Cambridge University cancels Handel oratorio ‘due to Gaza situation’

Cambridge University’s opera society, which is run by students, has cancelled its production of Handel’s oratorio Saul, in which the Jewish shepherd David is seen killing the Philistine Goliath.

CUOS president Beth Norman said: ‘It is with heavy heart that CUOS are announcing that due to the current sensitive political situation and unfortunate escalation of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel, we have decided that the production of Handel’s Saul will not go ahead.’ The show’s director Max Mason said: ‘Given the parallels of this conflict, the production team made the difficult decision to cancel Saul. We came to the unanimous conclusion that our production was not in the place to fully confront the issues that have striking synchronicity with the ongoing Middle East conflict.’

The cancellation was broken in this morning’s Daily Telegraph.