By the way, the same council is reported
to be introducing 49 more rules for
open spaces including bans on climbing
trees, flying kites and playing cricket
with fines of up to £500 for those who
offend. The sanctions will be handed out
by civilian park police who dress up with
stab vests and handcuffs like
Metropolitan officers, but lack many of
their powers. With them also on the
prowl for users of metal detectors and
other serious dangers to society, why not
simply ban walking in all Wandsworth
Council parks? Job done!
Think as I think
Hull Playgoers’ Society has been banned
from performing a stage version of the
TV comedy “Are You Being Served?”
after it was deemed “demeaning to
women and outdated”. Bosses at the
city’s Truck Theatre said they want the
production to be more PC. The BBC
series ran from 1972 to 1985, and was
littered with innuendo and risqué jokes,
but up to 22.5 million watched every
one of the 69 half-hour episodes. After
his version of the sitcom was rejected,
artistic director Vince Matfin accused
the theatre’s bosses of double standards
and censorship. He said, “When we did
‘Up Pompeii!’ we tweaked the script and
instead of women being scantily clad, we
had half-naked lads instead.” He added
that four male strippers in the cast had
gone down well with the audiences.
For those too young to remember, “Are
You Being Served?” featured a cast of
comic characters on the men and
women’s clothing floor of Grace
Brothers department store. There was
pet loving Mrs Slocombe, an outdated
stereo-typed gay Mr Humphries and the
snooty floor manager Captain Peacock.
Meanwhile young Mr Lucas was forever
chasing the affections of air-headed Miss
Brahms. A Truck Theatre spokesman
said they had asked to meet the theatre
group to discuss its choice of
performance and, “how this aligns
against our artistic policy and values.”
Meanwhile, John William Waterhouse’s
1896 painting “Hylas and the Nymphs”
has been withdrawn from display by
Manchester Art Gallery. The work,
depicting pubescent, naked nymphs
tempting a handsome young man to his
doom, was replaced by a note explaining
its disappearance was intended, “to
prompt conversations about how we
display and interpret artworks in
Manchester’s public collection.”
However,