Late last month, three cast members in a Sydney Theatre Company (STC) production wore Palestinian scarves, known as keffiyehs, on stage as they took a curtain call.
The act on the opening night of The Seagull by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, has sparked controversy.
STC has issued an apology, as it faced criticism from the Jewish community and the reported resignation of two board members, along with withdrawals of financial support from theatre patrons.
The day before the apology, the Australian Financial Review published a letter from a long-standing patron who wrote: "If I had been in the audience that night, I would have been sickened". He said what he felt was a lack of response from the theatre made him feel "you simply don’t care about me. Or Jews. Let alone Israelis".
Louise Adler, who has worked in the arts sector for over three decades as a publisher and current director of Adelaide Writers’ Week, weighed in on the controversy on Monday.
Speaking on the ABC’s 7.30 program, she questioned why attention has appeared to focus on donors "walking away" instead of the artists "and their right to have an opinion when they took a curtain call".
Reflecting on her personal history as a Jewish-Australian, she said it is a "tragedy" that wishes for peace and justice in the Middle East are being silenced, saying "it is vital for us to not look away".
What happened onstage?
The actors who wore the keffiyehs on the opening night of the play on Saturday 25 November, were Harry Greenwood - who is the son of actor Hugo Weaving - Mabel Li and Megan Wilding.
Adler said the actors were making a gesture of solidarity with Palestinian people, amid the latest escalation of the long-running conflict.
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas' 7 October attack in which more than 1,200 people were killed, according to the Israeli government, and over 200 hostages taken.
according to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza. The attack on 7 October was an escalation of a long-running conflict between Israel and Hamas.
A supplied image of Lousie Adler, director of Adelaide Writers' Week posing for a portrait in February. Source: AAP / Supplied / PR Image
What has been the response?
STC issued an apology on Wednesday 29 November, saying it was "deeply sorry" for the hurt the curtain call, and its immediate actions, had caused.
"We acknowledge that this is a difficult and frightening time for people in our community and around the world," it said in a statement.
"We understand the actions at the curtain call and our immediate response has hurt many in our community. For this, we are deeply sorry."
The company said it, and other cast and crew members, were not aware the actors planned to wear the keffiyeh in advance.
The apology followed the resignation of prominent board member, Judi Hausmann, the day before, after 16 years in the role. Hausmann was one of its foundation directors.
According to The Australian, she wrote a resignation letter in which she said: "I never imagined my resignation would be necessary because I’m a Jew." She has been contacted for comment.
The company cancelled Wednesday evening’s performance, according to media reports. Late on Thursday, a second foundation director, Alex Schuman, reportedly resigned. STC has been contacted for comment.
Speaking to the ABC on Monday night, Adler said she was surprised that reporting indicated "the attention seemed to be on donors taking their chequebooks and walking away".
"I didn’t see in the STC media reports that there was a great deal of attention paid to the artists and their right to have an opinion when they took a curtain call," she told the ABC's Laura Tingle.
The artist management company representing Greenwood and Weaving has been contacted for comment.
‘Actors have always had political views': Adler
When asked whether artists and actors should be bringing their political views into the theatre, Adler responded: "Actors, artists, writers have always had political views".
"There is a long and honourable and important tradition of artists being engaged in the world that they inhabit. Art that is not made of this world, that doesn’t take into account this world, feels to me rather vacuous," she said.
"I’m not sure what we expect from contemporary theatre if we don’t expect artists to engage with the issues of the day."
In its statement, STC said it believed that "it was not the intent of the actors involved to cause any harm or offence".
"We support individual freedom of expression but believe that the right to free speech does not supersede our responsibility to create safe workplaces and theatres."
"We have emphasised to our performers that they are free to express their opinions and views on their own platforms."
Adler argued there has been a long campaign by supporters of Israel and its successive governments "to suggest that any criticism of Israel is intolerable and inappropriate".
"That seems to me the subtext, if you like, to the grievance today that we’re discussing - which is that it was inappropriate for actors to bring their solidarity with the Palestinian people and their suffering under occupation to a moment in contemporary theatre."
A UN commission of inquiry found in 2022 the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory was unlawful. Then-Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid disputed the claim.
Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told SBS News on Wednesday the issue "is not whether artists and performers have the right to express their political opinions".
"The issue is whether it was appropriate for three artists to exploit a theatre performance that had nothing to do with the current war between Israel and Hamas," he said.
"This was not what the audience had paid to see, and the actors in question abused their position to promote their personal views. It is remarkable that Ms Adler cannot or will not see this."
Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Dr Colin Rubenstein claimed Adler's "extreme views on Israel have placed her at the far fringe of the mainstream Jewish community," adding her comments on the program "would have offended or angered most of that community".
"When she was asked about the special circumstances that would have made the Jewish community especially sensitive to pro-Palestinian displays that arguably might appear to offer support for Hamas’ murderous actions, she was unable to even mention the massacres of October 7, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust."
Adler also spoke about her involvement in previous cultural events, including in her role as director of Adelaide Writers’ Week.
Rubenstein also criticised the ABC for not having "both sides of the discussion". The ABC has been contacted for comment.
Earlier this year, the organisers attracted criticism for their inclusion in the program of two Palestinian authors, Susan Abulhawa and Mohammed El-Kurd. At the time, social media posts from the writers drew controversy and accusations of antisemitism.
"The Israel lobby decided that was reprehensible, they did not like the views of individual Palestinians, they didn’t approve of them,"she said.
"They have every right not to approve of those Palestinian writers and their views on the current state in the Middle East, and they’re perfectly entitled to their views.
"But they were not entitled in my view to say that those Palestinian writers should not therefore be included in a literary festival celebrating a very rich culture, that was Palestinian literary culture."
Wertheim and Rubenstein did not comment on Adler’s claims regarding Adelaide Writers Week - however, both commented at the time.
"Adelaide Writers’ Week cannot be a forum for dialogue and debate when only one side of the argument about Israel is allowed to be presented by multiple speakers, with not a speaker with a contrary view being given a platform," Wertheim said.
"Palestinian authors, of course, can and should have a place in Writers’ Week and similar events – along with Israelis and writers from around the world," Rubenstein said.
"However, a line must be drawn that excludes people from any background who engage in hate speech – with no exceptions based on sympathy for a particular cause."
The Zionist Federation of Australia was also contacted for comment.
‘It is vital for us to not look away’
Adler finished her interview reflecting on her personal history as a Jewish-Australian.
"I think it is a tragedy that we are being silenced, if you like, that the concern for peace and justice in the Middle East is suppressed," she said.
"My grandfather was murdered in Birkenau (Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp) because he was Jewish. My father entered the resistance in Paris when he was 14 years of age.
"His legacy, to me, is that it is important and it is vital for us not to look away, that we all have a choice … and that it is incumbent upon humanity to look at what is happening in Gaza now, and to say, 'we will not accept this. We will say no, not in our name'."
With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press
