Time not right to stage play amid Gaza tensions, says Victoria, B.C., theatre

VICTORIA — Tensions connected to the war between Israel and Hamas have prompted a British Columbia theatre company to cancel the scheduled run of a play set in the region.

Victoria’s Belfry Theatre says in a statement the timing isn’t right to stage The Runner by Canadian writer and actor Christopher Morris and it could “further tensions” in the community.

Morris’s one-person play, which had been scheduled as part of a festival in March, explores the reactions to an Israeli rescue volunteer’s decision to save a Palestinian woman accused of violence against a soldier from Israel.

The theatre says it booked the play last year to present a contemporary work that could generate dialogue, but after a period of difficult consideration the production has been cancelled.