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Gay News: An opera by Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall has been cancelled over a reference to a gay character
Opera North supported the opera
Opera pulled in row over gay character
5 July 2011
The opera Beached, which is supported by Opera North and features 300 primary schoolchildren from the Bay Primary School in Bridlington, was due to open this month in East Yorkshire.
However the school’s head teacher Emma Hobbs has withdrawn her pupils from the production, following concerns over the “inappropriate” tone and language of the piece, particularly in reference to one character who is gay.
Writer Lee Hall, who wrote the screenplay for Billy Elliot, is now accusing Ms Hobbs and Opera North of discrimination.
Mike Furbank of East Riding council supported Ms Hobbs’s decision and said: “It was made explicitly clear to Mr Hall that we did not have an issue with having a gay character – it was the language and tone of the scene that were problematic.
At the council’s request, Hall toned down some of the language, but “it was still deemed as unacceptable for four- to eleven-year olds to be exposed to,” said Mr Furbank.
The controversial lines, which Hall refused to remove, were in a scene featuring adult members of the cast, and read: “Of course I’m queer/ That’s why I left here/ So if you infer/ That I prefer/ A lad to a lass/ And I’m working class/ I’d have to concur.”
In a statement, Opera North said: “Opera North takes the view that, regardless of whether we agree or not, we have to accept that the school is legally and morally within its rights to make its own judgment about when and how it introduces discussion about sexuality with children.”
Lee Hall told the BBC that he was hugely disappointed by the cancellation of the project.
“I really thought this was from another era and that a school and an opera company can make this kind of mistake,” he said.
“Obviously I’m annoyed but I’m more upset that this type of discrimination could be acceptable to people.”
