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| 'Disrespectful' director Max Stafford-Clark humiliated me, actor Tracy Ann Oberman says | 'Disrespectful' director Max Stafford-Clark humiliated me, actor Tracy Ann Oberman says |
| (17 days later) | |
| Actor and writer Tracy Ann Oberman has said theatre director Max Stafford-Clark was “disinhibited and provocative, objectifying and disrespectful to women back in 1992”, after it was revealed last week that he was forced to leave the company he founded following a complaint about sexualised comments. | Actor and writer Tracy Ann Oberman has said theatre director Max Stafford-Clark was “disinhibited and provocative, objectifying and disrespectful to women back in 1992”, after it was revealed last week that he was forced to leave the company he founded following a complaint about sexualised comments. |
| Oberman, who has starred in EastEnders, Doctor Who and Friday Night Dinner, has written for the Guardian about her experience with Stafford-Clark, saying his actions left her feeling “uncomfortable, sexualised and propositioned”. | Oberman, who has starred in EastEnders, Doctor Who and Friday Night Dinner, has written for the Guardian about her experience with Stafford-Clark, saying his actions left her feeling “uncomfortable, sexualised and propositioned”. |
| The actor said Stafford-Clark often alluded to the pair having sex and told her he wanted a threesome with her and another female actor. On one occasion he asked to come with her when she went to the toilet. She said she found the experience “humiliating and disconcerting”. | The actor said Stafford-Clark often alluded to the pair having sex and told her he wanted a threesome with her and another female actor. On one occasion he asked to come with her when she went to the toilet. She said she found the experience “humiliating and disconcerting”. |
| Two other women who worked with the director have also independently told the Guardian he made inappropriate, sexualised comments to them in the 80s and 90s too. | Two other women who worked with the director have also independently told the Guardian he made inappropriate, sexualised comments to them in the 80s and 90s too. |
| A spokesperson for Stafford-Clark said: “Mr Stafford-Clark wholeheartedly apologises if his behaviour has at any time made anyone feel uncomfortable or upset. He strongly denies any unlawful or aggressive behaviour. Beyond that he is not in a position to comment on the specific allegations, some of which are said to have occurred 30 years ago.” | A spokesperson for Stafford-Clark said: “Mr Stafford-Clark wholeheartedly apologises if his behaviour has at any time made anyone feel uncomfortable or upset. He strongly denies any unlawful or aggressive behaviour. Beyond that he is not in a position to comment on the specific allegations, some of which are said to have occurred 30 years ago.” |
| On Friday the Guardian revealed that Stafford-Clark was forced from Out of Joint in September after the company’s education manager, Gina Abolins, complained that he had made inappropriate and sexualised remarks, including: “Back in the day, I’d have been up you like a rat up a drainpipe.” The director’s former personal assistant Steffi Holtz also said he had made a number of sexualised comments to her. In total five women have now said Stafford-Clark made inappropriate sexualised comments to them. | On Friday the Guardian revealed that Stafford-Clark was forced from Out of Joint in September after the company’s education manager, Gina Abolins, complained that he had made inappropriate and sexualised remarks, including: “Back in the day, I’d have been up you like a rat up a drainpipe.” The director’s former personal assistant Steffi Holtz also said he had made a number of sexualised comments to her. In total five women have now said Stafford-Clark made inappropriate sexualised comments to them. |
| Responding to the original article a spokesperson for Stafford-Clark said the director had suffered from pseudobulbar palsy and “occasional disinhibition” since a stroke and brain injury in 2006, which occasionally resulted “in him displaying disinhibited and compulsive behaviour and his usual (at times provocative) behaviour being magnified”. | Responding to the original article a spokesperson for Stafford-Clark said the director had suffered from pseudobulbar palsy and “occasional disinhibition” since a stroke and brain injury in 2006, which occasionally resulted “in him displaying disinhibited and compulsive behaviour and his usual (at times provocative) behaviour being magnified”. |
| Oberman said she sympathised with people suffering from illnesses which caused disinhibition, but added that she wanted to stand up for the young women who had spoken out about what happened to them recently. She described having a “similar experience” to Abolins and Holtz with Stafford-Clark in 1992, as a young actor, 14 years before his stroke. She said she often left his rehearsal room “confused and ill at ease”. | Oberman said she sympathised with people suffering from illnesses which caused disinhibition, but added that she wanted to stand up for the young women who had spoken out about what happened to them recently. She described having a “similar experience” to Abolins and Holtz with Stafford-Clark in 1992, as a young actor, 14 years before his stroke. She said she often left his rehearsal room “confused and ill at ease”. |
| “On more than one occasion he inferred that it would only take an affair with a high-profile director for my career to rocket. Three years later, I bumped into him at a press night and he repeated the offer,” she wrote. | “On more than one occasion he inferred that it would only take an affair with a high-profile director for my career to rocket. Three years later, I bumped into him at a press night and he repeated the offer,” she wrote. |
| Abigail Morris, former artistic director of the Soho Theatre and now director of the Jewish Museum, said she was excited when she was given the opportunity to work as assistant director to Stafford-Clark at the Royal Court in the late 1980s. She was in her early 20s. | Abigail Morris, former artistic director of the Soho Theatre and now director of the Jewish Museum, said she was excited when she was given the opportunity to work as assistant director to Stafford-Clark at the Royal Court in the late 1980s. She was in her early 20s. |
| But she said he regularly made sexualised remarks to her and other colleagues. “He would always comment on what I was wearing, he commented on my legs all the time,” she said. “He would keep being inappropriate – for example if he was directing a straightforward piece of text he would unnecessarily make it very sexual and graphically explicit.” | But she said he regularly made sexualised remarks to her and other colleagues. “He would always comment on what I was wearing, he commented on my legs all the time,” she said. “He would keep being inappropriate – for example if he was directing a straightforward piece of text he would unnecessarily make it very sexual and graphically explicit.” |
| She added: “He often commented on what I looked like, what other women looked like and what he’d like to do to us. He regularly used his power to try and humiliate me. | She added: “He often commented on what I looked like, what other women looked like and what he’d like to do to us. He regularly used his power to try and humiliate me. |
| “It’s hard to speak out, even after so many years, but women are consistently silenced. His belittling behaviour felt so degrading but I don’t want to feel anymore that it’s me who’s dirty and ashamed.” | “It’s hard to speak out, even after so many years, but women are consistently silenced. His belittling behaviour felt so degrading but I don’t want to feel anymore that it’s me who’s dirty and ashamed.” |
| The novelist and actor Emily Woof said the director had commissioned her to write a play for the Royal Court in the early 90s, when she was a recent graduate, and invited her to a restaurant for dinner to discuss ideas. She was initially “nervous and excited”, as the director was “respected and known for championing women writers and feminist causes”. | The novelist and actor Emily Woof said the director had commissioned her to write a play for the Royal Court in the early 90s, when she was a recent graduate, and invited her to a restaurant for dinner to discuss ideas. She was initially “nervous and excited”, as the director was “respected and known for championing women writers and feminist causes”. |
| “The first thing he said when I sat down was that I had a ‘beautiful arse’,” she said. “I was completely tongue-tied and deeply embarrassed.” | “The first thing he said when I sat down was that I had a ‘beautiful arse’,” she said. “I was completely tongue-tied and deeply embarrassed.” |
| He continued to make lewd comments throughout the meal and afterwards offered her a lift, which she accepted, she said. “He put his hand on my thigh,” she said. “I remember being scared that I had to go back to his house, and managed to tell him that I wanted to go home. He dropped me somewhere in London that was nowhere near where I needed to be.” | He continued to make lewd comments throughout the meal and afterwards offered her a lift, which she accepted, she said. “He put his hand on my thigh,” she said. “I remember being scared that I had to go back to his house, and managed to tell him that I wanted to go home. He dropped me somewhere in London that was nowhere near where I needed to be.” |
| Woof’s show was put on at the Royal Court but she said that she avoided the director, adding: “He betrayed what might have become a mentoring, nurturing relationship with the theatre.” | Woof’s show was put on at the Royal Court but she said that she avoided the director, adding: “He betrayed what might have become a mentoring, nurturing relationship with the theatre.” |
| Woof said she had been tempted to dismiss the incident or laugh at it, but said in “this current wave of women’s anger and bravery, like being part of a new sexual revolution”, she had felt emboldened to speak openly. | Woof said she had been tempted to dismiss the incident or laugh at it, but said in “this current wave of women’s anger and bravery, like being part of a new sexual revolution”, she had felt emboldened to speak openly. |
| “The truth is that I was an extremely shy young woman trying to find my voice, eager to impress, pouring my heart and soul into kinetic and personal pieces for the theatre. His casual and demeaning sexualisation of me, was an abuse of power. It was damaging to me.” | “The truth is that I was an extremely shy young woman trying to find my voice, eager to impress, pouring my heart and soul into kinetic and personal pieces for the theatre. His casual and demeaning sexualisation of me, was an abuse of power. It was damaging to me.” |
| Oberman said she had spoken out to call out the “double standards and hypocrisy” of a man being feted as a “champion of women whose own actions don’t match that analysis”. | Oberman said she had spoken out to call out the “double standards and hypocrisy” of a man being feted as a “champion of women whose own actions don’t match that analysis”. |
| “Words are important, and as one of the most esteemed directors of contemporary playwriting Max Stafford-Clark knows the power of words,” she wrote. “He should be held accountable for his.” | “Words are important, and as one of the most esteemed directors of contemporary playwriting Max Stafford-Clark knows the power of words,” she wrote. “He should be held accountable for his.” |