A British actor who was sacked from a production of The Color Purple when alleged homophobic posts from her past surfaced as told an employment tribunal she never realised the character was a lesbian because she had not read the full script.
Seyi Omooba was cast in a 2019 production of The Color Purple at Leicester’s Curve Theatre. After it was announced Omooba would be taking of the role of Celie in the production, actors who had worked with her in the past took to social media and highlighted comments she’d previously made stating that she did not believe people were born gay and homosexuality was wrong, despite it no longer being criminalised.
Shortly after the posts were highlighted it was announced Omooba would be leaving the production. The actor has subsequently sued the theatre and her former agents for £128,000 (AUD$229,000) on the grounds of religious discrimination and breach of contract.
The play is based on Alice Walker’s novel which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel was adapted into a film by Stephen Spielberg in 1985 starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey. The musical version made it’s premiere on Broadway in 2005 with music and lyrics by Allee Willis, Stephen Bray and Brenda Russell.
Despite the plays high profile, Omooba has told the court she was unaware that the production would be presenting the character as having a lesbian sexual orientation.
Lawyers representing the venue say the case is over a role that Omooba would have eventually refused to play anyway. The court heard that the actress had previously told her agents, Michael Garrett Associates Ltd (Global Artists) she would not play a gay role or partake in sexually explicit scenes. She did not tell the producers of the production of her stance though, because she did not realise the character was a lesbian.
The actor admitted in court that she hadn’t read the full script when she signed on to play the part, but would have done so by the time rehearsal commenced. Lawyers for the venue argued that Omooba would have eventually pulled out of the role, leaving the theatre high and dry. The actor’s lawyers in turn suggested that whether the character is a lesbian or not is open to interpretation.
The court heard that Omooba had turned down a settlement of £4,309, which would have been her full pay for the contract. The actor argues that by being asked to leave the production her career has been significantly damaged.
Omooba is being represented by the legal arm of Christian Concern, an organisation co-founded by her father, pastor Ade Omooba MBE. The organisation say the case “will expose the mechanisms of censorship at the heart of the theatre industry”, and showed that “any dissenting views against LGBT ideology, especially Christian beliefs, are currently incompatible with a theatrical career.”
OIP Staff
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