Porn Case Against Play (Press, 1 July 1981)

On 1 July 1981, Mary Whitehouse, a prominent anti-pornography campaigner in Britain, initiated a private prosecution against Michael Bogdanov, the director of the contentious play “The Romans in Britain.” The play, written by Howard Brenton, featured a simulated homosexual rape scene that had sparked significant controversy when it was performed at London's National Theatre in December 1980. Whitehouse's legal action claimed that Bogdanov procured an act of gross indecency between two actors during the performance. The defence argued that Whitehouse’s prosecution aimed to circumvent the legal changes made 13 years earlier that abolished stage censorship. Sir Peter Hall, the director of the National Theatre since 1973, defended the scene as a metaphor highlighting the brutality of colonialism. He asserted that while the scene was distressing, it was not indecent. Graham Ross-Cornes, representing Whitehouse, contended that if a similar act were committed in public spaces like streets or parks, it would be deemed an offence, thereby questioning the difference when such acts are staged. The prosecution was brought under a sexual offences act typically applied to sexual behaviours in public restrooms and parks. However, the 1968 Theatres Act, which lifted censorship on stage performances, included provisions that prohibited prosecutions for obscene or indecent acts related to theatrical performances. This legal backdrop set the stage for the courtroom drama surrounding the case, which was significant for both the theatre community and discussions on censorship and morality in the arts.

The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact

The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand