Opera by Billy Elliot writer cancelled over gay line

 

Billy Elliot Writer Lee Hall Forced To Cancel Show Over Homophobia.

In Lee's Billy Elliot the Musical, Billy's friend comes to terms with his homosexuality.

 

Yet now,  in a shocking case of homophobia, an opera involving primary school pupils has had to be cancelled,  after Mr Hall  refused to remove two small references to a gay character's sexuality.

The opera, Beached, had been due to open this month in East Yorkshire, UK.  However, Bay Primary School in Bridlington has pulled 300 pupils from the project, over the row. 

Mr Hall has now accused Opera North, the company behind the  production, of "censorship".  The company hit back via the BBC saying it’s not homophobic to want to remove ‘gay’ mentions because it  "can appreciate the viewpoint of the school".

 

Beached is a libretto, which tells the story of a single father trying but failing to enjoy a quiet day at the beach, and aims to teach a message of tolerance and inclusiveness.

It was was due to be staged on 15 June at The Spa in Bridlington, and has now been replaced with another performance, reported the BBC. 

Mike Furbank, East Riding of Yorkshire Council's head of improvement and learning, said: "It was made very clear to the writer there were certain elements the school found offensive... including references to drug taking, sexual conduct and the use of homophobic name-calling.  Hall complied and the language was toned down dramatically, so to was other content, yet the school still object to one part -  which only involves adults includes the line: "Of course I'm queer/ That's why I left here / So if you infer / That I prefer / A lad to a lass / And I'm working class / I'd have to concur."

Harvey Brough, the opera's composer, said he felt the council had behaved in an "underhand and nasty way" by citing other elements of the script that had been removed from the final draft after negotiations.   He added that himself and Mr Hall had asked to meet with parents to discuss the issue further, but had been turned down.

"There is so much joy and love and tolerance in the play - the issues are sensitively dealt with," he said.  

Lee Hall said he felt "hugely disappointed" for the hundreds of people in Bridlington who had been involved in the project for more than a year, but more so over the reaction to the line in opera.

"I really thought this was from another era and that a school and an opera company can make this kind of mistake, I'm baffled by it.

"Obviously I'm annoyed but I'm more upset that this type of discrimination could be acceptable to people."

In a statement, Opera North said it "respects Lee's rights as an author and Beached is a wonderful piece about bringing all different sections of the community together.   "On the other hand, we can appreciate the viewpoint of the school about when they make the decision to teach PSHE [Personal Social Health & Economic education] to their pupils."

What message this is really sending is intolerance is alive and well and living in Bridlington.  How can we expect children to learn to accept and embrace differences when it’s heavily censored out of a musical performance about tolerance!