The man who led an online campaign to get a theatre show in Bristol cancelled has proclaimed it a ‘phenomenal victory’ after it was scrapped because of what the theatre described as ‘unprecedented abuse and threats’ made against staff.
Actor-turned-culture-warrior Laurence Fox, who complained he had been a victim of ‘cancel culture’ after a controversial appearance on the BBC’s Question Time in early 2020, said he had taken up a campaign against a production of The Family Sex Show, which was due to be staged at the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol, and at the Egg theatre in Bath.
Both theatres now appear to have cancelled the show, although the Egg in Bath, which is part of the Theatre Royal, still says it will be staging the show to an invited audience.
Read more: Family Sex Show cancelled after 'unprecedented threats and abuse' at Bristol theatre
Despite no one having actually seen it - it was due for its first production in Bath next week, and in Bristol next month - Mr Fox joined criticism of the concept of the show that began on the Mumsnet internet forum and in an article in the Daily Mail, before being taken up by an ultra-conservative Catholic Christian campaign group and a right-wing think tank.
Mr Fox promoted an online petition which gathered almost 39,000 signatures, and labelled the show an ‘exploitative and potentially abusive production’.
An organisation called CitizenGo was behind the petition against the show. CitizenGo is a conservative Christian organisation founded in Spain nine years ago that campaigns on issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia, mainly by starting petitions and encouraging members or supporters to sign. Its campaign director Caroline Farrow said in a statement: “This is a phenomenal victory and thanks to the almost 39,000 of you who signed the petition. The producers of the show are unrepentant, claiming that the cancellation is due to illegal threats of violence and abuse from a ‘few extremists’.
"Sadly, it seems as though the producers have learned nothing. There was nothing in our campaign that constituted either abuse or violent threats and we hope that any illegality has been duly reported to the police. 39,000 people is not a handful of ‘extremists’ either. This was thousands of ordinary mums, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents and godparents, standing up in defence of children,” she added.
The Norwich-based theatre company behind The Family Sex Show are called ThisEgg. They said they wanted to provide an educational and fun theatre show to help children and young people learn about sex and their bodies in a family setting.
They said the production would feature a small section where some of the actors on stage got naked in ‘a non-sexual way’, and the show in Bristol’s Tobacco Factory Theatre was also due to be prequelled by a workshop for families and a panel discussion about sex education and the dangers of leaving children to find out about sex through ending up looking at online porn.
After the first wave of controversy earlier this month, the Tobacco Factory Theatre and The Egg theatre defended the production in a joint statement to Bristol Live. That statement said the show was ‘a fun and silly performance about the painfully awkward subject of sex, exploring names and functions, boundaries, consent, pleasure, queerness, sex, gender and relationships.’
“Using real life bodies, personal stories, songs and movement, The Family Sex Show puts the good stuff at the forefront of conversation and imagines a future where there is no shame, but a celebration of difference, equality and liberation,” a spokesperson for the show said.
They added that theatre company ‘ThisEgg’ had made the show in consultation with the School of Sexuality Education, and audiences would be sent a document detailing everything that takes place on stage before they attend. Every child attending - and the show is said to be suitable for children aged five and up - has to be accompanied by a responsible adult.
“ThisEgg have created The Family Sex Show to open up conversations around relationships. It is being created with input and guidance from education and safeguarding specialists. The nakedness in the show is not of a sexualised nature,” they added.
But the online campaign continued, and the Tobacco Factory Theatre said its staff were on the receiving end of ‘unprecedented threats and abuse directed at our building and team’. “We are sorry for the disappointment this causes to those who’ve booked. You will be contacted and refunds will be made available,” a statement added.
No one from the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Ashton Gate was prepared today to expand on what happened to them since the start of the online campaign, but Bristol Live understands the small team at the South Bristol theatre have faced a challenging fortnight as people phoned and emailed directly with their condemnation of the production.
A spokesperson for Laurence Fox said the threats against the theatre and its staff ‘haven’t been substantiated’. It's uncertain what will happen with the show which was made in consultation with the School of Sexuality Education.
After the decision to cancel the performances and panel discussion in Bristol and the switch to an invited audience only in Bath, theatre company ThisEgg issued a statement. "These public performances would have offered safe and positive learning to children, young people and guardians about rights, bodies, sex and relationships, advised by safeguarding and educational specialists.
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"It is regrettable that violent and illegal threats and abuse directed at the company and venues by a small group of people with extremist views has prevented families from opting to attend something that was transparent, consensual and legal. We believe that what has happened is reflective of structural and societal attitudes towards Relationships and Sex Education as well as art, culture and who is allowed to create and what we are allowed to engage with in the UK.
"The creative team will spend the next two weeks finishing the show, ready for a time it might be able to meet a public. We also want to respond to the events of the last few weeks and how we move forward. Removing work that celebrates freedom of expression from stages cannot be the answer," they added.
Mr Fox said he joined the campaign after being contacted by people wanting him to lend his support to the campaign.
After a career as an actor, he moved into politics and founded The Reclaim Party, standing for London Mayor in 2021 and losing his deposit with 1.9 per cent of the vote.
He rose to prominence, particularly on social media, following a controversial appearance on Question Time in early 2020, where he spoke against Black Lives Matter, and ‘woke culture’, then as the pandemic continued, he moved to be an anti-lockdown campaigner and activist.
“The show was never about educating children, but prematurely sexualising them,” Caroline Farrow claimed. “Children were being subjected to full-frontal adult nudity without their consent and introduced to inappropriate topics like BDSM. The Family Sex Show repeatedly claimed that they had taken advice from child safeguarding experts, however the show contravened NSPCC guidelines,” she claimed. “After they were contacted, the NSPCC also said that not only had they never heard of it, they also had no input into devising it,” he added.
“A number of CitizenGO members contacted me directly to let me know that they had also outlined the contents of the Family Sex Show to their local police force to ascertain whether or not the production was in breach of any indecent exposure or child protection laws, and that the police also expressed their concern,” she claimed.
“It is a violation of children’s rights and boundaries for an adult to strip naked in front of them and initiate conversations of a sexually explicit nature,” she added.
“The campaign was never about banning freedom of expression but protecting children. I had been been planning to step up the campaign today and had a number of offline actions planned, that will now no longer be necessary. I will be watching developments closely over the next week however and will not hesitate to act should it emerge that children will be attending the private performance. The show has yet to confirm whether or not the performers who are so keen to strip in front of children have been subject to any DBS checks or what checks are being made on those adults who would wish to take children to this performance,” she added.
- An earlier version of this story attributed, in good faith, the quotes and statements made by Caroline Farrow from CitizenGo, to Laurence Fox. Mr Fox's public relations agent sent the statement to Bristol Live saying they were made by Mr Fox. On receipt of further information from Ms Farrow, we are happy to clarify this was not the case, and now attribute the quotes correctly.
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