A row over anti-Semitism leads to a searching dramatic inquiry

In the 1960s, when censors still oversaw the British stage, the police were regular visitors to the Royal Court Theatre. Scandalously, it flouted bans on “Saved”, a play in which a baby is stoned to death, and “Early Morning”, which makes Queen Victoria a lesbian. These and other fabled controversies arose from the theatre’s radical ambitions. The one that struck it last autumn, by contrast, was inadvertent and shameful. Yet it has led to important lessons in prejudice, and, just as urgently, in dialogue.