Kingsley Ben-Adir, Khalid Abdalla, Carla Henry, Pooja Ghai and April De Angelis are among 270+ arts and theatre figures who have signed an open letter to Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre condemning the theatre for censoring references to  Palestinian and trans liberation in a recently commissioned work.

The letter criticises the cancellation of director Stef O’Driscoll’s updated version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream which the signatories say interpreted the play through:
“the lens of contemporary rave culture (…)  and the diversity and cultural richness that Manchester is known for”.

Nicola Coughlan, Paapa Essiedu, Maxine Peake and Lolly Adefope are among those expressing dismay that the publicly funded institution would:

“censor a call for Palestinian freedom almost a year into Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza”

The signatories who include playwrights, directors, performers and artists nearly half of whom live or work in Manchester, say efforts to remove references to trans rights is: 

“unjustifiable at a time of heightened anti-trans violence and political incitement from UK politicians and parts of the media”.

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