Tim Minchin weighs in on STC pro-Palestinian protest furore

Performer Tim Minchin has reportedly described the three actors at the centre of a furore for wearing traditional keffiyeh scarves at the opening night of Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The Seagull as living in leftie glass bubbles.

Minchin, who is a member of the theatre company’s foundation board, spoke publicly of the STC controversy for the first time at his An Unfunny Evening with Tim Minchin and His Piano show in Canberra’s Llewellyn Hall on Monday night.

Tim Minchin in concert.Credit: Jacqui Manning

The pro-Palestinian protest by Harry Greenwood, Mabel Li and Megan Wilding, who took their curtain call wearing the scarves as a gesture of solidarity with the people in Gaza, has rocked the theatre world since the show opened at the Roslyn Packer Theatre on November 25.

The musician and composer of Matilda the Musical, who was in the opening night audience of the Chekhov classic, seemed to defend the actors, according to several members of his Canberra audience, explaining they did not understand what they were saying or wearing.

Minchin would not confirm to this masthead the exact content of his comments on Monday night, due to concerns over backlash.

Two STC foundation board members have resigned, subscribers have cancelled tickets, and the company called off last Wednesday’s performance out of concern for the actors’ wellbeing.

At the sold-out Canberra concert, Minchin thanked Jewish people in the crowd for “their tremendous support of the arts” and said he understood how offensive and upsetting the actors’ actions were for Jewish theatregoers who attended the performance.

Minchin reportedly asked the packed hall at the Australian National University campus to turn off their cameras and said if there were journalists present, he didn’t want news reports of what he’d said.

Several members of the ACT audience confirmed to this masthead that the singer-songwriter said he had studied philosophy and psychology and felt the actors shouldn’t have protested without fully understanding what they were talking about.