Equity is today, Friday, publishing an open statement in response to the release of information regarding the Report from the review into the cancellation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre in September 2024. Equity represented and supported members during the upheaval of the cancellation and subsequent fallout regarding the issues which led to the show’s cancellation.
In the statement, Equity says that opportunities were missed to publicly apologise to the theatre workers impacted, is not clear enough that no blame lay with theatre workers for the cancellation, and says that industry-wide lessons regarding artistic integrity, censorship and discrimination should be learnt from this experience.
Statement:
Equity welcomes the publication of Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre’s Independent Review, following the cancellation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in September 2024. The impact of the cancellation and events leading up to that was considerable for our members, and the issues raised have wider significance across the industry.
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.
We reject the assertion that supposed ‘legitimate concerns’ about artistic decisions related to Palestine and trans rights were not censorship.
Equity’s policy position is a firm rejection of the growing culture of censorship created by funders and pressure groups. We fight for artistic integrity and creative freedom, as well as dignity for our members and all working people.
The RET’s Vision and Mission statement states that they have an ‘active commitment to removing discrimination’. It is vital that such statements are not merely words on a page but are visible in the actions taken in workplaces. It is disappointing that the Review makes no reference to the fact our members felt these rights were under threat during the cancellation of their work.
Equity also advocates strongly for the importance of creative leadership that is not subservient to its administrative counterpart. We look forward to learning more about how the theatre’s commitment to ‘embedding artistic voices at the centre’ of the organisation will develop as a result of this Review. It is essential that the voices of our members and the wider theatre workforce are part of this development, not just management and trustees. It is a regrettable oversight that there is no specific reference to freelance theatre workers in the recommendations.
Equity will continue to advocate for the proper inclusion of the freelance theatre workforce. A failure to adequately engage with the unions, the democratic voice of the workforce, is a key part of these failings. The Royal Exchange must deepen their industrial relations with Equity as a key part of ensuring the lessons of this regrettable episode are learnt.
