The creator of the controversial new play TERF has said he would “welcome” a visit from JK Rowling during its run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Despite not yet being performed to any audience, the play, which explores the now fraught relationship between the Harry Potter author and the actors who rose to fame in the cinematic adaptations, has already proven controversial.
Following the author’s decision to criticise the transgender community, stars including Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson spoke out in support of trans and gender variant people.
The fictional show sees the Harry Potter stars stage an “intervention” for the author “but the battle lines have already been drawn”.
Producer Barry Church-Woods said the play has been “a challenge every step of the way”, in part, “because of the fear of taking a moral position in one of the most prescient debates of our time: the right for trans people to live with dignity and free from discrimination.”
Writer Joshua Kaplan exclusively told The Independent: “I would absolutely welcome JK Rowling – and India Willoughby. Everybody is welcome.”
Kaplan’s comments come after Willoughby, a trans woman, said that she would portray the author in the play, which prompted Rowling herself to write that she would be “investing heavily in popcorn shares the moment the casting’s confirmed.”
The writer explained that TERF had no trouble finding an actress to portray the author, despite initial reports that they were struggling to cast the role.
But TERF’s venue, St Stephen’s Church, has now threatened to pull the plug on the play following concerns that it could lead to protests from members of the gender-critical movement.
Discussions about its continued presence at the venue, or finding an alternative, are ongoing.
The term gender critical is used to describe people who believe that biological sex is more important than a person’s perceived gender identity and that gender roles in general are harmful.
Rowling has been slammed by many for publically misgendering transgender people, including Willoughby, who she described as “cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is.”
Kaplan said he wanted to create a piece of theatre that would encourage the audience to “take a step back” and “see why they have come to the opinions they have come to.”
“It’s not just about what we say, it’s about the way we say it,” he explains, admitting that he was inspired to write the screenplay after the author first expressed gender-critical views in 2020.
“A lot of that interrogation [about] how we communicate with each other has been completely lost when we are sitting behind our computer [and] typing these awful, often terrible things out to each other and not stopping and thinking about [the] people on the other side of the computer.”
This sentiment was echoed by Church-Woods on a Change.org petition urging the show’s venue not to pull the plug.
He stressed that TERF “invites you to come, be challenged, and form your own judgements”.
Kaplan told The Independent that has never been subject to the type of “vitriol” often levelled when transgender issues are discussed until news of the play emerged.
“I can understand why someone would want to lash out now that I've heard these things being directed at me,” he admitted.
“I have had to stop and interrogate and say to myself, where is that coming from on their side, and where is that reaction coming from on my side?
“And then maybe I'll say something, but at least I will take that time to think and feel [first].”
Rowling’s increasingly vocal views about the transgender community, particularly this year, have influenced the play’s script, which Kaplan said is in its final stages of being workshopped.
“I'm always changing it now because there's always new things happening every day,” he admitted. “But her increased intensity was not the reason I decided to bring it to the Fringe. I decided to do that before.”
Kaplan also addressed the view of many gender-critical people who see the TERF acronym – meaning a trans-exclusionary radical feminist – as a slur.
“I’m an American,” he explained. “The word TERF does not carry the same weight in America. Most people, I would say, have no idea what it is.
“My goal as a writer is to reflect what’s happening [in the debate]. I am not endorsing what is happening.
“I want people to see themselves in the story, not me. It’s about the society these things are happening in.”
While Kaplan has admitted that it is a possibility that the show could attract gender-critical protectors, he is hoping that “cooler heads will prevail”.
The Independent has reached out to a representative for India Willoughby and JK Rowling for comment.
