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Jewish Chronicle columnist shortlisted for journalism award
Kate Maltby covered antisemitism within the British theatre industry for the JC and Sunday Times
October 28, 2022 09:03
Kate Maltby covered antisemitism within the British theatre industry for the JC and Sunday Times
October 28, 2022 09:03Jewish Chronicle columnist Kate Maltby has been shortlisted for a British Journalism Award for exposing antisemitism at a leading British theatre.
The culture writer was recognised for her coverage of the Royal Court Theatre’s "Herschel Fink" scandal, in which an avaricious billionaire character was given a stereotypically Jewish name.
Ms Maltby’s reporting of the case revealed that the theatre had been warned the name could be offensive months earlier.
The writer, a senior research associate of Jesus College Cambridge is up for a prestigious award in UK Press Gazette’s Arts and Entertainment Journalism category, which will be announced on December 15.
On November 21 last year, her Sunday Times article “The inside story of the Royal Court Theatre’s antisemitism” set out the background to a growing scandal.
Quotes from anonymous Jewish directors revealed the discomfort many felt within a left-wing industry with a pronounced antisemitic strain.
“I found that earlier this year part of the text of Rare Earth Mettle was shared at a Royal Court workshop,” Ms Maltby wrote.
“Three sources at the workshop have claimed that a young Jewish director raised concerns with Hamish Pirie, the play’s director and associate director of the Court, about the name Hershel Fink, identified its Jewish roots, and suggested that the character, even if he had Mexican origins, had become an antisemitic stereotype.”
On December 16 in the JC, Ms Maltby broke the exclusive full story of how the Royal Court had “brushed off” concerns of antisemitism.
Kara Tsiaperas, a dialect coach working on Rare Earth Mettle, said she had asked the director, Hamish Pirie, why the “Hershel Fink” had been written as a Jewish character in a meeting as long ago as 4 March 2020.
WhatsApp messages obtained by Ms Maltby revealed the extent of Ms Tsiaperas’ concerns.
The coach had texted her friend: “I am afraid on many levels… What I am worried about is the lead American character is called Hershel Fink…
“I had to bring up that [this] is a Jewish name, which surprised the director.”
On March 1 of this year, the JC published Ms Maltby’s exclusive interview with Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone.
Ms Featherstone apologised “unreservedly” for the affair, saying that she had been “humbled” by the generosity of Jewish artists who had helped to hold the theatre to account.
“The big learning for me has been about how few Jewish artists have felt that they can be out about their Jewishness with their work at the Royal Court, and in other areas of culture,” she added.
Ms Maltby said: "The story of Hershel Fink exposed complacency towards antisemitism in one of the country's leading and most proudly progressive arts institutions.
“The people who deserve the real credit, however, are the theatremakers and Jewish activists who blew the whistle on the Royal Court. Some spoke out on social media, some spoke to me off the record and some even spoke to me on the record, despite real risks to their careers.
“So I am grateful to them, and to all in the Jewish community who have encouraged me to pursue the scourge of antisemitism in the UK arts scene."
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