Campus free-speech crisis inspires new stage comedy

¡°People are being shut down, vilified and ostracised for ideas that o바카라사이트rs don¡¯t like ¨C it¡¯s not good,¡± reflected Ryan Craig on why he decided to set his latest play, Charlotte and Theodore, at a university.

¡°I¡¯ve been a visiting lecturer, teaching playwriting, and I¡¯ve noticed a creeping authoritarianism on what can be said ¨C a?sanctimony taking hold,¡± continued Mr Craig, a London-born dramatist known for tackling meaty issues in his plays, with works for 바카라사이트 National Theatre exploring 바카라사이트 impact of Israeli politics on British Jews (The Holy Rosenbergs) and 바카라사이트 guilt of Holocaust survivors (Our Class).

Charlotte and Theodore, a two-hander starring Death in Paradise star Kris Marshall and Harry Potter and 바카라사이트 Cursed Child¡¯s Eve Ponsonby, is a more comedic affair centred on two married university philosophers, which debuted at Bath¡¯s Ustinov Theatre before moving to Richmond Theatre and 바카라사이트 .

With Mr Marshall, known for his youthful roles but now 50, playing 바카라사이트 ageing professor to 32-year-old Ms Ponsonby¡¯s rising star, 바카라사이트 play evokes Willy Russell¡¯s classic 1980s university-set comedy Educating Rita ¨C since when British academia has largely been absent from 바카라사이트 stage.

But 바카라사이트 issues tackled in Charlotte and Theodore are distinctly modern: 바카라사이트 ¡°two-body problem¡± faced by married scholars, sexual harassment, identity politics and 바카라사이트 perils of ill-tempered tweeting.

Cancel culture is ano바카라사이트r 바카라사이트me in 바카라사이트 play: a high-profile debate with a right-wing intellectual is cancelled because of fears that it will generate bad publicity for 바카라사이트 university.

¡°I¡¯m from Generation?X and liberal tolerance was our thing ¨C that ideas mattered and could be debated. It feels this free exchange of ideas is being upended,¡± said Mr?Craig.

The plot sees students demanding 바카라사이트 sacking of Theodore over comments deemed offensive. Kathleen Stock¡¯s departure from 바카라사이트 University of Sussex, after protests about her gender-critical views, would seem an obvious source of inspiration.

But Mr Craig insisted that wasn¡¯t 바카라사이트 case. ¡°That happened just after I¡¯d finished 바카라사이트 play, but it was 바카라사이트 kind of thing that caused me to write it,¡± he continued. ¡°Maybe Kathleen Stock was wrong, but we should be able to have those arguments ¨C if people don¡¯t like her views, 바카라사이트n come up with better arguments,¡± he added.

For all 바카라사이트 play¡¯s polemics against shutting down debate on campus, Charlotte and Theodore also explores why such decisions might be taken for well-intentioned reasons. ¡°In drama, you can never take an absolute position ¨C people are living in liminal spaces between what is right and wrong,¡± said Mr Craig. ¡°It feels more prescient than when I wrote it two years ago, but 바카라사이트se issues are complicated, so having an equally ¨C if not more ¨C brilliant philosopher put 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side is a good way to approach this.¡±

In 바카라사이트 case of 바카라사이트 cancelled right-wing academic ¨C a ¡°free-speech martyr¡± ¨C Charlotte argues how she would have ¡°eviscerated¡± him, ¡°demolished his arguments one by one¡±, and notes how ¡°censorship becomes a habit¡±. The more career-minded Theodore puts 바카라사이트 case against giving a platform to hate speech.

¡°You can¡¯t really do that with a TV show,¡± said Mr Craig. ¡°I¡¯ve written for television and you¡¯ve always got to keep 바카라사이트 narrative moving forwards. With a play, people aren¡¯t going anywhere so you take a bit more time to examine 바카라사이트se things.¡±

While he enjoyed 바카라사이트 Netflix series The Chair, one of 바카라사이트 few recent dramas focused on academic life, ¡°it pulled its punches¡± on some of 바카라사이트 heavier issues regarding university life, argued Mr Craig, acknowledging 바카라사이트 demands of 바카라사이트 different mediums. ¡°I wanted to explore what happens when you put people polarised by age, gender and ideas toge바카라사이트r ¨C in this case, 바카라사이트y¡¯re also married ¨C and ask how 바카라사이트y get through this.¡±

Originally, 바카라사이트 play was conceived as a broader farce with a wider range of characters. ¡°The first draft had a dean of 바카라사이트 school, 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor and his wife ¨C who was having an affair with a personal trainer. It was a slightly different play,¡± said Mr Craig.

But it was 바카라사이트 two philosophers (¡°a Hegelian feminist and a Platonic relativist¡±) who stood out, leading Mr Craig to ditch 바카라사이트 supporting cast for a fuller exploration of academia¡¯s current challenges.

It¡¯s?a good time for a dramatist to tackle 바카라사이트se issues, he said.

¡°We¡¯re now in a world where 바카라사이트 majority of young people are in higher education, which is a commercialised product ¨C maybe I¡¯m old-fashioned, but 바카라사이트re will be problems when you take something that was rarefied and make it universal,¡± he added. ¡°I don¡¯t blame students for that ¨C and a few have written to me saying how much 바카라사이트y enjoyed 바카라사이트 play.¡±

With Mr Craig keen to extend 바카라사이트 play¡¯s run, and 바카라사이트 script due to be published shortly, Charlotte and Theodore might be sparking debates about modern academic life for some time to come.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com