Munya Chawawa calls out ‘abysmal’ racism and homophobia on theatre run
Munya Chawawa (Getty Images)
Munya Chawawa has said cast members faced “abysmal” levels of racism, xenophobia and homophobia during the Chichester run of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, after an alleged homophobic incident led to a cancelled performance that Sussex Police confirmed it is treating as a hate crime.
In a social media post after the show’s closure, the comedian and actor reflected on his six weeks in Chichester and said the off-stage experience had been deeply troubling for some in the company.
“For some of us, Chichester was a real struggle,” Chawawa said. “I don’t know if I have witnessed and or experienced as much racism, xenophobia and homophobia as I saw in those six weeks. I think I saw more in those six weeks than I have actually seen across my entire lifetime.”
Chawawa added that the alleged homophobic attack on a cast member, which led to a performance being called off earlier this month, was “just the tip of the iceberg”.
Performance cancelled at Chichester Festival Theatre
A performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was called off earlier this month after a cast member was allegedly abused with homophobic language and chased through Chichester city centre. Sussex Police said it was handling the incident as a hate crime, as per The Argus.
Chichester Festival Theatre said it was “deeply shocked” by the alleged attack on a company member and described it as an “appallingly abusive attack”. The venue said the actor had been “aggressively hounded and physically pursued through the centre of Chichester”.
Later, Sussex Police confirmed that, as part of its investigation, a teenage boy had been arrested.
Munya Chawawa speaks out
Chawawa said the incident was among a number of instances of prejudice faced by cast members and visitors linked to the production. He alleged that BRIT School students visiting had racist slurs hurls at them in the streets, and that friends who went to the show were followed and subjected to hostile remarks.
He also recounted an incident on a night out in Brighton in which, he said, a mixed-race group of friends were challenged by people who called them “migrants”.
“It was just utterly abysmal,” he said.
Reflecting on what he said he had seen, Chawawa argued that hostile rhetoric towards minority communities was showing up in everyday life. “My first thought was, it’s worked,” he said. “This 24-7 pipeline of hatred into people’s eyes and ears has actually changed people in the street.”
The incident prompted condemnation from local LGBTQ+ organisations, with Chichester Pride saying there was “no place for homophobia or any other form of discrimination or hate in Chichester”.
