Frisky Benny Hill-style fun run cancelled after branded as 'sexist'

Wales
Cardiff
Wales
Thursday 27 July 2017 at 2:00pm

A Benny Hill-style fun run has been cancelled by a Cardiff arts centre after it was branded "sexist".

Chapter Arts Centre scrapped the "frisky fun run" after accepting it sent "the wrong message."

Scantily-clad runners were due to mimic the notorious speedy sequences from The Benny Hill Show. The legendary Seventies and Eighties show saw the comedian chased by nurses to the tune of Yakkety Sax.

Organisers faced backlash on Twitter as the event was slammed as "demeaning to women" and "behind the times".

The production that plays at Chapter in September is not a celebration or a tribute to Benny Hill and his life/work, it is an analysis of his life, and an exploration of how someone whose career burned so brightly was able to fall so quickly. It looks at how what one man thought acceptable eventually destroyed him. The purpose of the ‘Frisky Fun Run’ was to create a fun chase scene to raise awareness for the production and we were inviting men and women alike to dress up in fancy dress – wear whatever they would like – to simply have a bit of fun. That said, we accept there is also a more serious side to this, indeed Chapter will be hosting Q&A sessions around the performance to discuss Benny Hill’s work and whether his overriding legacy is one of mirth or misogyny. With that in mind we have reconsidered the Frisky Fun Run and realise that as an isolated event it is sending out the wrong messages and not a true reflection of the drama.

The scrapped run was planned for Saturday, July 29 in Thompson Park.

Chapter will be hosting Q&A sessions around the performance to discuss Benny Hill’s work and whether his overriding legacy is one of "mirth or misogyny".