After getting into heated criticism from around the world for banning a play about Tibet for alleged Chinese pressure, the Royal Court Theatre in London has now vowed to produce the play about Tibet in the next season in a letter apologizing to the Tibetan community on Wednesday.
Abhishek Majumdar earlier informed through his social media pages that the British Council in China’s pressure on the Royal Court Theater had initially led to the delay of his play, Pah-la which draws on personal stories of Tibetans he worked with in India and ultimately leading the theater to withdraw it in January 2018, citing ‘financial reasons’.
The British Council had pressurized the theatre to withdraw the play from opening because of the fact that a programme in Beijing that it was running in partnership with the Royal Court. He also added that British Council had apparently told the theatre that if they programme this play, they will have to stop the China workshop with the Chinese writers. This pressure is alleged to have led to initially postponing and then eventually withdrawing it this year.
However, a spokeswoman of the theatre has apologized to the Tibetan community for the delay and withdrawal of the play, Pah-la and vowed to stage in the next season starting the Spring of 2019.
“The Royal Court Theatre apologises to the Tibetan community for having had to postpone and subsequently withdraw Pah-la for financial reasons earlier this year. We have been developing the play for three years and are extremely proud of this important story. Therefore, in the light of recent events, the Court commits to producing Pah-la in the Spring of 2019.” said the spokeswoman according the report.
The spokeswoman assured that the Royal Court is committed to protecting free speech and not silence any voice.
“The Royal Court always seeks to protect and not to silence any voice. In an international context this can sometimes be more complex across communities. The Royal Court is committed to protecting free speech sometimes within difficult situations. We are committed to our ongoing work with Chinese writers and we intend to place all voices on our stages.” she added.
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