You’re bard! ‘Imperialist’ Shakespeare is not to be as New Zealand arts council pulls funding for school scheme

Shakespeare has been cancelled by New Zealand’s arts council – for alleged imperialism.

It turned down a request for £14,800 annual funding for the Shakespeare In Schools scheme, which has brought the bard’s work to 4,600 pupils a year at festivals nationwide for 30 years.

An assessor for Creative New Zealand questioned ‘the ongoing relevance of Shakespeare’ and whether ‘a singular focus on an Elizabethan playwright is most relevant for a decolonising Aotearoa (the Indigenous name for New Zealand) in the 2020s and beyond’.

They added that the world-renowned 16th-century British playwright and poet relied on a genre ‘located within a canon of imperialism’.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern – who took part in Shakespeare In Schools as a teen – said she not could overrule the independent body.

But she added: ‘I thought it was a great programme. And so I would like to continue to see other kids have those opportunities.’

The organisation’s chief executive Dawn Sanders said she was ‘gobsmacked and disgusted’ by the decision.

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