Theatre banishes ‘outdated’ sitcom

AN AMATEUR theatre company has been told it cannot perform a stage version of BBC sitcom Are You Being Served? after it was deemed “demeaning to women and outdated”.

Hull Playgoers’ Society were told by the city’s Truck Theatre that the play was “not suitable”, the company’s artistic director has said.

The BBC sitcom, set in the clothing department of Grace Brothers department store, was well-known for its risque jokes, slapstick and innuendo and ran for 13 years from 1972.

Vince Matfin told the Press Association: “They are basically saying it’s outdated and it’s stereotyping and doesn’t fit with what they want to do.”

The 118-year old theatre company has been staging productions at the Truck’s 136seat studio for almost 40 years.

Mr Matfin added: “We have been going there since 1980 and now they have decided to choose what is acceptable and what the audience wants to see.

“When we did Up Pompeii! the only sanitisation we had was instead of the ladies being scantily clad it was the boys.

“We sold out every night. I was always a big fan of Up Pompeii! and I know how it has to be, what people remember off the telly.

“It has to be as close to the original as possible.”

He continued: “Up Pompeii! took £2,000 profit, our most profitable production ever.

“We know what the public like. We did a classic recently, Cyrano de Bergerac, and lost £600. The classics don’t work.”

Mr Matfin said he is committed to staging the production elsewher.

A spokeswoman for Hull Truck Theatre has been contacted for comment.