India: Artists protest against state-sponsored censorship
A protest march demanded that the Bombay High court immediately release of members of the cultural troupe Kabir Kala Manch. Published on YouTube.com on 8 May 2013. On 2 May 2013, artists, writers, journalists, filmmakers, students, cultural activists and actors from theatre groups marched in protest from Sriram Centre to Maharashtra Sadan in Mumbai demanding [...]
Myanmar/Burma: Corporate censorship is gaining control
Thangyat is a traditional form of entertainment performed for the New Year Thingyan Water Festival in Burma / Myanmar which takes place this week. Thangyat was banned by the military government after the uprising in 1988 but was kept alive in exile before being allowed back last year. But corporate censorship is now comfortably stepping [...]
United Kingdom: Previously banned Swedish play premiers in English
Banned in the United Kingdom for 50 years when first written, Strindberg’s play ‘Miss Julie’ shocked critics across Europe with its frank portrayal of sexuality and inter-class relationships in 19th century society. Now Canterbury’s Gulbenkian Theatre is to host the world premiere of a 21st century English adaptation of it. The Swedish play ‘Miss Julie’ [...]
Sweden: Lecture on shelter cities for persecuted artists
Playwright Reza Haji Hosseini will give a 45-minutes lecture on shelter cities for persecuted artists and the conditions for dramatic arts in Iran at the Swedish Biennial for Performing Arts on Saturday 25 May 2013 at 1pm in Jönköping. In the early 1990s, a movement among cities in Europe and America was started to shelter [...]
Kenya: Theatre play about oil explorations banned
Officials from the Ministry of Education in Kenya banned the winning theatre play ‘Shackles of Doom’ from the National Drama Festival set for Mombasa in April 2013, on the grounds that it contains hate speech, reported George Orido for Standard Media. Ouko Okusah’s NTV Kenya report on youtube.com was viewed 15,800 times during the first [...]
India: Theatre activists arrested
Theatre activists Sheetal Sathe and Sachin Mali were arrested on 2 April 2013 on various charges, including criminal conspiracy and for alleged links to Maoists and Naxalites. They are being held in Mumbai, India, and according to Amnesty International they are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Sheetal Sathe and Sachin Mali are members of [...]
Algeria: Hunger strike of Performing Arts students ended
The hunger strike is over after 11 days, and according to the Algerian newspaper Liberte, the students won the first round. The Minister of Culture is now talking with the students. It is however not likely to be the last crisis in Algeria. The students from the Higher Institute of Arts and Audiovisuals, ISMAS will [...]
Algeria: Performing Arts students on hunger strike
We have received the following message from Alger-Culture.com: “ALERT!!! Presently on hunger strike, the students of the Algerian High Institute of Performing Arts and Audio Visual are threatened by police and their institution is illegally closed.” “Desperate, a group of students of The Algerian High Institute of Performing Arts and Audio Visual (ISMAS) are on [...]
United Kingdom: Play about honour killings censored by BBC
The BBC has been accused of an “extraordinary” act of censorship after it cut a line from a controversial playwright’s drama on BBC Radio 4. Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, whose 2004 play Behzti sparked riots and death threats and was cancelled by a Birmingham theatre over concerns about public safety, was commissioned by Radio 4 to [...]
Denmark: Row over Muslim satire
“Every muslim must know that there are consequences if you make fun of Islam,” says Abu Zakaria and calls for a boycott of the new Danish satire-series entitled ‘Det Slører Stadig’, broadcasted by the public service channel DR2. In the tv-programme, four young women with immigrant background from Iran, Jordan and Bosnia take a satirical [...]
Turkey: Short play focuses on sidestepping of freedom of speech
Turkey experiences an increased sidestepping of the freedom of speech, writes Swedish PEN’s Dissident Blog which has published a theme issue with 12 texts about Turkey, including a short play, entitled ‘Forbidden Chirping’, by artist and poet Yeşim Ağaoğlu. Yeşim Ağaoğlu belongs to the new generation of leading artists and poets in Turkey who are [...]
Denmark: Theatrical performance about artistic freedom of expression
On 18 January 2013, a theatrical performance which focuses on the artistic freedom of expression versus artistic silence premieres at Theatre Grob in Copenhagen, Denmark. Inspired by the reality and the whole matter surrounding the imprisonment of members of Pussy Riot in Russia, the show, entitled ‘Stalin’s Boots’, focuses on questions such as: Why is [...]
Malta: Ban of theatre play upheld by Constitutional Court
Shocked producers of the play ‘Stitching’ will take their case to the European Court of Human Rights after Malta’s Constitutional Court of Appeal on 29 november 2012 upheld a ban on performing the production in Malta. “We feel that this sentence is not a gag on the play ‘Stitching’ but on all artists,” stated the [...]
Denmark: Row over ban of theatre group’s burning flag
This photograph of a naked woman and a burning Danish flag was supposed to have been promoting a new production by the theatre group Danskdansk (‘Danishdanish’) in the capital of Copenhagen. But the advertisement agency Clear Channel did not want to see it displayed on the back of 18 Copenhagen buses, and the director of [...]
Banned Zimbabwean artist calls for a way to appeal a ban
Award-winning actor, writer, director and producer Tafadzwa Muzondo, whose play ‘No Choice, No Voice’ was banned for political reasons, says it is unjust to ban a work without giving artists the chance to appeal. The law in Zimbabwe provides for a board of appeal, but none exists at the moment, and according to the newspaper [...]
Syrian actor killed – allegedly for supporting the president
The well-known Syrian-born Palestinian actor Mohammed Rafia is believed to have been killed by rebels because of his support for President Bashar al-Assad. “His death is a sign of the abyss of personal hatred and violence into which Syria has fallen,” wrote BBC’s reporter Sebastian Usher. An extremist rebel group says it killed him, though [...]
Uganda: Theatre play that criticises president banned
Uganda’s authorities have banned a play that criticises President Yoweri Museveni’s government, the play’s co-director and co-author John Ssegawa has said, according to BBC News. The play, ‘State of the Nation’, highlights alleged corruption and poor governance in Uganda, ruled by Yoweri Museveni for 26 years. “ ‘State of the Nation’ has staged at the [...]
Greece: Passion play cancelled after violent protests
The American passion play ‘Corpus Christi’ was planned to be staged in Athens, Greece, in October 2012. However, the premiere was cancelled after right-wing organisations, including the Greek Nationalist parliamentary party Golden Dawn, violently protested against the play. Playwright Terrence McNally wrote the play in 1997, and he received death threats when it was [...]
Palestine: Theatre director Zakaria Zubeidi released on bail
Zakaria Zubeidi, theatre director and one of the founders of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Palestine, was released on 1 October 2012. He has been detained in a prison in Jericho since 13 May 2012, most of the time without charges. Zubeidi was detained during a wave of raids and arrests in his home city [...]
Uganda: Theatre producer face a two-year prison sentence
British theatre producer David Cecil, 34, was granted bail after a couple of days in a prison near the capital Kampala, but his passport was confiscated, and he is due back in court on 18 October. He could face a two-year prison sentence if convicted. David Cecil is charged with “disobedience to lawful orders” from [...]
Uganda: Media Council bans performance with homosexual theme
Performances of a play about the struggles of a young, gay Ugandan businessman was halted by Media Council authorities one day before its scheduled opening night at the National Theatre in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. ‘The River and The Mountain’, written by the British playwright Beau Hopkins, portrays a corporate businessman coming to
Zimbabwe: Board of Censors ban a theatre play
On 3 September 2012, Radio COP reported that Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) have petitioned the High Court seeking to overturn a ban of the theatre play ‘No Voice No Choice’. The play ‘No Voice No Choice’ – a production by two community theatre groups, Edzai Isu Theatre Arts Project and Zvido Zvevanhu Arts [...]
Afghanistan: Death threats force Afghan actress into hiding
21-year-old actress Sahar Parniyan says she is living a nightmare after a fellow actress, Benafsha, was murdered by unknown men during the Eid celebrations in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul. Sahar Parniyan used to perform in Afghan drama serials and tv shows together with 22-year-old Benafsha. Khaama Press reported that she has changed her home address from [...]
Afghanistan: 22-year-old tv actress murdered
On 20 August 2012, Benafsha, a 22-year-old tv actress, was stabbed to death as she was going to a bakery in the western part the capital Kabul. It was said that the roles Benafsha played in tv series were considered to be “against Islamic values and moralities” Benafsha was killed right after she had participated [...]
Turkey: Theatre journal banned from city library
The Academic Journal of Mimesis on Theatre Translation and Research has been banned from a city library in Turkey because it is found to be ‘obscene’. The journal Mimesis is delivered to city and town libraries in Turkey by the country’s Ministry of Culture. The formal brief sent by Elazığ City Library Administrator, Ahmet Pirinççi, [...]
Malta: Theatre censorship law debated in parliament
A bill replacing theatre censorship with a classification system was presented to the Parliament of Malta in March 2012. It was expected that the bill would be approve, but the opposition requested more time for discussion. The parliamentary debate is set to continue in October 2012. In January 2012, the Maltese government announced plans to [...]
Iran: Theatre performance permission denied, theatre-goers allegedly harassed
Teheran police have been surrounding theatre halls in large numbers, allegedly in an attempt to make attending these venues uncomfortable for theatre-goers, reported the web site Kalame.com. Iranian stage actor Reza Behboudi said in an interview with the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA): “The large number of police patrolling the theatre halls does not help [...]
Palestine: Two on hunger strike for The Freedom Theatre
In an Israeli military court hearing on 5 July 2012, the Artistic Director of The Freedom Theatre, Nabil Al-Raee, was accused of possessing guns, and helping a wanted person (Zakaria Zubeidi) as well as three other wanted (but unnamed) persons. In response to the accusations Nabil declared that he is starting a hunger strike from [...]
Kazakhstan: Theatre director released after three weeks in prison
Theatre director and activist Bolat Atabayev was released from detention on 3 July 2012 in Almaty, and charges against him were dropped. Bolat Atabayev had been detained on 15 June 2012 and charged with “inciting social hatred” in connection with protests by striking oil workers in the western city of Zhanaozen, where at least 16 [...]
Palestine/Israel: Theatre director arrested by the Israeli army
At approximately 3:15 in the morning of 6 June 2012, the Israeli army entered the home of Nabil Al-Raee, Artistic Director of The Freedom Theatre, and arrested him. The soldiers refused to tell Al-Raee’s wife where they’d be taking him and why. Jonathan Stanczak, who will be on stage at the World Conference on Artistic [...]
Belarus Free Theatre: Strong criticism of repression in Belarus
“Everything has changed for the worse,” said Natalia Kaliada, exiled co-founder of the Belarus Free Theatre, in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian about the escalating brutality in her homeland. “New arrests are taking place. New people are going to jail for long-term sentences. Even rock concerts are banned in Belarus. Nothing has [...]
Myanmar/Burma: Seven performance artists face charges
Seven Burmese performance artists will face charges in a Mandalay court on 31 May 2012 after they allegedly broke an obscure law last week by performing in public with five foreigners who were subsequently deported. Irrawaddy’s Man Thar Lay writes: Officials from Mandalay’s Police Station No. 2 charged seven artists on Tuesday 29 May 2012 [...]
Turkey: Prime Minister will not tolerate criticism from state funded theatres
The Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatens to withdraw state support from the country’s 22 city theatres after his daughter said she was insulted by an actor during a play. What some are calling “Turkey’s culture war” began in April 2011 when the prime minister’s youngest daughter, Sümeyye Erdogan, 30, walked out of a [...]
Turkey: Protest against political interference at Istanbul City Theatre
A controversy over an allegedly obscene play has been used by Istanbul’s mayor to take artistic control of its municipal theatres. Actors took to the streets of Istanbul in protest – with banners that read, “Oh Sultan! Take your hands off theatres!” The municipality of Istanbul wanted to remove a play from the city’s theatre [...]
Germany: Artist banned from strangling puppies
Authorities in Berlin intervened when a German artist planned to strangle two puppies to death on stage in a Berlin theatre. The unknown artist was allegedly told that highlighting the plight of sled dogs in Alaska is not a good enough reason to kill the dogs. The performance, entitled ‘Death as Metamorphosis’, was to take [...]
Great Britain: Controversy over calls for cultural boycott of Israel
In September 2011, four musicians — Tom Eisner, Nancy Elan, Sarah Streatfeild and Sue Sutherley — in the world-renowned London Philharmonic Orchestra were summarily suspended without pay for six months for being among 24 musicians who signed a letter, published in The Independent newspaper, objecting to a London Proms concert by the Israel Philharmonic at [...]
India: Writer challenges police censorship in court
Writer N. V. Sankaran – also known as Gnani – has taken the ‘procedural practice’ of submitting threatre scripts to police for prior approval to be tried at the Madras High Court. This was reported by Times of India Unlike other states in India, theatre groups in Tamil Nadu must submit a copy of the [...]
Lebanon: Two stand-up comedians detained for breaching public morality
This was reported by al-Akhbar newspaper on 24 April 2012. Edmond Haddad, known for his role on al-Jadeed television’s Chi.N.N. comedy show, and Rawiya al-Shab, who is a theatre and film actress, were detained for a stand-up show they presented in 2009 at a pub in Gemmayzeh. A local media outlet was covering the event [...]
Turkey: Municipality censored theatre decor
According to the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, Tiyatrokare’s play ‘Onca Yoksulluk Varken’ was censored by Erzurum municipality in Turkey. Founder of the theatre Nedim Saban stated that the play was censored because of a “Down with Fascism” prop. Hürriyet’s reporter Gülbahar Karakuş quoted Nedim Saban as saying: “Unfortunately the play was censored because of its props. [...]
Singapore Dance Theatre denied permit to perform
The Malaysian government has denied a permit to a Singapore Dance Theatre days before they were slated to perform in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur. While no official reason was given, local media has claimed that the denial of the permit was due to the troupe’s “indecent” costumes, including classical tutus that have [...]
Study on censorship in Lebanon: law and practice
This study aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of censorship in Lebanon. The publishers hope “it will allow the many local artistic and cultural actors the opportunity to lobby for the most appropriate legislative amendments to the current censorship regulations which are currently not conducive to their work.” The study provides an extended definition of [...]
