About 100 people protested outside the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art May 31 in response to the sudden cancellation of a play by museum leadership three days prior to curtain call, on the grounds that the subject matter could incite an unsafe environment at the performance.

Members of the public, BIMA staff and boardmembers, and Palestinian advocacy groups wore kuffiyeh, waved Palestinian flags and held signs bearing anti-censorship messages on the corner of Winslow Way and Hwy 305 for about two and a half hours, then marched to the BI Senior Community Center for the performance.

The nonfiction play, titled “One Family in Gaza,” depicts the friendship between a young Palestinian father and American playwright Crystal Zevon over the course of two years, exploring parenthood, dreams, courage and hope in the face of famine and war.

Kitsap Palestine Solidarity Coalition, the advocacy group that organized the play, secured the rental space at BIMA in March with vocal support from the museum. BIMA even “thanked [KPSC] for the opportunity” and offered the event space at no cost, said organizer Janice Gutman of KPSC.

It came as a shock to both KPSC and BIMA staff when Sheila Hughes, executive director of BIMA, issued a letter May 28 cancelling the show, citing the “highly complex and sensitive nature of the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict” and the division the conflict has sown in the BI community and at large.

“This was a big surprise to all the staff, even some board members, when an announcement was made just three days before a private event,” said Moorea Seal, BIMA’s social media manager and storefront designer.

In the letter, Hughes noted that the museum received equal feedback from community members, both supporting and condemning the event, but the museum’s decision was not based on the play itself, she explained.

The play was scheduled during the museum’s operating hours, which meant the public started to conflate the event with BIMA’s programming, Hughes said. She was not aware of the play until the week it was scheduled, she said, at which point she started to receive angry comments from the public that “BIMA would, quote, ‘pick a side.’” She began to grow concerned about the level of security the museum would be able to provide.

“I began to hear from people in the community, and people on my own staff, who felt that the event was unsafe — and used the word unsafe,” Hughes told the Review. “Many of the artists who exhibit at BIMA, these same conflicts have informed their work. We’re not a stranger to this world, but this wasn’t our production. We weren’t ready to absorb or interpret the vitriol that was flowing around this topic. We weren’t prepared to provide an environment that we could do it anyway, and see what happened. That just was not something that I was comfortable with.”

BIMA suggested three different venues for the event to relocate to, all three of which have a smaller capacity than the museum’s 95-seat theater: Side Quest Stage in Rolling Bay; the Bainbridge Grange Hall, a multi-use event space without a stage; or the Suquamish United Church of Christ.

Seal had not seen pushback from the public about the event on any of BIMA’s social media channels, which seemed contradictory to the executive leadership’s statement. She released a letter to executive leadership that expressed her concerns with the decision on social media.

“I believe this cancellation constitutes an act of censorship within a private institution — an act that undermines BIMA’s stated values of inclusion, diversity and courageous engagement with contemporary art and lived experience,” Seal wrote. “By cancelling a rental based on the perceived discomfort it might cause a small group of community members, the museum is, in effect, limiting what stories are allowed to be told on its premises — regardless of who is telling them, or why.”

Claire Richards, communications liaison for KPSC, added that had there been credible public safety threats associated with the performance, BIMA should disclose them and file a police report. She observed that museum deputy director Korum Bischoff spoke at the protest and attended the performance at BISCC — a venue with “presumably fewer resources than BIMA.

“His presence strongly suggests there was no credible risk,” said Richards.

Hughes denied that the source of the cancellation came from the museum’s donors, but added that she is not asking anyone to not scrutinize the decision; it’s part of being involved in the civic dialogue, she explained.

“I think that this museum should be looked at — what we’re doing and how we’re doing and why we’re doing it. But I would also say that if you look at what we have brought to this community for free, open seven days a week, it’s quite an impressive track record, and I want to continue that,” Hughes said.

Members of KPSC performed a silent protest inside the museum at the “Power of the Presses” exhibit during the demonstration. The individuals wore tape or a mask over their mouths bearing the word “censorship” and knelt in front of the entrance to the “Presses” installation.

The group then gathered to hear several speakers, including BIMA boardmember Chastity Malatesta, Kitsap’s Equity, Race and Community Engagement Coalition (ERACE) founder Akuyea Karen Vargas, BIMA deputy director Bischoff and BIMA volunteer docent Don Rooks, explain their stances on the play’s cancellation.

Rooks, who lived in Beirut, Lebanon, between the ages of nine to 12, saw firsthand the extent of suffering in the Levant.

“You cannot believe what the Palestinians have lived through for 70 years. I am not casting any sort of opinion about the validity of the Jewish state, but Zionism has been very difficult for a lot of people in the Middle East. The Palestinian refugees have suffered terribly,” he said. “Gaza has been basically wiped out, and we have a president who is talking about making it a resort. Come on.”

Emily Lewis, a Bainbridge Island resident whose family is Jordanian and Palestinian, spent over a decade in Jordan working in refugee camps. BI has very few Arab families, she said, and having a play like this come to a cultural institution like BIMA was exciting.

But seeing the museum backtrack was a disappointment, especially in light of the Trump administration’s actions to censor information, she said.

“I think people like the idea of diversity, but they don’t want to do the work it takes to actually participate in a diverse culture. That’s been kind of an eye-opening for me, that we actually need to put a lot of work into exposing people to things that might make them feel uncomfortable, because that’s the only way that we’re going to grow as a community and live up to those standards of diversity and inclusion.”

Hughes said that BIMA is still open to hosting conversations about the war in Gaza, which Lewis agreed would be a strong step forward. Lewis suggested inviting community members who expressed concern with the play to have a constructive conversation with the event sponsors.

“I think what would be really interesting is for BIMA to host a cultural event as a way to promote discussion. That might include some really uncomfortable discussions with people that don’t agree with each other, yeah, but I think that when you silo the voices, and then everyone’s in there on their soap boxes, no one’s taking this back to each other,” she said. “I think that would be an amazing step toward actually repairing [trust].”

Performances of “One Family” are accompanied by a packet of informational materials, including an orientation, images of the family, and a follow-up discussion that invites the audience to explore the history of the war. Zevon states her intention for the play in the orientation: “To humanize Palestinians. To start conversations. To bring people who either don’t know or don’t understand into the conversation.”

The play has been performed internationally, across the country and three times on the Olympic Peninsula since January. In Chimacum, Port Townsend and Quilcene, “we were invited into each venue and community openly and no conflict was ever brought to our attention,” said play production lead Macy Jones.

“This notably includes the Grange Hall in Chimacum…where they allowed us to post our event on their roadside marquis for the week leading up to the event- completely open to community critique,” Jones said.

Protesters talk outside of BIMA during the demonstration.

Akuyea Karen Vargas, founder of Kitsap’s Equity, Race and Community Engagement Coalition (ERACE), speaks in support of the protesters during the demonstration.

Anti-censorship protesters listen to speakers during the demonstration.