An Edinburgh Fringe venue has threatened to pull the plug on a controversial play about JK Rowling’s views on trans issues, its producer has claimed.
As reported by the Telegraph, Terf, which examines the Harry Potter author’s falling-out with the stars of the film franchise following her public comments on gender, had been scheduled for a 23-date run at St Stephen’s Theatre, a prominent Fringe venue in the Scottish capital.
However, the play, described as the most provocative to be staged at the Fringe for years, is now at the centre of a de-platforming row over claims the venue has axed the shows.
Barry Church-Woods, the play’s producer, claimed he had been told he would have to find a new venue as Peter Schaufuss, the owner of the building and a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer, had stepped in to veto the performances.
Church-Woods accused the venue of “hair-trigger censorship” after the show made worldwide headlines and faced a backlash over claims it amounted to an attack on Rowling in her home city.
The play was originally titled “Terf C***” but the second word was dropped after a public backlash. Terf is a slur that stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist, which some trans activists direct at gender-critical women such as Rowling who fight for women’s sex-based rights, and campaign to preserve single-sex spaces.
“It was admittedly a misstep on our part,” Church-Woods told the Times. “Very quickly, we understood that there was an incredibly misogynistic interpretation of that phrase, out of context of why the show would be called that, so we changed the name.”
On the threat of his show’s cancellation, he said: “We have been trying to have a conversation with him [Mr Schaufuss] but he is just saying he wants us out of the building,” Church-Woods said.
“My understanding is he has a clause in his contract that gives him a veto on what acts perform. Our next step is to find another venue. At this stage we need some kind of hero venue to step in and volunteer to have this. We struggled to get a venue previously and if we can’t find another one we will have to put it on outside of the Fringe.”
There have been claims the play was struggling to attract actors amid the controversy, seemingly due to a fear of backlash over the controversial subject matter.
Mr Church-Woods has now set up an online petition in which it is claimed Derek Douglas, programme director at St Stephen’s, “loved the script” but had been overruled by Mr Schaufuss. Mr Douglas said he hoped the venue’s position over the play would become clear in an official announcement that is expected later today.
Church-Woods has denied that his play is a “hit piece” on Rowling, insisting it is a “parody” that offers “space for reflection”.
He added: “Our play has now been subjected to the same censorship and stymied thinking which prevents us from having real, meaningful, and forward-thinking conversations about how to bridge our differences.”
The play is inspired by Rowling’s fall-out with the Harry Potter actors Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint over Rowling’s gender-critical views.
The actors, who went from anonymity to stardom after being cast in the films, all distanced themselves from Rowling after she spoke out about what the threat trans ideology posed to women’s rights and safety.
Five previous venues are said to have refused to stage the play because of fears it would attract protests from gender-critical campaign groups, who see Rowling as a figurehead for their movement.
Promotional materials for Terf include the tagline: “She had everything… until it all went to hell in a broombasket.”
This isn’t the first time in recent years that the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been hit with accusations of censorship.
Back in 2022, comedian Jerry Sadowitz was scheduled to play two nights at Edinburgh comedy venue The Pleasance during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but following a typically Sadowitzian opening night, the venue cancelled the second performance at short notice. The Pleasance then moved quickly to denounce Mr Sadowitz’s first gig, loftily declaring that it “[did] not align with our values”, “ha[d] no place on the Festival” and that it had been so offensive as to make people feel “unsafe”. (This, by the way, after insisting – “apparently with a straight face” as Michael Deacon put it for the Telegraph – that the Pleasance “is a venue that champions freedom of speech”).
Last year, Graham Linehan, the Father Ted Creator, had his stand-up show at The Leith Arches axed because of his outspoken stance on gender ideology. In a craven statement, the venue claimed some of its customers had been “rightly outraged” that it was to provide a platform to the writer, and that his presence would “violate our space”.
