Bedworth panto forced to change character names amid racism row

The theatre has now apologised



A theatre has changed the name of two of its Aladdin pantomime characters - after accusations of racism.

Bedworth Civic Hall became embroiled in the racism row over the names of two roles - Chow Mein Slave of the Ring/Villager and PC Pong Ping.

They had been advertised by the theatre on the casting website Spotlight but quickly came under fierce criticism.

The characters have now been changed to non-descript roles with different names.

A statement from Bedworth Civic Hall said: “It has been brought to the attention of the production team of Aladdin that character names may have caused unintentional offence in a Spotlight cast profiling.

“We apologise for any distress caused. They have been changed with immediate effect.”

General manager Tim Norton added: “I hope that this shows how seriously we take complaints and concerns and that they are dealt with promptly and effectively.

“Once again, as director/producer of the Civic Hall Pantomime Company I apologise most sincerely for any unintentional offence.”

Norton added that Bedworth Civic Hall takes full responsibility for the advert and that casting director Benjamin Newsome had “no input” into the wording of the roles.

The stupidity of people never ceases to amaze me.