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Gay News: Opera by Billy Elliot writer can now go ahead after it was cancelled over a reference to a gay character
Opera is now "age-appropriate"
Gay row opera is back on
7 July 2011
The opera Beached, which was supported by Opera North and featured 300 primary schoolchildren from the Bay Primary School in Bridlington, was cancelled after the school’s head teacher Emma Hobbs withdrew 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, accused Ms Hobbs and Opera North of discrimination, but has now rewritten the offending lines.
The contentious lines were: “Of course I’m queer/ That’s why I left here.”
Hall has rewritten them as: “Of course I’m gay/ That’s why I went away.”
In a joint statement the Bay Primary School and the East Riding of Yorkshire council said that they were delighted that Hall had changed the lines into an “age-appropriate text”.
Beached will be performed at the Royal Hall in Bridlington on 16 July. The libretto can be downloaded here.
