An ultra-sensitive subject on stage: a new play that addresses the controversial positions of the author ofHarry PotterJK Rowling, on transgender people arrives Thursday in Edinburgh, the summer capital of live entertainment.
TERF imagine the actors of the film adaptations of the saga intervening opposite the writer who maintains that biological gender is immutable.
“It’s an intervention by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint to tell JK Rowling to stop her bullshit on Twitter,” Trelawny Kean, who plays Emma Watson, bluntly sums up to AFP.
The writer’s frequent and virulent posts on X-rated content on the subject at the heart of the UK’s culture wars have earned her the label of “trans-exclusive radical feminist” (TERF in English).
For author and director Joshua Kaplan, the play TERF is about trans rights and the disappearance of nuance on social media, rather than pillorying JK Rowling.
The work explores how “social media has infected the way we have discussions, how nuances have been lost,” he says.
“Violent rhetoric”
Concerned, the production has taken special precautions, has already changed the title and the performance venue. And the trans character in the play, “X”, will remain anonymous on the programs.
“We hope our company is strong enough to deal with all the nonsense about this,” says Barry Church-Woods, the play’s producer and co-founder of the production company Civil Disobedience, who is “genuinely concerned” by the violence of the discussions around these issues.
JK Rowling lives in Edinburgh, where she has signed some of the more than 600 million copies of books she has sold worldwide.
The Scottish capital hosts what is considered the world’s largest live performance festival every August, attracting thousands of new pieces and a host of artists.
The choice to present the play there, which will be performed as part of the “off” Fringe festival, has nothing to do with the writer’s ties to the city, assures director Joshua Kaplan.
The debate has been particularly heated in Scotland around the rights of trans people: the local government passed a law in 2022 to facilitate gender change, which was ultimately blocked by the central government in London.
“Family dynamics”
The actors from the series, who played Harry, Hermione and Ron in the eight films, have spoken out about their difficult relationships with JK Rowling.
Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the young wizard, said he no longer had any contact with the writer, and said he was “sad” about the turn of events.
Rowling, who has not spoken publicly about the play, sparked controversy in December 2019 when she expressed support for a researcher who was fired for tweeting that transgender people cannot change their biological sex.
Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson had distanced themselves from the writer, including when she detailed her position at length and announced that she had been the victim of sexual assault and domestic violence.
She defends herself against any transphobia, and she has become on the one hand a heroine for some feminists, on the other a target for radical trans activists and has even received death threats.
The play itself is “very funny” with a “family dynamic” between the three actors and the author, assures actress Trelawny Kean.
“It’s interspersed with scenes from Jo’s (JK Rowling) past that give us an indication of the reasons for her opinions,” adds the actress.
Like actors, many fans ofHarry Potter have difficulty reconciling their love for the author’s work and her controversial positions.
In this piece, Kaplan wants to address head-on how one can “love art and disagree with the artist.”