Playwright loses lifetime drama award because of support for Palestinians.

 

Playwright - Caryl Churchill

Leading figures in the British theatre, including Harriet Walter and Juliet Stevenson, have condemned the decision to withdraw a lifetime award to the 84-year-old playwright, Caryl Churchill, because of her support for Palestinians and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In April, Churchill was named as the recipient of 2022 European Drama award in recognition of her life's work. The prize, worth £65,000, was the biggest in Europe. But earlier this month, the jury reversed its decision and cancelled the award saying they had been "made aware of previously unknown information", namely her signature in support of a BDS petition, and that her play, "Seven Jewish Children", written in 2009, had also be considered anti-Semitic by the Jewish Chronicle.

In an open letter, signed by actors and directors within the theatre, which was published on Thursday, the decision to rescind the award was condemned as modern-day McCarthyism which raised urgent questions about a "pattern of intimidation and silencing."