Razed Roof set to return to Harlow Playhouse
Entertainment / Thu 19th Mar 2026 at 02:06pm
THEATRE group Razed Roof is set to return to the Harlow Playhouse.
In a short statement, council leader Dan Swords said:
“As a result of extensive investigations and constructive dialogues Harlow Council and Razed Roof are pleased to announce that Razed Roof will return to the Playhouse with immediate effect.
“The main focus now is to ensure that Razed Roof resumes its activities in the coming days”.
Razed Roof were suspended from using council facilities following an incident at the Holocaust Memorial Event in January.
Jupiter Hadley
2026-03-19 14:09:54
Glad to hear!!
New Town Dreaming
2026-03-19 14:35:49
I hope Dan Swords will also be making a huge apology for all the damage his actions have caused both to the members and the facilitators.
AB
2026-03-19 14:46:57
Good, about time. It's ridiculous, all this pandering to Zionism, which appalls so many Jewish people.
Carol Russell
2026-03-19 15:02:13
Congratulations, Razed Roof.
Matthew Rodriguez-Payne
2026-03-19 16:00:44
I should &^%*((+@ think so! They should never have been evicted in the first place. I am assuming that Dan Swords will be making an apology to the staff and students (even a donation as I believe they're a charity)? If not, why not?
Matthew Rodriguez-Payne
2026-03-19 16:01:01
I should &^%*((+@ think so! They should never have been evicted in the first place. I am assuming that Dan Swords will be making an apology to the staff and students (even a donation as I believe they're a charity)? If not, why not?
Eddie
2026-03-19 16:43:22
New town dreaming and Matthew. What about an apology from the person who caused the problem in the first place
Marie
2026-03-19 17:01:42
Good ! But I do wonder why the change of heart? Would it have anything to do with the up and coming elections by any chance ?
Mr George
2026-03-19 17:39:23
Say sorry Dan. It takes strength of character to apologise.
New Town Dreaming
2026-03-19 18:35:36
That happened a long time ago Eddie. I hope that a whole group of people is never punished for anything your or I say.
Shame on Swords
2026-03-19 20:48:35
It begs the question: why weren’t ‘extensive investigations’ made before the brash and poorly-considered decisions in the first place, Dan Swords? Instead, you chose to lash out without consideration and ruin a charity that does nothing but good for Harlow town and its people. Shame on you for not apologising to Razed Roof staff, members and the families affected. Presumably you will make a donation to make up for their funding opportunities lost as result of this chaos caused by no one but yourself?
Mazzy
2026-03-19 20:58:47
Can't wait to see them perform once more.
Paul
2026-03-19 23:09:01
Notice none of the wokes on here mention Chris Vince. He was a trustee of Razed Roof and dropped them like a hot potato. No one has asked for him to apologise. The hypocrisy of the Lefty wokes is staggering. Dan Swords initial response was understandable as he had reasonable grounds to consider a crime had been committed in terms of support for proscribed terrorist organisations. He was present. What is Chris Vince's excuse?
Mr George
2026-03-20 01:50:09
Paul, prob because Vince wasn't the one banning and this news story is about R.R coming back. Perhaps 'woke' people read the article beyter? But, in the spirit of being a leftie, yeah, Vince owes an apology too, another person who didn't think before acting. Is that better? Cool, glad you are happy.
To Paul
2026-03-20 07:24:17
No, Dan Swords’ response was not ‘understandable’. Not only did he overreact, unnecessarily attacking the charity, but he collectively punished the group’s members because of the actions of one individual. He also made some gross inference in his letter that those with SEND could not make a ‘meaningful’ change to a script, diminishing the public’s perception and understanding of people with disabilities. You say he had ‘reasonable grounds’ that the charity supported a proscribed organisation - pray tell us what those are, Paul? Yes Chris Vince should apologise, as he shouldn’t have left when Dan Swords made this decision, but ultimately Swords is the villain who brought this upon Razed Roof.
Paul
2026-03-20 08:16:33
The villain of the piece the person from Razed Roof who made a highly inflammatory speech comparing Israel's response to the horrific and unprovoked Hamas terrorist attack of October 2023 with the Holocaust. Israel is not seeking to erase the Palestinian people, it is seeking to erase Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon which are both proscribed terrorist groups and those showing support for them commits a crime. In the circumstances, David Swords actions were not unreasonable. As for Chris Vince, who has been associated with Razed Roof for some time, his instant response is bewildering.
To Paul
2026-03-20 17:55:04
You clearly have not done your research; at no point did anyone compare Israel’s response to the Holocaust. At no point was there an ‘inflammatory speech’ - there was a statement of fact, from which the figures quoted have since been validated by Israeli authorities. Had you attended the service, or any of them in the last decade, you would know that it has grown to become a multi faith event that remembers not only those murdered in the Holocaust, but lives lost in subsequent genocides - such as those in Rwanda and Darfur. At no point in this or previous memorial services, led by Rabbi Irit, have these events been compared. You are spreading hate and misinformation about a charity group with SEND members; I hope you sleep well at night.
Paul
2026-03-20 18:27:08
To Paul, how dare you say I am spreading hate. You are deranged.
To Paul
2026-03-20 23:54:40
You literally just called a member of an SEND charity group a villain, and shared a false representation of the events at the service to serve your twisted agenda. I’ll say it again: you are spreading hate. The fact that you can’t articulate any real points in response, and have resorted to name calling, shows that you’re out of your depth. Grow up.
Paul
2026-03-21 07:47:26
To Paul ( hiding behind a false name), the person in question made a deliberate inflammatory remark that has not been approved. Several members of the audience left. It was not the right forum for this and could have been interpreted as showing support for proscribed terrorist grouo, namely Hamas. Otherwise I support the excellent work undertaken by Raised Roof. This was a mindless political gesture by an individual who knows nothing about the history or nature of the conflict. Depending on the outcome of the current conflict with Iran the source of finance for terrorist ground like Hamas and Hezbollah will end. Something we should all welcome.
David Forman
2026-03-21 09:26:50
It has to be remembered that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the growth of Hamas as they would compete with Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority and make it far less likely that a Palestinian State would emerge. A case of reap what you sow. If you don't believe me, read it for yourself in the Times of Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/
David Forman
2026-03-21 09:28:37
Oh I forgot, Chris Vince is clueless and needs to apologize to Razed Roof.
David Forman
2026-03-21 09:53:34
In case some of those who swallow Israel's far-right government propaganda choose not to read the Times of Israel article, here is a paragraph: "Most of the time, Israeli policy was to treat the Palestinian Authority as a burden and Hamas as an asset. Far-right MK Bezalel Smotrich, now the finance minister in the hardline government and leader of the Religious Zionism party, said so himself in 2015." For reference, MK is Member of Knesset, Israel's parliament.
Re:Eddie
2026-03-22 14:33:42
I'm terribly sorry for the immense harm caused to Razed Roof by the appalling and discriminatory reaction from Dan Swords that I could not have reasonably foreseen for standing my ground in the face of political suppression. There you go, happy now? People like you annoy me. I'm still on excellent terms with the leadership of Razed Roof. Let that farce apologise and leave me alone. —Joshua Gold, the offending member.
Re:Paul
2026-03-22 15:42:47
1. No, we are not overlooking Chris Vince. When we got banned, we were all over him for his cowardice. You can read the comments on the Your Harlow articles from the other month yourself. 2. No, Swords' reaction was not understand in any way shape or form. It was hugely disproportionate. What happened that evening was entirely my doing, including the reference to Palestine Action. This is made clear by a statement from myself on the same day and a statement from the chair of trustees after we got banned. But the way Swords worded his letter implies it was someone other than me who talked over Rabbi Irit and another person still other than me who made the Palestine Action pun. He misrepresented the incident as a whole group problem, and it's quite obvious that that was deliberate. He even went out of his way to deny my agency in going ahead with that statement to even further portray it as a whole group problem by shifting the blame from me onto the directors. 3. Calling an SEND person "the villain" even after Dan Swords (who's assessment of me you apparently agree with) denied my agency in doing it. That is the definition of ableism. 4. My statement about Gaza was not specially treated or a long speech or any of that. It was an ordinary performance piece that listed a series of genocides as a collective whole. So it's only inflammatory to include one widely recognised genocide out of many if it makes anyone feel implicated for enabling it (and considering this was a Holocaust memorial event that's supposed to be about "never again for anyone anywhere," that's really not up for consideration.) 5. Your assessment of the Gaza war is hugely disproportionate. Yes, it is true that Hamas committed an unforgivable attack on Israeli civilians on "new 9/11," where they murdered over 1,000. However, your denial of Israel's genocidal intent is not only an expression of genocide denial, but also arguably antisemitic because you think you're protecting Jews by absolving Jews as an extension of Israel of responsibility. We've had enough of the whole "it's about Hamas" thing, because it's clearly not. 6. You are wrong that several audience members left early. You can ask anyone who was there for yourself. To give you the rundown, we had Gaza written into our script as part of a collective, not specially as many of you keep parroting. But Rabbi Irit singled it out and asked us to allege that our figures were unverified, which wasn't true. I said no straight away, and so the council told us to remove it altogether because they couldn't handle their baby Israel being implicated. I lied that I would go along with it so I could still perform and make sure it was included. All this talk about "not being the right forum" is fucking bullshit because you're implying that we were treating it specially rather than as part of a collective. And I'm sorry, but if anyone takes sympathy for a persecuted group as though it was an expression of support for a terrorist organisation, then I have no respect for them at all regardless of who is and isn't Jewish because we've been trying to tell you for FUCKING YEARS that this is not about Hamas and you're just CHOOSING not to listen by this point. It's as simple as that, I'm sorry, and I don't want to hear any excuses. 7. I hope I've demonstrated by now how flippant your allegation that I "know nothing about the history or nature of the conflict" was. —Joshua Gold, the offending member
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