City’ did not have political content yet various Scottish cultural figures called for a boycott as the Incubator Theatre group receives part of its funding from the Israeli Ministry of Culture.


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Updated On: 8/3/14 at 10:45 AM

It sounds like an interesting mix with good comic possibilities. Too bad the festival organizers chickened out and gave in to lowlifes.

Maybe to please the mob their next season will consist of only Rachel Corrie, Disgraced and The Who and the What. And of course Modern Terrorism or They Who Want to Kill Us and How We Learn to Love Them.

Updated On: 8/1/14 at 11:02 AM

I'm curious as to what Goth is getting at here. It is my understanding he is on the far right. Shouldn't the ban be allowed if the organization wants to ban it?

Once again, it is nothing to do with the vast majority of the 15,000 shows which constitute the Edinburgh Fringe. This is a decision made by one theatre's management.

You are castigating an entity which is no way responsible for the decisions that have been made.

Why? So you can have an explanation? They don't owe you anything, they have a right to do whatever they want, even if most people think it's wrong. Also, Israel is not a race of people, it's not the same thing.

Sutton, it sounds as if your question "why?" is rhetorical, but I'll answer it anyway.
I would want them to take a stand against such artistic censorship, discrimination, and giving into bullying and mob rule -- which is what seems (based on what I've read) to have gone on -- because it's the right thing to do.

Outrageous. Would they do the same thing to a Russian company or an American company or a Ugandan company? I highly doubt it. As critical as I often - and currently! - am of Israel, the fashion for selectively shunning Israelis is infuriating and highly suspect.

Then again as Jay points out, below, this may have simply been a practical decision because of security, crowds, etc., as prompted by the demonstrations. In which case, it isn't the decision which is outrageous, it's the demonstrators.

Updated On: 8/1/14 at 04:03 PM

But this would mean that the Fringe- which is an entirely neutral body- would have to begin intervening. Every year there are any number of performances which are politically or socially contentious. The Fringe does not programme; it is an open platform. It is up to any participants to react as they wish to the thousands of performances taking place. I think you are trying to compare Edinburgh to other Festivals which manage the content. Edinburgh is just not like that.

It is not the place of the Edinburgh Fringe Society to represent its participants in any circumstances.

If you think someone has done something wrong, do you need that to be confirmed by another group of people who have had nothing to do with it?

It's also a story about demonstrators targeted Israeli artists. Of course demonstrators have a right to demonstrate about anything they want. They also have to face the consequences of people responding by telling them that their demonstration is idiotic. Israeli artists are not responsible for their government's policies.

And NewYorkTheatre you should be embarrassed for not even bothering to try and get basic facts anywhere near correct. Despite being told how the fringe operates and how the decision was reached by the individual venue, you don't seem to be able to grasp the situation. Nothing has been banned. Again, the protests were disrupting the other shows taking place in the venue and surrounding venue. The venue id trying to locate a more suitable location, which would allow the show to go ahead and the protest to take place without spoiling other performances for artistes and audiences alike.

First of all, speaking about getting your facts correct, it's NewYorkTheater -- er, not re.
Second, you sound very close to the white Southerners during the Civil Rights Movement who presented themselves as the voice of reason in the face of an "emotive subject" like civil rights. It's not they who were racists, they said, but neither were they "agitators."; they were trying to keep the racists and the "civil rights agitators" from turning the situation violent.
I reject completely your pathetic argument that because this theater company got funding from their country's MInistry of Culture that they deserved to be targeted by a mob who, everyone agrees, disrupted not just their show but the other shows in the area. How can you possibly justify such disruption as acceptable and civilized under any circumstances?
But if you got a grant from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts, does this mean that protesters against the U.S. policy in, say, the Middle East, would have the right to shut down your show, and the other shows around you?

Updated On: 8/1/14 at 11:08 PM

Here's a link The Scotland Herald.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/palestine-protesters-stage-demo-against-israeli-show-at-edinburgh-fringe.1406750640

Here's a statement from Incubator Theatre.

Incubator Theatre issued the following statement:

Incubator Theatre wishes to thank Underbelly staff, the police and members of the public for their help on Wednesday 30th July, enabling the first performance of The City to go ahead as planned. The nature of the demonstration which accompanied the performance, whilst it may have been legal, was carefully designed and managed to intimidate members of the public and it succeeded in causing maximum disruption to other artists and other shows in the vicinity. We appreciate the efforts of Underbelly and others to find an alternative space for the production and hope that performances of The City will continue shortly.