CULTURE CLASH

Aussie Paper Boycotts Play After Producers Block White Critics

The Age sent no one to review “Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner” and wrote an op-ed criticizing the restriction.

The producers of an Australian production of Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner banned white critics from reviewing the play, so one of the country’s top newspapers decided not to send anyone at all. The arts editor for Melbourne’s The Age, Elizabeth Flux, derided the producers’ decision as misguided, arguing it “promotes tokenism, undermines the health of the critical landscape” and disservices critics and audiences. The play—written by Black playwright Jasmine Lee-Jones—involves two Black women who set off a social media firestorm after they call out Jenner for her privilege. The producers—neither of whom are people of color, Flux wrote—said requiring that reviewers be people of color was meant, in part, to force media organizations to increase representation on their teams. “We need greater diversity across all levels of media, from editors through to writers,” Flux responded in an op-ed. “However, a commitment to diversity doesn’t mean having people only critique work that matches up with their skin color or their sexuality or their gender.”