Sydney Theatre Company to cut staff after Palestine protest; If you Kent say something nice ...

Harry Greenwood (R) along with co-stars Megan Wilding (2nd R) and Mabel Li (L) wore keffiyeh scarfs during the encore at the opening night of the STC production of The Seagull at Sydney’s Roslyn Packer Theatre. Picture: Instagram

Serious trouble is setting in for the Sydney Theatre Company as it faces a deepening financial crisis caused by the fallout from a pro-Palestine protest that ­occurred during a stage play in November.

With the company already scrambling for cash and desperate to keep its donor base, Margin Call has been told by multiple sources that between 15 and 20 positions are at risk, with the STC confirming that seven roles had already been identified for redundancy. Given the parlous state of the balance sheet, we’ll wait to see how that develops.

Meetings were held with some affected staff on Wednesday, and that comes after all staff were called in for a chat about “budget repair” with management last month.

Some workers are expected to finish in their roles as early as this week; others have been tapped for redundancy and have entered the vortex of “consultation and feedback”. The STC said it was following “due process” in these matters.

Always awkward when the press gets wind of something the board members know nothing about, too. Margin Call contacted some directors for comment but they told us they hadn’t been informed of the cuts.

An official associated with the STC said the redundancies were squarely down to donor withdrawals over the last quarter. In January, this masthead reported that the STC was forecasting losses in the range of $1.5m from cancelled tickets, subscriptions, and an exodus of donors.

Whatever the financial woes that already existed at the STC, they undoubtedly increased in November with the opening night performance of The Seagull, during which three actors – Mabel Li, Megan Wilding and Harry Greenwood – wore keffiyeh scarfs during the curtain call. Greenwood is the son of actor Hugo Weaving, who sits on the foundation board.

The STC’s flat-footed response to the protest – Greenwood shared the moment on social media while condemning the “occupation” and “genocide” of Gaza – resulted in the resignations of PR veteran Judi Hausmann, fashion executive Alex Schuman and writer Ruth Ritchie from the STC governance teams.

Even Alan Joyce raised concerns over the STC’s balance sheets and urged “dramatic action” to ensure the company’s survival while resigning as chair in January.

The problem, aside from mindless and obnoxious political protesting by actors, is that much of the money usually earmarked for the arts is finding itself being diverted to social impact initiatives. Jewish donors have obviously got jack of the STC since the keffiyeh stunt, and cash usually relied upon from players in the fossil fuel spaces has also gone missing.

Turns out the same mobs chanting about the Middle East are also those who blockade coal shipments, or terrorise leading business figures outside their homes.

Ire in the Shire

More on Sutherland Shire councillor Kent Johns and the brazen revenge campaign being mounted against him over his support for Simon Kennedy in the preselection for Scott Morrison’s seat of Cook earlier this month.

Supporting Kennedy meant undermining rival candidate and absolute shoo-in Carmelo Pesce, and the ensuing loss was obviously embarrassing for Pesce given he’s the local mayor and recognisable to all; meanwhile, Kennedy lives outside the region and is pretty much a nobody in the Shire.

It’s why Johns has found himself in the midst of a full-scale assassination campaign using embarrassing audio recorded nearly two years ago. Clips of that drunken night have been sliced into short grabs and leaked daily to keep the news cycle humming. The point of it all is to seemingly end Johns’ political career (he announced last night a leave of absence from his council role), but also to send a proverbial horse-head-in-the-bed to anyone thinking of dudding Pesce or the Liberal moderates ever again.

Drunk, unsteady, slurring … it’s all there on the tapes.

Sutherland Shire Council member Kent Johns. Picture: Sutherland Shire Council

The worst of it, for which Johns has already apologised, was a disparaging remark made about the Sutherland Shire community; in another, Johns attacked former energy minister Matt Kean, calling him a “piece of sh..”.

Unaware he was being taped, Johns was lashing out after a night of drinking at a local government conference in Cessnock, and this was some time after losing his own preselection campaign against Peter Poulos for a coveted seat in the NSW upper house (Kean having been a chief backer of Poulos, a member of his staff).

In reply, Kean told Margin Call that Johns was nothing more than a “completely unelectable and an unacceptable candidate”, which voters themselves will decide in September when local government elections are held in the Shire.

Since our report on Tuesday, the Daily Mail has run footage of Johns “dry humping the air” and supposedly “ridiculing a gay colleague with sexual comments”.

Johns has apologised for that, too.

The latest audio handed to Margin Call continues in a similar vein and is unlikely to do Johns any favours. In essence, he can be heard expressing a level of admiration for Poulos because he was elected to parliament without entertaining any homosexual favours.

NSW Member of the Legislative Council Peter Poulos. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Asked about the recording on Wednesday, Johns continued his apology by saying the remarks “should never have been said”, adding: “I acknowledge a lapse in judgment that has tarnished my commitment to the LGBTI+ community. Whilst I address the issues that caused me to make this extremely serious error of judgment, I have decided to take a leave of absence from Sutherland Council.”

There’s little defence for the way Johns spoke, or acted, and his apology is warranted.

But there’s also something grubby in the organised release of clips by Johns’ detractors.