Gay character row brings down curtain on ‘Billy Elliot’ school opera

Lee Hall, who wrote the hit play The Pitmen Painters and the recent TV adaptation of the memoirs of TV chef Nigel Slater, became embroiled in a war of words with Opera North, East Riding Council and Bridlington’s Bay Primary School when he claimed he had been asked to remove a gay character from his script.

Opera North and Hall have collaborated for the past year on the community project but days before it was due to be performed by a cast of 400, including 300 children from Bay Primary School, the performances of Beached at The Spa in Bridlington, on July 15, 16, were cancelled after the school said it would not take part.

The staging was set to be part of a two-year project run by Opera North, with the Bridlington Renaissance Partnership, which aimed to take opera into the seaside town, which has pockets of serious deprivation. Beached was to be a centrepiece, with a score from composer Harvey Brough and the libretto by Hall. Instead, there will be a celebratory performance marking the wider community project.

Mike Furbank, East Riding Council’s head of improvement and learning, said: “It was made explicitly clear to Mr Hall that we did not have an issue with having a gay character nor using drama to explore related issues – it was the language and tone of the scene that were problematic.

“Although the language was toned down, it was still deemed as unacceptable for four- to 11-year-olds to be exposed to.

“Children have the right to be protected from offensive language and behaviour and texts that seem to condone abusive behaviour.”

Hall said he had removed some offensive language but insisted he wanted the gay character in the piece, which he claims was impossible because of the school’s stance.

In an article published yesterday he expressed his astonishment that Opera North had “accepted” the school’s opposition and described as “bizarre” the “insistence that no one – not the school, not Opera North, not the local education authority – is being homophobic”.

“There is a scene where a group of late teens taunt the gay character,” he told the Yorkshire Post. “He says they shouldn’t pick on him, he is gay and proud. I am being told that children of a certain age can’t deal with somebody being gay. I thought that was an argument we have gone beyond by now.

“I have compromised on the offensive language but I won’t compromise on having a gay character or the fact any decent person would want to challenge homophobic behaviour, as shown in the piece.”

Hall, who is married with children, said he was inspired by the work of gay composer Benjamin Britten, a writer of a number of community operas, and David Hockney.

Opera North said it regretted a compromise could not be reached but insisted the work which had been invested over two years was not wasted. General director Richard Mantle said: “The fact that the piece can no longer be performed due to the withdrawal of the major school participant is disappointing for everyone.

“The decision of the main school to withdraw from the project – which saw 300 participants removed in one go – was the reason Opera North had to cancel the performances.

“The decision by Lee Hall to suggest that the production was cancelled due to a homophobic stance on the part of the company is unacceptable.

“It is so at odds with the reality of our views on the issue, and publicly misrepresents the situation in a deeply demeaning way.”

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