A Toronto private school has named a new head after a satirical one-man show offended families with what was called 鈥済ratuitous anti-Semitic鈥� content.
Officials with private all-girls Bishop Strachan School confirmed to CTVNews.ca on Monday that they have 鈥減arted ways鈥� with Judith Carlisle.
鈥淒ue to an inability to align on a strategy for moving forward for the future, and after a process of intensive engagement with the Board of Governors, The Bishop Strachan School and Head of School, Judith Carlisle, have parted ways,鈥� the school said in an emailed statement to CTVNews.ca.
Carlisle joined BSS last year from Oxford High School, an independent day school for girls in England. A webpage for the BSS Head of School now names , who was principal of the Senior School for eleven years, as the new head.
On Oct. 17, a U.K. theatre company previously hired by Carlisle put on a 鈥渕odern spin鈥� of Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淭he Merchant of Venice.鈥� It was presented as a one-man show that 鈥渕aterially exaggerated the anti-Semitic sentiment of the original,鈥� according to a letter from parents sent last week to the school鈥檚 boards of governors and trustees and provided to CTVNews.ca. The play attempted to link the anti-Semitic messages to those used by Hitler during the Holocaust. In some scenes, students were expected to yell 鈥淗allelujah鈥� in response to phrases like 鈥淏urn their Synagogues,鈥� 鈥淭ake away their holy books,鈥� and 鈥淏urn the Jews,鈥� statements meant to mimic how Hitler brainwashed youth before the Holocaust.
鈥淭his intent may have been recognized by adults in the room,鈥� the letter from parents said, 鈥渂ut we do not believe it was at all appropriate for highly impressionable teens to be exposed and then asked to participate by literally chanting in agreement with anti-Semitic content without the necessary preamble and debriefing.鈥�
While school officials stated that the play was presented in the 鈥渟pirit鈥� of fostering 鈥渞espectful debate鈥� among its student body, they acknowledged in the statement to CTVNews.ca that it was an error to present this particular version of the play.
鈥淔urthermore, the appropriate context was not provided to students to prepare them. For that, BSS is deeply sorry. An internal review is underway to establish guidelines and procedures to ensure this will not happen again,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淏SS continues to be a united and strong community and is currently engaging in dialogue with our students, parents, faculty, staff and community organizations.鈥�
, before her replacement, Carlisle stressed her commitment to the education of young women.
鈥淚 would never deliberately offend students entrusted to my care or their parents,鈥� she said. 鈥淎s an educator, I believe that it has never been more important for us as to equip our daughters to deal with uncomfortable social issues and learn how to participate effectively in the often contentious debates that surround them. If our shared goal is to nurture a generation of strong, independent female leaders, we must stick to these core principles even in the face of occasional controversy.鈥�
