Vancouver festival drops play over Gaza tension

Organizers of a performing arts festival in Vancouver have cancelled a play that addresses ethical dilemmas in the Middle East, citing friction caused by the Israel-Hamas war.

A statement from the PuSh Festival says it made the difficult decision to cancel The Runner ahead of its staging this month after hearing from those who wanted it to go ahead and others who called for its cancellation.

Last week, festival organizers said they were taking a show-must-go-on attitude for The Runner, despite Victoria's Belfry Theatre cancelling its plannedrun of the play over local tensions connected to the war.

The one-person play, which was set to run Jan. 24 to 26, explores the reactions to an Israeli rescue volunteer's decision to save a Palestinian woman accused of violence against a soldier from Israel.

The PuSh Festival statement says organizers have felt anger directed toward them in recent days, but its decision to drop the play is strongly connected to the words of festival artist Basel Zaraa, who said he could not allow his play Dear Lailato be shown with The Runner.

Christopher Morris, who wrote The Runner and was going to perform it in Vancouver and Victoria, says in the statement that if removing his show is "the only way Canadians can hear Basel's crucial voice, then there is value in stepping aside."

The festival statement says Zaraa said The Runner only "reinforces dehumanizing narratives about Palestinians."

The festival describes Zaraa's play, Dear Laila,as an immersive production, inviting viewers to experience a model of Zaraa's childhood home in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.