Crowds flocking to the Labour Party conference in Brighton this weekend will have a novelty alternative to long winded speeches – a play – and a play so incendiary that the organisers won’t tell anyone where it’s happening!
Controversial Corbynista Jackie Walker is bringing a one woman show called The Lynching to town on Monday 25 September. It starts at 9pm and it’s within easy walking distance of the conference centre – but, as yet, that’s all she’ll say.
Why all the cloak and dagger? It’s because The Lynching show is about the notoriously inflammable topic of alleged antisemitism in the Labour Party which is why pro-Israel campaigners have already scared venues off hosting the drama.
So people hoping to go will now only be alerted on the day – and then only if they’re on an approved list.
One of the drama’s organisers said: “It’s ludricous that’s we’re having to go to such lengths to stage this play. But the people threatening to disrupt things are serious menaces – they’ve got a track record in this sort of thing and we can’t take any chances of them spoiling the evening for the rest of the audience.”
He added: “At the end of the day it’s a a battle for free speech – that’s what it’s all about!”
The star of the show Jackie Walker hit the headlines last year when, following allegations of antisemitism, she was twice suspended from the Labour Party as well as being removed from her position as vice-chair of the Momentum group.
Ms Walker vehemently denies being antisemitic and claims she has been victim of a concerted campaign to smear Mr Corbyn and his supporters
She said: “Of course I’m not antisemitic. I am critical of Israel and its illegal occupation of Palestine. This is a huge issue which Labour must debate – and false claims of antisemitism are being used to try to shut the debate down.”
The opening of Jackie’s show comes at a critical time as pro-Israel members are attempting to tighten rules over alleged antisemitism in the party.
But she has received strong support from well known figures on the left including Noam Chomsky and Ken Loach. At the recent London premiere of the show Ken described it as a “great achievement.”
Ken said: “ What Jackie has done in her way is to say this subject is open for discussion…I think it is absolutely incumbent on all of us, everyone’s that in the Labour Party, or in Momentum, that we take this up, because if you give way on one issue then they come back for more.”
Earlier in the year, the award-winning director condemned an attempt to stop Jackie speaking in Scotland as a “serious breach of freedom of speech”.
Jackie’s show, which was greeted at the Edinburgh Fringe with cheers and a standing ovation, tells how her Caribbean mother and Jewish father during the civil rights protests in 1950s America.
Her mother fell foul of the CIA, was accused of unAmerican activities and was deported back to Jamaica.
Now, the show suggests, history is repeating itself. Jackie said: “My mother refused to be silent in her time, I refuse to be silent in mine. We must be free to speak about the rights of all people, however inconvenient this might be to those in power.”
After Brighton the show will go on a short nationwide show including two performances in London on October 2 and 3. More information on 07989070843 or email inmeds@yahoo.co.uk. And email the same address if you want to book in to see Jackie’s special show in Brighton. Who knows – you might get on the list!
the watch 