Stamford Theatre defends booking Katie Hopkins
A petition to stop her from performing has reached hundreds of signatures
The Stamford Corn Exchange Theatre has defended its decision to book Katie Hopkins for a show next year.
A petition from local residents has reached hundreds of votes in just a few days - and is urging the much-loved local venue to cancel the booking.
Bret Allibone, who started the petition, says he doesn't want the booking to tarnish the reputation of the Corn Exchange:
'A side effect from this is pushing people away from the Stamford Corn Exchange, which is a local venue which I would really love to continue to support but to do so they just need to put their hands up and admit an error.''
'It feels hard to go after an organisation like this that does so much good for the community, it does tear me a apart a little bit - and I would like it if there could be a resolution found so everybody can move forward.'
Bret said he was 'disappointed' and 'disgusted' to hear the news that Katie had been booked, while the petition's description read:
Katie Hopkins is booked to spread her hate speech to the people of Stamford at the Corn Exchange theatre.
I propose that we petition Stamford Corn Exchange to cancel this booking so that Stamford isn’t seen welcoming Katie Hopkins share her poisonous prejudices and make money off the back of it.
We should show that she, and others like her, are not welcome to our town.
A decision defended
In a statement, theatre manager Judith Mackie, said they recognised the decision is a controversial one, but they had no intention to cancel the booking at this stage:
"We are a receiving house theatre, and we are wholly self-funding charity. As such we must put on a wide variety of shows that appeal to as wide a demographic as possible; this inevitably means that we will host some performances that some people take exception to.
"Where this is the case, we can only hope that people understand that not all shows can appeal to all people, and while a specific show may be objectionable to you another show, that you may wish to see, could be objectionable to someone else."
"....If a performance falls within the remit of the licenses we hold, and – of course – within the law, we feel there would have to be extremely extenuating circumstances to warrant the cancellation of a show."
"Different shows appeal to a wide range of people and we strive to find a production for everyone. We pride ourselves in being inclusive and offer diversity across our programme."
"We of course listen to our patrons, and we will forward all comments to the management company that is putting on this performance."
Judith added that the management team behind the booking reiterated to her that: “The show is pure comedy and nothing about her opinions or hate speech at all, just comedy, and she says so herself”.
Katie Hopkins has been approached for a comment.