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Performer Tim Minchin has reportedly described the three actors at the centre of a furore for wearing traditional keffiyeh scarves at the opening night of Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The Seagull as living in leftie glass bubbles.
Minchin, who is a member of the theatre company’s foundation board, spoke publicly of the STC controversy for the first time at his An Unfunny Evening with Tim Minchin and His Piano show in Canberra’s Llewellyn Hall on Monday night.
Tim Minchin in concert.Credit: Jacqui Manning
The pro-Palestinian protest by Harry Greenwood, Mabel Li and Megan Wilding, who took their curtain call wearing the scarves as a gesture of solidarity with the people in Gaza, has rocked the theatre world since the show opened at the Roslyn Packer Theatre on November 25.
The musician and composer of Matilda the Musical, who was in the opening night audience of the Chekhov classic, seemed to defend the actors, according to several members of his Canberra audience, explaining they did not understand what they were saying or wearing.
Minchin would not confirm to this masthead the exact content of his comments on Monday night, due to concerns over backlash.
Two STC foundation board members have resigned, subscribers have cancelled tickets, and the company called off last Wednesday’s performance out of concern for the actors’ wellbeing.
At the sold-out Canberra concert, Minchin thanked Jewish people in the crowd for “their tremendous support of the arts” and said he understood how offensive and upsetting the actors’ actions were for Jewish theatregoers who attended the performance.
Minchin reportedly asked the packed hall at the Australian National University campus to turn off their cameras and said if there were journalists present, he didn’t want news reports of what he’d said.
Several members of the ACT audience confirmed to this masthead that the singer-songwriter said he had studied philosophy and psychology and felt the actors shouldn’t have protested without fully understanding what they were talking about.
He then told the crowd he would end his concert with a Jewish man’s song, asking them to join him in singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.
His actions have won praise in the Jewish community, with some social media posts calling him “Tim Menschen”, using the Yiddish word for a person of integrity.
“As a Jewish person who loves Israel it was nice to hear someone who understands the nuance of the situation,” said one ANU academic, who asked not to be identified.
Minchin is also understood to have paid tribute on Monday to his former fellow foundation board member Judi Hausmann, who resigned last week in a letter to the foundation board in response to what she called the “woefully inadequate response to the incident” on stage.
Alex Schuman, son of fashion icon Carla Zampatti and CEO of the clothing label, also resigned last week.
STC and the three actors involved in the protest have been contacted for comment.
Last week, a video emerged online of STC cast members at a preview performance of The Visitors at the Canberra Theatre Centre on November 8 delivering a statement at curtain call in support of the Palestinian cause.
His Sunday night show in the nation’s capital was postponed until tonight so he could attend his mother’s funeral on the weekend in Perth.
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