Belfry Theatre to consider removing The Runner from 2024 lineup in response to petition

Belfry Theatre has responded to a petition started by an activist group identified as “Teach for Liberation.”

The theatre is facing a petition that calls on them to remove The Runner by Christopher Morris from their 2024 line-up.

The petition describes the play as: “Israeli settlers in a dehumanizing exercise of whether Palestinian and Arab life is of value.”

“We struggle to understand why the Belfry would choose to centre the voices of the oppressors instead of the oppressed.”

According to a summary from the Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) in Ottawa, Ont. The Runner follows an Orthodox Jewish volunteer group in Israel called Z.A.K.A., whose taks it is to collect the remains of Jews killed in accidents.

“When Jacob, a Z.A.K.A volunteer, treats a young woman suspected of stabbing a soldier, his world is changed forever,” the description says.

In response to the petition, the Belfry Theatre said in a statement yesterday that the decision to run the play or not will be deferred to 2024. In the meantime, they are “taking time to reflect on how best to move forward.”

“We thank those of you who have expressed your convictions, and we are listening. We value and respect these conversations in our community,” said the theatre. “We have been having many complex conversations about the production, its content, and its impact on the community.”

They added that copies of the script are available at the box office after January 8, and the community is welcome to come by and read it in the lobby.

Teach for Liberation updated their petition following Belfry Theatre’s statement, calling the decision to defer “disappointing,” and asked the people to continue to sign the petition until the play is removed.