‘Inappropriate’ play at school sparks outrage
Head of Bishop Strachan fired after parents call Merchant of Venice adaptation offensive
One of Toronto’s most prestigious private schools for girls has fired its head and issued an apology in the wake of a controversial and deliberately provocative touring adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.
The performance, by a U.K. theatre company, offended students at Bishop Strachan School (BSS), and sparked fury amongst parents who described it as blatantly anti-Semitic. A group of two dozen unnamed parents expressed outrage in a letter to the board over the “demeaning, derogatory and highly inappropriate language” in the play, including an audience participation element with students urged to chant “Hallelujah” in response to statements like “Burn the Jews” and “Take away their holy books.”
On Monday, BSS issued an apology, admitting “it was an error to present that particular version of the play” and “appropriate context was not provided to students to prepare them.”
“For that, BSS is deeply sorry,” according to an emailed statement from the school. “An internal review is underway to establish guidelines and procedures to ensure this will not happen again.”
The school has “parted ways” with its head Judith Carlisle in the wake of the controversy.
The school cited “an inability to align on a strategy for moving forward for the future.” She is replaced by the deputy head, Angela Terpstra. Carlisle is the school’s 19th head and was appointed last year after BSS hired her away from Oxford High School in England.
Carlisle is represented by law firm Henein Hutchison LLP, which released a statement Friday on her behalf. In it, Carlisle states that the play, which was performed at the school for Grade 11 and some Grade 12 students on Oct. 17, “draws attention to the enduring and insidious impacts of anti-Semitism in Shakespeare’s time and since then.” She noted it had been previously performed and well-received at Oxford High School when she worked there.
“I would never deliberately offend students entrusted to my care or their parents,” said Carlisle, who could not be reached for comment Monday. “That was not my intention. I deeply regret that there was not a plan in place to ensure that teachers were fully prepared to engage the students on the play.”
The adaptation by Box Clever Theatre, where Carlisle previously volunteered as a director or “trustee,” is an interpretation of the 16th-century dark comedy that incorporates Hitler and the Holocaust. Shakespeare’s play has long been critiqued for anti-Semitic elements, particularly its depiction of the character Shylock, a Jewish money lender.
Stagings of The Merchant of Venice regularly provoke controversy, according to Allen MacInnis, artistic director of the Young People’s Theatre in Toronto. He was not involved in the play, but watched a public evening performance that was primarily attended by adults.
“Every time a production is done of it, people ask the question of whether it should be done anymore,” he says. “Lots of times, people interpret it in a way to try and make us understand something more of what’s there … but from my experience, it’s almost always failed.”
According to Box Clever Theatre’s website, the play “fuses classical text with modern language” and was produced with “support” from BSS.
In an emailed statement, Box Clever said the play was first produced in 1998 and has been staged in the U.K., Ireland and in Israel, and “none of these productions have prompted any complaints.” But Box Clever said it is “opposed to anti-Semitism and all other forms of discrimination” and is “sorry if any students at (BSS) were upset.”
Box Clever said its adaptation seeks to “challenge hatred in all its manifestations and remind audiences of the dangers and consequences of unchallenged discrimination.” But according to the letter written by 24 BSS parents, dated Oct. 22, the play fell woefully short of this goal and “materially exaggerated the anti-Semitic sentiment of the original version” while minimizing the Holocaust’s impact.
“Many Jewish students whose families were … affected by the Holocaust were made to feel extremely uncomfortable and alienated as the production encouraged their fellow students to laugh at the horrific events and cheer anti-Semitic chants,” the letter stated.
The parents said they didn’t watch the play, but contents were confirmed and corroborated by “numerous students.”
The letter says they appreciate the “educational value” of controversial and racially charged subject matter. While this adaptation may have intended to provoke discomfort and “meaningful dialogue on the dangers of conformity and mob psychology,” it was presented without any “necessary preamble and debriefing.” According to the letter, many students couldn’t understand why the content was hurtful, or failed to recognize misstatements about the Holocaust, and Jewish students were further hurt by their classmates’ comments that the play “was amazing” and “Jewish students are ‘overreacting.’ ”
“Despite its intentions, without any advanced preparation and the necessary interpretation and perspective provided to young teens, the important message is lost and replaced with the perpetuation of dangerous anti-Semitic stereotypes,” it said.
Journalist Rebecca Eckler, who is Jewish, was “appalled” by reports of the play at BSS, where her daughter is in Grade 10. “I was stunned that something could even happen like that,” said Eckler, who has freelanced for the Star in the past. She read accounts of a Grade 11 drama student who participated in the production being instructed to make a nose “as large and offensive as possible” for the play. “In this day and age, how could someone say that?”
Eckler is particularly saddened by reports of the play creating division amongst students. While she believes BSS eventually did the right thing by apologizing and firing its head, she thinks the school can still do more.
On Monday morning, BSS held an assembly to address Carlisle’s firing and apologized to students for not better preparing them for the play. According to Eckler’s daughter, the school announced plans to hold a Holocaust education week in February — but Eckler wonders why this can’t happen sooner, especially in light of the deadly synagogue attack in Pittsburgh that killed 11 worshippers on Saturday.
Eckler won’t be pulling her daughter from BSS. But she and her husband have been donors for the past seven years and these recent events have her rethinking her financial support. At BSS, where more than 900 students are enrolled, annual tuition fees for domestic students are as high as $58,000.
Jewish advocacy groups, such as the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) and B’nai Brith Canada, have reached out to the school. FSWC offered to run educational sessions on the Holocaust and B’nai Brith said it could provide sensitivity training to teachers and administration staff. Neither offer has so far been accepted.
“We were outraged,” said Avi Benlolo, president and CEO of FSWC, adding that whenever students are taught about literary works that deal with racism or anti-Semitism, “context has to be provided.”
“We’re not in favour of censorship of historical works of art,” said Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, who applauds the school for taking action. “This was not The Merchant of Venice ... This (was an) anti-Semitic modern interpretation that was very wrongly brought before students.”