Primary school pulls Darwin show after Christian parents complain

A primary school in Cheshire has called off its performance of a musical about Charles Darwin after Christian parents claimed that it ridiculed the Church.

Pupils at Hartford Manor Primary School, near Northwich, which is not religiously affiliated, had been set to perform Darwin Rocks!, which focuses on the 19th-century naturalist’s groundbreaking theory of evolution and the controversy it generated.

But the show generated a furore of its own when religious parents objected to what they perceived as the negative portrayal of Samuel Wilberforce, a bishop who rejected Darwin’s theory.

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There were also concerns about a song that includes the phrase “bump and grind”, says The Independent, which broke the story.

The show, written specifically for schools by Steve Titford, has already been performed at several primary schools around the UK without issue since it was published in 2017.

In light of the complaints, Hartford Manor announced that it would cancel the production and replace it with a less controversial show - a decision that has sparked a fresh backlash.

One parent at the school told the newspaper that capitulating to religious objections felt like “a huge step backwards” and an attempt to “whitewash history”.

Alan McDonald, a scientist who has children at the school, said: “I think it is just a thinly veiled attempt to cram religious views over the top of scientific fact, which I think is shameful, personally.”

Secular organisations reacted with dismay to the story.

The school’s head teacher, Simon Kidwell, admitted that the decision to pull the plug on the production had been “hasty”.

“We thought it would be a problem to rewrite it. So we decided to change it,” he told the Independent. “However, in hindsight I think that was a hasty decision. We could have put more effort into looking at whether we could have adapted it to make sure it was inclusive of everybody.

“I have apologised to the parents and we will consider putting it on in future years if we can make sure those bits are edited so it is inclusive for everybody,” he added.