‘It’s appalling’: Hugo Weaving on the backlash to pro-Palestine protests in Australia

One of the country’s most acclaimed actors, Hugo Weaving, believes Australians are being “cowed into not speaking out” about Israel’s invasion of Gaza, following the furore generated by a protest taken by actors during the opening night of the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The Seagull in November.

“I do think there wasn’t enough front-foot commentary back from the STC,” said Weaving, a foundation board director of the STC, about the backlash to the protest. “I think the problem in our country is we’re all cowed into not speaking out. And that’s the problem I have. And I thought that was true of the STC. I think it’s true up to the highest echelons of power in our country and in the US.”

Hugo Weaving says the STC was “not front-footed enough” amid the furore over actors wearing keffiyeh on stage in a show of solidarity with Palestine. Credit: Simon Schluter

Weaving described the backlash as “absolutely extraordinary, just extraordinary” while speaking for the first time since his son Harry Greenwood and other cast members of The Seagull, including Mabel Li and Megan Wilding, were criticised for wearing keffiyeh scarves during the play’s opening night curtain call to express solidarity with Palestine after Israel’s invasion of Gaza, following the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists.

The resulting furore led to the STC issuing an apology after donors withdrew their funding, patrons cancelled subscriptions, and the resignation of three foundation board members, Ruth Ritchie, Judi Hausmann and Alex Schuman.

Weaving, who has spent the past couple of months in Ireland performing The President in Dublin and is now in Sydney for its local run, said the difference in being able to express political opinions in a country like Ireland, compared with Australia, was stark.

“It’s interesting being in Ireland; they’re much more vocal, much more sane talking about Gaza and Palestine, much more level-headed,” he said. “It’s great to hear so many incredibly intelligent Jewish artists, lawyers, getting up and talking about the various things that Harry was trying to highlight, very quietly. I mean, Harry said nothing about this, by the way, absolutely nothing about it. And good on him.”

Actors Mabel Li, Megan Wilding and Harry Greenwood wear keffiyehs for the curtain call of opening night of The Seagull in November.Credit: Andrew Burke

Weaving, who is a recent foundation board appointment but said he had yet to attend any meetings because he had been overseas, also condemned the reporting of The Seagull protest in the media.

“The reporting on it was such bullshit,” he said. “The reason why they didn’t do the show on a Wednesday [one production of The Seagull was cancelled] was because the actors were being papped by The Australian newspaper and they were terrified.”

“That very silent protest, it wasn’t even noticed on opening night. Really, it wasn’t. I was there. I didn’t notice the keffiyeh. It was the fact that it was attacked the next morning in the national newspaper [The Australian] and that those three actors were called junior actors, when two of them were playing two of the lead roles. And they were vilified and called antisemites, and they were asked to resign. That is so deliberately divisive, and it’s appalling. The outcry was appalling.”

Power, and those who wield it, is something Weaving has been studying closely with The President, in which he plays the president of an unnamed European country who, with the first lady beside him (acclaimed Irish actor Olwen Fouere), has survived an assassination attempt.

“This play was written in the ’70s and first performed in 1975, but really, in some ways, it’s very prescient,” said Weaving. “It talks to the performative nature of politics in a really big way. And if you look at someone like [Donald] Trump and how performative he is, and he is purely performative, it’s a fascinatingly timely piece.

“There’s so many wannabe dictators, or dictators actually operating on the world stage at the moment, all over the world. We’re living in a time where, unfortunately, the desire for dictatorships or the ability of dictators to operate ... seems to be easier than it ever has been, or certainly for some time.”

Written by Austrian Thomas Bernhardt, The President is Weaving’s first production with the STC for three years. He last appeared in Angus Cerrini’s haunting murder mystery Wonnangatta, which was the first work staged after the first lockdown in 2020.

Social-distancing regulations meant only a handful of people were in the audience each night. This time, when he performed The President to sold-out audiences at Dublin’s Gate Theatre, he enjoyed a Guinness at the theatre bar at the end of each evening’s show.

“[Bernhard] he’s an incredible man who spoke a lot of uncomfortable truths to his own country,” said Weaving. “So he was much revered and reviled in his own lifetime … He was put on a pedestal; he was given every award. But at the same time, he consistently, constantly attacked the organs of the state.”

The President is at the Roslyn Packer Theatre Company from April 13 to May 19.