26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Brian Cox play under review after only white actors told they needed ‘woke' training
It's a production about the rise and fall of The Royal Bank of Scotland.
RACE ROW Brian Cox play under review after only white actors told they needed 'woke' training
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A RACE row has erupted over a Brian Cox play after only white actors were told they required diversity training.
The National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) has launched a review after it was alleged white cast members were instructed to do lessons in misogyny and oppression awareness - while black performers were excused.
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Brian Cox stars in the show where cast were offered diversity training.
Credit: PA
Succession favourite Cox, 78, will star in Make it Happen at the Dundee Rep.
It's a production about the rise and fall of The Royal Bank of Scotland.
The training brief stated: 'This training is not compulsory for people of colour or from the global majority, though their participation is entirely voluntary and welcomed.'
Jackie Wylie, the artistic director and NTS chief executive, has ordered a review after the Free Speech Union (FSU) complained the training treated 'members of one racial group less favourably than members of others'.
The union said: 'It is plain that actors of white European ancestry are protected under the characteristic of race.
'Case law suggests that having good intentions is not sufficient to counter a claim of direct discrimination.'
The FSU, founded by Lord Young of Acton, said the specific exemption for black performers implied the 'training is only mandatory for actors of white, European ancestry'.
Jess Mally was due to provide the £1,500 group training course. She's a London anti-racism educator who charges 'white folks' 50 per cent more than people from 'the global majority' in her publicly advertised lessons.
The global majority is widely viewed as the 80 per cent of the world population who live outside Europe, North America and Australasia.
Tickets for 'white and white-passing people' cost £150 a head, disabled and LGBTQ+ people pay £120 and 'black and brown' people pay £100.
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The FSU has reported NTS to the UK equalities watchdog because the Equality Act prohibits employers from treating staff differently based on the protected characteristic of race, which includes skin colour, nationality and ethnic origin.
The NTS said: 'We acknowledge that use of the correct language around the offer of this training is important and this is currently under review.'
