Dozens of actors, musicians, writers and other cultural workers took part in a protest on Wednesday evening at the press preview of the new play Bacchae (by Nima Taleghani).
As journalists and specially invited guests arrived at the theatre, the campaigners set up a sound system and unfurled a 10-metre long banner over the balcony above the entrance square.
The protest is against the National Theatre’s stance of ‘political neutrality’ over the genocide in Gaza, and the message on the banner read “Political Neutrality Is Betrayal”, while three interval bells preceded a Desmond Tutu quotation relayed over the speaker:
If you are neutral in a situation of injustice
You have chosen the side of the oppressor.
The activists stood in silence for several minutes behind the banner, waving Palestinian flags, then the recording was played once more to close the intervention.
Among those involved were comedian and actor Mark Thomas, who pointed out that all art is political, and there is no sense of balance when it comes to genocide – you are either for it or against it.
Actor/singer Milly Blue reminded us that the National Theatre bathed its building in blue and yellow light in solidarity with Ukraine, so it was hypocritical to hide behind neutrality now over Gaza.
Actor and writer Joel pointed to the naming of the Christine Schwarzman square outside the theatre – the Schwarzman family’s money comes from BlackStone Inc. a company with heavy investment in Israel as well as fossil fuels.
Various cultural groups are campaigning to push the National Theatre into taking a meaningful and influential stand for the rights of the Palestinian people, with the campaign likely to escalate over the coming weeks.
Watch this space.
