Anger As School Cancels Panto For Muslim Festival

[Angel Heart]

Daily Express | UK News :: Anger as school cancels panto for Muslim festival

ANGER AS SCHOOL CANCELS PANTO FOR MUSLIM FESTIVAL

Thursday December 4,2008
By Martyn Brown A SCHOOL’S traditional Christmas pantomime was scrapped to make way for the Muslim festival of Eid, it emerged yesterday.

Furious parents were told the planned performance of Cinderella had to be pulled because some pupils wanted to celebrate Eid at home with their families.

But the decision sparked a backlash from parents, prompting a grovelling apology from staff who hastily re-arranged the festive play for the new year.

In a letter from Greenwood Junior School, Nottingham, parents were told: “It is with much regret that we have had to cancel this year’s Christmas performances.

“This is due to the Eid celebrations that take place next week and its effect on our performers.”

But after a barrage of complaints, a second letter was issued saying the show had “not been cancelled outright” but has been postponed until the New Year.

The follow-up letter, sent by headteacher Amber Latif and chair of governors Yvonne Wright, apologised for the “misunderstanding”.

It read: “We are a very inclusive school and fully respect the cultures and religions of all the children.


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[strollingbones]

even to me...a play that occurs after the christian christmas is not a christmas play...i do not understand why one celebration cancelled out another? or why one took importance over another? can you pull your kids out of school for various holidays now? when my son was in school there was a limit to the number of days one could miss but this was not a diverse school. Is panto something most of you know about?

 

[Diuretic]

even to me...a play that occurs after the christian christmas is not a christmas play...i do not understand why one celebration cancelled out another? or why one took importance over another? can you pull your kids out of school for various holidays now? when my son was in school there was a limit to the number of days one could miss but this was not a diverse school. Is panto something most of you know about?

"Panto" or pantomime is a strong English custom. I suspect that is because it is very English that the Express is getting cranky about Widow Twanky and no hanky panky!

Widow Twankey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pantomime - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[strollingbones]

ahh so it is allowed to be called a new years play too?

 

[Diuretic]

The recent history has been associated with the Christmas/New Year period. It's quite common for well known film and theatre stars in the UK to do a season of panto, sometimes in regional areas, usually playing against type (imagine Kenneth Branagh playing Widow Twanky in Aladdin). I don't think (from long ago memories) that it was associated with Christmas in its religous sense, more the the holiday period.

I suspect the outrage is confected.

 

[Ravi]

I suspect the outrage is confected.

Yep. Why did they schedule a panto on a religious holiday and expect those that celebrated the holiday to participate? Pretty stupid, imo.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Yep. Why did they schedule a panto on a religious holiday and expect those that celebrated the holiday to participate? Pretty stupid, imo.

Did you read the story at all? Engage those couple brain cells and try to think for once.

 

[Diuretic]

Did you read the story at all? Engage those couple brain cells and try to think for once.

It's the Daily Express. You only need possession of the limbic (brain) system to be able to deal with that newspaper. A cerebral cortex is optional and probably not advisable due to possibility of traumatic deterioration due to invasive bullshit.