Ex-Eastenders star – Chelsea’s leadership in tackling anti-Semitism ‘remarkable’

Former EastEnders actress Tracy Ann Oberman has hailed Roman Abramovichs bravery in taking a stand against anti-Semitism.Chelsea and club owner Abramovich are supporting a new production of The Merchant of Venice, where Oberman will play a female Shylock in a bold reworking of the Shakespeare play.Oberman was subjected to rape and death threats on social media two years ago, when first calling out anti-Semitism in the Labour party, and has taken a vocal stance against the discrimination ever since.Chelsea and club owner Roman Abramovich, pictured, are supporting a new production of The Merchant of Venice (Mike Egerton/PA)Now the Friday Night Dinner and Toast of London star has joined forces with Chelsea and Abramovich, for a Shakespearean reworking set in 1930s London that will become the latest initiative in the Blues long-running Say No To Anti-Semitism campaign.Chelsea recently became the worlds first sports team to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, leaving Oberman calling on other football clubs to follow the Stamford Bridge example.The leadership that Chelsea have shown on this is remarkable, and I hope that other football clubs will follow suit, Oberman told the PA news agency.Chelseas work is amazing. This is a powerful club that really didnt have to do anything at all, but are doing so, and are leading the way in smaller projects like mine and greater projects like adopting the IHRA. And that means everything.Because they act better than the politicians sometimes.To be able to use your platform and influence in a way that will have a lasting, positive legacy is incredible.I think Mr Abramovich is a very brave man, because he stood up when he didnt have to and hes used his influence in a very positive way.Ive been on Twitter since 2009 and Id never received a single negative tweet until I tweeted about anti-Semitism in Labour.I felt I didnt have a choice but to put my head above the parapet. I looked at the Christchurch Mosque shooting, the two Synagogue attacks in America, and those people were all radicalised online. It takes voices that are brave enough to stand up and puncture peoples echo chamber with a counter narrative.But I was struck by how much of the abuse I received was so misogynistic. I couldnt believe that as a woman in 2018, 2019, 2020, that I would ever have to justify my identity as a Jewish woman.So to hear that footballers from Chelsea have gone on the March of the Living and have been really moved by it, its incredibly humbling. We are the last generation that will ever hear testimonies from Holocaust survivors themselves.So very happy to announce this : #FemaleShylock #CableStreet #Merchant36. https://t.co/kJbN00wQvd Tracy-Ann Oberman (@TracyAnnO) February 26, 2020Oberman and director Brigid Larmours vision for this Shakespeare retelling revolves around The Battle of Cable Street in October 1936, where East End locals stood in solidarity with the Jewish community in standing up to a march by Oswald Mosleys British Union of Fascists.The production will tour nationally from September 4, with runs at Southamptons Nuffield Theatre, Liverpool Playhouse, Watford Palace Theatre and Leeds Playhouse.Even at school I remember cringing when people laughed at Shylock, said Oberman. Every time Ive subsequently seen it theres either been enormous pity for Shylock or great hatred, and Im not sure which is worse.I thought it would be very interesting to reframe The Merchant of Venice with a female Shylock, to see how that would change the relationship with the daughter Jessica.New theatre production launched presenting a creative response to antisemitism and starring the fabulous @TracyAnnOProject is a co-production between 5 regional theaters is sponsored by Roman Abramovich and Chelseas Say No Antisemitism Campaign #ChelseaFC #Antisemitism pic.twitter.com/SI9QwzVwqm Rola Brentlin (@BrentlinRola) February 26, 2020My great-grandmother came from the East End, my grandparents and my grandmother were on the front line at Cable Street. These were the family stories that I grew up with.So I wanted to reframe Shylock in that, base it on these matriarchs that I knew in the East End.I would like to think that this reclaims the play, it reframes it in a very specific time. I hope it reignites the memory and the learning of the Battle of Cable Street, of a victorious moment for working class communities rising up against upper-class fascism.And I also hope the legacy will be that it will spark debate, and that hopefully the Battle of Cable Street will become an integral part of learning about the 1930s in Britain leading up to the Second World War.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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