A review into the cancellation of a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream after a censorship row has been criticised by a major arts union for avoiding “deeper accountability”.
The play had been due to run at the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester in September last year but was pulled in a dispute over one of the production’s songs, which referenced transgender rights and contained the phrase “free Palestine”.
The review, which was partially published last week by the theatre found that management had not censored Stef O’Driscoll’s production, but admitted “significant systemic organisational and leadership failures” at the venue.
Stage Directors UK (SDUK), which is the trade union for stage directors, choreographers and movement directors, was highly critical of the report’s findings.
“The claim that the cancellation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was not censorship but a failure of leadership is a false distinction that avoids deeper accountability,” SDUK co-chairs Pooja Ghai and Matthew Dunster said.
“Leadership failure does not exist in a vacuum – it is shaped by the very systemic pressures that lead to censorship in the first place. The inability to support artists in politically charged moments is, in itself, a form of silencing.”
They added that the events at the Royal Exchange were part of a “wider pattern of institutions failing to stand firm in the face of political and ethical discomfort”.
The criticism from SDUK follows similar statements from the arts union Equity, which said the review “fell short” of addressing issues and should have been accompanied by a full apology.
A statement from the union read: “We are disappointed that the review appears to fall short of addressing some of these issues, and that it does not include a public apology to the workforce for the failings of leadership. The review seemingly does not include a clear statement confirming that no culpability for the cancellation sits with the theatre workers engaged to create and work on the show, and this is a significant misstep.”
The fallout from the review has been swift. The Royal Exchange’s CEO Stephen Freeman resigned in the aftermath, citing “personal reasons linked to the impact of the last few months”, adding he was “comforted that the report has concluded that censorship was not at play”.
But the organisation is under pressure to go further as critics argue the handling of the cancellation and review has damaged trust between the theatre and its audience.
The issue dates back to September last year when the play, a modern retelling of the Shakespeare classic set in contemporary Manchester, was abruptly put on pause.
The first few performances of the play were pulled, with ticket holders told that the shows had been axed due to “technical issues” and cast injury.
However, the entire run was later cancelled, with the theatre, one of Manchester’s most important cultural venues, saying the decision came after a “number of issues with the production”.
The Manchester Evening News reported at the time that the source of the dispute was a song in the play.
According to the newspaper the theatre had asked for the song, which involved the audience, to be removed, but the director, Stef O’Driscoll, with the support of the cast, insisted it should stay. Other reports suggested that there was friction over a spray-painted “free Palestine” slogan, which formed part of the set.
