Theatre’s Black Out performance ‘led to threats and abuse’

A theatre in London that set aside one night's performance of a new play specifically for a Black audience received threats and abuse over the decision, it has emerged.

Theatre Royal Stratford East, in East London, designated a showing of Tambo & Bones on 5 July this year as "for Black audience members specifically" but said at the time that no one was excluded from attending.

The concept was criticised by some as exclusionary, but there was support for the idea from figures within the theatre community.

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Correspondence between Arts Council England and Stratford East relating to the performance, released in response to a Freedom of Information request, reveals that the theatre faced a significant backlash to the concept and had to take steps to deal with the fallout.

In an email to ACE dated 12 June, the theatre said it "paused all social media for a week" and turned off all comments on social media to "minimise the abuse that staff and members of the public were receiving".

It also suspended sales for the night of the Black Out performance on 5 July "until interest from people making threats against us had died down".

Meanwhile, it blocked or reported those who had been abusive and threatening and spoke to industry colleagues to get their advice about security and staff safety.

Security was put in place for early previews of the show, and the theatre reviewed its terms and conditions "to ensure that we have the right to remove abusive or disruptive audience members".

'Hostile responses'

Details of the situation faced by the theatre came in response to a request by ACE for clarification around whether there may have been a potential breach of the conditions attached to the £1.13m it receives each year as part of the 2023-26 National Portfolio.

A letter sent by ACE to Stratford East on 5 June said members of the public and MPs had raised concerns and it had a duty to clarify whether terms and conditions attached to the funding had been broken.

"We are aware that you have received significant, direct attention and that dealing with this takes precedence," the email from ACE says.

"We also appreciate that company and staff members may have been affected by negative, and even hostile, responses to the initiative.

"However, as concerns have been raised with us, in line with our standard practice in such circumstances, we are seeking assurance from you that [Stratford East] has not breached Arts Council England’s terms and conditions of funding."

The letter drew attention to the terms and conditions of the funding agreement, including "having an equal opportunities policy in place at all times and act at all times without distinction and in compliance with all relevant equality legislation".

Due diligence

In response, Stratford East said due diligence checks around the event had been conducted, including talking to other members of the London Theatre Consortium that had previously undertaken the nights – including the Almeida, the Gate and The Yard theatres, all of which are ACE funded.

"We also [ensured] that our messaging was clear that no one was excluded from the event and produced FAQs to go alongside the information on the website, to ensure that it was an inclusive, not an exclusive event.

"We also considered the proportionality of the event, in terms of ensuring that the night was one out of 29, so there were 28 nights that were not Black Out nights.

"Subsequently, the Met Police have contacted us to provide reassurance that they have no concerns around the event in terms of compliance with the Equalities Act 2010."

In a final email sent on 23 June, ACE said it was satisfied with the due diligence checks that had taken place.

"The information provided and your detailed response have assured us that Theatre Royal Stratford East has not breached any of the Arts Council’s terms and conditions of funding," the email states.