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Pretty Woman Musical removes ‘antisemitic’ gag from show
'Even seemingly innocuous comments can be harmful when they rely on stereotypes' one audience member complained
March 30, 2023 14:23
1 min read
'Even seemingly innocuous comments can be harmful when they rely on stereotypes' one audience member complained
March 30, 2023 14:23Producers of the West End show Pretty Woman have removed a joke from the script after an audience member complained it was antisemitic.
As reported by Jewish News, producers of Pretty Woman: the Musical agreed to remove a gag that contained a play on the words ‘sabbatical’ and ‘Shabbat’.
In the exchange between main characters Kit and Rachel, the lines previously read:
Rachel: Where’s Vivian?
Kit: She’s on a paid sabbatical
Rachel: I didn’t know she was Jewish!
Lara Lewis from Hampstead Garden Suburb was the first audience member to complain about the line. The 39-year-old told Jewish News that although the quip was “not the most serious in the world,” she was “absolutely delighted” that the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) had decided to remove the line.
In her original complaint, Lewis accused the ATG of “not understanding the issue” and needing to “further educate itself.”
“It’s important to remember that even seemingly innocuous comments can be harmful or offensive when they rely on stereotypes or assumptions about a person’s identity,” she said.
“I am not calling [the ATG] antisemitic as such, but it just felt out of place and was incredibly jarring.”
In response, the ATG said: “It is a simple switch to button that scene differently and [we] will subsequently cut the line.”
ATG added the decision to drop the line was supported by the show’s US-based director Jerry Mitchell and writer J.F. Lawton, who wrote the original screenplay for the 1990 film.
Currently showing at London’s Savoy Theatre, Pretty Woman is an adaptation of the 1990 film starring Julia Roberts. The original film, about a wealthy businessman who pursues a relationship with a Hollywood prostitute, did not contain the Shabbat pun.
Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust, told the JN: “The theatre appears to have responded with sensitivity to the complaint they received, and the minor change they made to the script avoids any potential misunderstandings in future without significantly affecting the musical itself.
“While this is not the most serious example of antisemitism in theatre, when it is easy to make a small change like this then it makes sense to do so.”’”