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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 2, 2019 11:39:34 GMT
I wonder if she was planning to tell the director of her plans to reinterpret the role.
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Post by londonpostie on Oct 2, 2019 11:43:24 GMT
You mean she might be ambitious AS WELL!!!?
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 2, 2019 11:47:30 GMT
I don’t think that trying to remove LGBT+ characters from literature can be classed as ambition.
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Post by londonpostie on Oct 2, 2019 11:52:12 GMT
Ouf.
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Post by HereForTheatre on Oct 2, 2019 13:38:45 GMT
What line did Today take in response? They had Matt Hemley from The Stage on afterwards who argued pretty much all the stuff we've said in here. So to be fair it was balanced.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 2, 2019 13:55:57 GMT
She should never have been given the platform in the first place. Hate speech is hate speech - plain and simple.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2019 14:18:35 GMT
In my mind saying that you don't agree with people who aren't hetrosexual is up there with having racist views or not agreeing with someone being of a different faith.
My other thoughts are why did she go for the role, if her beliefs are that strong then surely she would have felt uncomfortable having to kiss another woman on stage.
I honestly think she knows her career is effectively over so is trying to get some sort of pay out. I could see the Theatres fighting this and lots of LGBT supporters even offering to fund them.
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Post by ncbears on Oct 11, 2019 20:36:11 GMT
Alice Walker has a few things to say: (link is to a BWW article on the statement, which is reproduced in the article - I copied and pasted the statement below) Walker StatementTo whom it may concern: from Alice Walker ©2019 by Alice Walker I feel the most heartfelt compassion for actress Oluwaseyi Omooba. Celie, the character she would have played, is based on the life of my grandmother, Rachel, a kind and loving woman brutally abused by my grandfather, and whoever was in reality the father of her children, offspring none of the family ever saw. Thankfully, after these births, and the disappearance of her children, she was barren. It is safe to say, after a frightful life serving and obeying abusive men, who raped in place of "making love," my grandmother, like Celie, was not attracted to men. She was, in fact, very drawn to my grandfather's lover, a beautiful woman who was kind to her, the only grown person who ever seemed to notice how remarkable and creative she was. In giving Celie the love of this woman, in every way love can be expressed, I was clear in my intention to demonstrate that she too, like all of us, deserved to be seen, appreciated, and deeply loved by someone who saw her as whole and worthy. Because I believe, and know, that sexual love can be extraordinarily holy, whoever might be engaging in it, I felt I had been able to return a blessing of love to a grandmother who had always offered only blessing and love, when I was a child, to me. In much of my work I encourage the reader to question everything. I have been urging a questioning and reconsideration of all the so called "holy" books for over forty years. The Bible, like the Koran, like the Talmud, and others that claim to teach the best way for people to live, must be interrogated, questioned, and respectfully deconstructed. Love, however it may be expressed, is to be honored and welcomed into the light of our common survival as a consciously human, race. For a short introduction of what I teach in this regard, please see an essay: THE ONLY REASON YOU WANT TO GO TO HEAVEN IS YOU'VE BEEN DRIVEN OUT OF YOUR MIND...Off Your Land, and Out of Your Lover's Arms. Playing the role of "Celie" while not believing in her right to be loved, or to express her love in any way she chooses, would be a betrayal of women's right to be free. As an elder, I urge all of us to think carefully about what I am saying, even as you, Oluwaseyi Omooba, sue the theatre company for voiding your contract. This is just an episode in your life; your life, your work, and your growth, will continue, in the real world. A world we must make safe for women and children, female and male. And the greatest freedom of all is the freedom to be your authentic self. And with love to all of us! Alice Walker
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 11, 2019 21:51:29 GMT
Powerful words - but I doubt they will have the desired effect
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Post by Phantom of London on Oct 11, 2019 23:10:18 GMT
Those words reminded me of the Colour Purple, which is one of the greatest story told, but didn’t realise it was semi-autobiography.
Didn’t the beginning of the Colour Purple speak of the church and why it’s an institution that I loathe, how the community were controlled and god fearing and yet one of the congregation committed some of the most egregious and perfidious acts a person can commit on another.
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Post by ncbears on Jan 3, 2020 19:23:05 GMT
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jan 29, 2021 12:46:31 GMT
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 29, 2021 15:33:32 GMT
As if Curve need this right now, honestly.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 29, 2021 17:02:52 GMT
She will lose and lose again. Costs will be awarded again her.
No-one needs the stress. But she is going to lose.
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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 29, 2021 17:21:49 GMT
I didn’t know you could sue for spreading homophobia.
Not that in these heightened times, should the judiciary be concerning themselves with a trivial case.
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Post by kathryn on Jan 29, 2021 17:52:51 GMT
I’d honestly forgotten all about this! 2019 was a whole other world!
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Post by TallPaul on Jan 29, 2021 19:02:55 GMT
What has gone before is largely procedural. She wanted to 'adduce' evidence from a supportive theatre critic and a theologian. This was refused and it's that decision that was appealed.
It's the tribunal proper that starts on 1 February.
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Post by paddy72 on Jan 31, 2021 1:47:15 GMT
Give the kid a break. In the marathon of homophobic crimes this whole spat doesn’t even Get out the starting blocks. And since when did Christian and indeed all religion bashing become a legit sport on this site? What side do you take if you’re a queer Christian?
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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 31, 2021 2:51:06 GMT
That you are a Christian, who is also gay.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 31, 2021 7:45:42 GMT
Give the kid a break. In the marathon of homophobic crimes this whole spat doesn’t even Get out the starting blocks. And since when did Christian and indeed all religion bashing become a legit sport on this site? What side do you take if you’re a queer Christian? I won't give anyone a break who uses hate speech in the way she did. I might have been more impressed if she had actually shown any contrition or willingness to learn. But she hasn't. Attitudes such as those she displayed have no place in the modern world. They are driven by hate. They are a choice. Sexuality is not a choice. And thus her right to follow a hate-filled version of a particular religion does not offer any protection when she chooses to be hateful towards those who are part of LBGT+ communities. We must not and will not tolerate her sort of bigotry.
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Post by kathryn on Jan 31, 2021 11:14:52 GMT
Give the kid a break. In the marathon of homophobic crimes this whole spat doesn’t even Get out the starting blocks. And since when did Christian and indeed all religion bashing become a legit sport on this site? What side do you take if you’re a queer Christian? She is the one who is suing. She is the protagonist here - we are merely spectators. Opinions expressed here have absolutely zero impact on the case. On a side note, ‘Queer Christian’ is a very odd phrase in relation to this case. ‘Queering’ in the ideological sense is about deconstructing heteronormativity. A ‘queer Christian’ would certainly not agree with Seyi Omooba’s religious beliefs that anyone outside of the married heterosexual family is morally wrong. A ‘gay Christian’ might, if they had a lot of internalised homophobia and believed that being gay is morally wrong. ‘Queer’, if not being used as a slur, has a particular meaning - it’s not synonymous with ‘gay’. The justification for using it as an umbrella term is that it covers everything ‘not heteronormative’, but increasingly people appear to be using it with no understanding of what it means.
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Post by poster J on Jan 31, 2021 17:36:50 GMT
Give the kid a break. In the marathon of homophobic crimes this whole spat doesn’t even Get out the starting blocks. And since when did Christian and indeed all religion bashing become a legit sport on this site? What side do you take if you’re a queer Christian? Speaking as a questioning (in sexuality terms) Christian, she is not displaying what I would call Christian values, and anyone who takes her side isn't either. Live and let live, no-one has the right to discriminate on the basis of sexuality or otherwise.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jan 31, 2021 17:56:14 GMT
Just as a reminder of what she wrote.
I don’t care what she believes but if she doesn’t think it’s “right” then choosing a profession where you believe a large proportion of the people you encounter and work very closely with are lying seems an odd course of action.
Also, 26 isn’t a kid.
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Jan 31, 2021 18:39:58 GMT
Funnily enough, I was googling a few weeks ago to find out what happened with this case. Homophobia has no place anywhere in this world, least of all the arts which she CHOOSE to pursue. I cannot comprehend her logic. Nah. Get in the bin. I feel sorry for her colleagues, this must have been deeply unsettling for them. And to echo BurlyBear, 26 means you're an adult.
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Jan 31, 2021 18:49:11 GMT
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 31, 2021 19:42:19 GMT
I fully believe that if you are going to play a gay role at the very least you must not be against it, even if you aren't an active ally. The point is here that unlike when actors play murderers, rapists, gangsters ect and so on when they are (hopefully) not, when you play a gay role you are representing a community, real people, people in the very audience watching you. You have to be committed to doing that and have a basic connection to it and they you. Clearly she could not do that and was entirely inappropriate to play the role.
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Post by poster J on Jan 31, 2021 20:09:01 GMT
Very much so. Interesting that her "legal team" is actually nothing of the sort - they claim to be providing pro bono legal advice but the person representing her at the Tribunal is just a lay representative, not a lawyer. So not a qualified lawyer (or at least not admitted to appear before the Tribunal).
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Jan 31, 2021 20:18:01 GMT
It's embarrassing and such a waste of time considering the amount of pressure the Curve is under.
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Jan 31, 2021 20:32:58 GMT
For those who don't want to waste 1+ hours on this here's what went on behind the scenes and some extra tidbits:
After the scandal broke Seyi's agent reached out to her and she confirmed she stood by what she'd said in the Facebook post, it was only then she was dropped from the production and by her agent
The FB post in question was directed at "lukewarm" Christians whose beliefs aren't as strong as hers, presumably because they're more tolerant of the LGBTQ+ community
Seyi initially auditioned for Nettie and was asked to come back and sing for Celie. Imagine how close we were to this whole mess being avoided (though we wouldn't have had the utterly delightful Danielle Fiamanya)
Joanna Francis (Shug) via her agent, as well as the director and MD all said they wouldn't participate in the production if Seyi remained, people had started cancelling their tickets and at least one critic said they wouldn't review the show
The theatre expert hired comes down on Seyi's side, using some utterly bizarre logic such as "you wouldn't expect an actor playing Othello to advocate murdering an unfaithful wife". The Christianity expert comes down on the theatre's side.
When Leicester Curve terminated her contract they were willing to pay Seyi the full amount she would have earned from the production, but despite being reminded twice she never invoiced them. This is the amount Seyi is suing for.
It seems odd to me that Christian Concern, an organisation that supports Seyi and from what I've heard is affiliated with her father's church, are happily sharing court documents that make her look like such a fool. And they didn't block out her address.
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 31, 2021 20:52:46 GMT
Well, what a waste of time then. She indeed comes across as a fool and one with no leg to stand on.
Btw I'm glad this happened. She would have read too young for Celie IMO anyway, she just looked to young, even if she wasn't. I thought that as soon as she was cast. I did actually see her as Nettie in the concert version as Cadogan Hall a few years ago and she was very good but I'm glad she didn't get that either anyway because Danielle was a star.
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