One of the most influential directors in British theatre was forced to stand down from the company he founded after being accused of inappropriate, sexualised behaviour, the Guardian has learned.
Renowned director Max Stafford-Clark – the former artistic director of London’s Royal Court theatre – was forced out of the Out of Joint theatre company after a formal complaint that he made lewd comments to a member of staff.
When Stafford-Clark left Out of Joint last month, the company’s board released a statement which did not reference the complaint, stating that he had departed to “focus on his international freelance career” and he was feted at the time as one the most successful theatre directors of his generation.
But a staff member told the Guardian that she had made a formal complaint about the director in July 2017. Gina Abolins, 29, told the board that he said to her: “Back in the day, I’d have been up you like a rat up a drainpipe but now I’m a reformed character. My disability means I’m practically a virgin again.”
Stafford-Clark, 76, has been a leading figure in theatre since the mid-1970s. He was the artistic director of the Royal Court from 1979 until 1993, when he set up the theatre company Out of Joint. In 2006, he suffered a stroke, which left him using a walking stick and wheelchair.
A statement by a spokesperson for Stafford-Clark said he “wholeheartedly” apologised for “any inappropriate behaviour that made some former colleagues feel uncomfortable”, adding that it was never his intention to bully or harass.
Abolins said her complaint referred to a number of incidents. She said Stafford-Clark had previously asked her to try on a bikini she had bought and told her she should have casual sex and tell him about it.
Abolins, who joined the company in August 2016 and runs the company’s education programme, said she was left embarrassed and shocked after the comment that provoked her complaint. “I didn’t know what to say,” she said. “And I felt really victimised actually – that was him exerting his power over me in a crude manner. I felt really bullied and objectified. To me, it felt that he was saying, ‘I’m going to tell you exactly what I would have done to you and there is nothing you can do about it’. ”
Abolins said that because of Stafford-Clark’s ill health, she did not initially think he could make her feel uncomfortable. “What I’ve learned from this experience is that appearances can be deceiving and you don’t have to be a fighting fit person to make someone feel bullied,” she said.
A spokesperson for Stafford-Clark said the director had suffered from pseudobulbar palsy and “occasional disinhibition” since a stroke and brain injury in 2006.
“Mr Stafford-Clark’s occasional loss of the ability to inhibit urges results in him displaying disinhibited and compulsive behaviour and his usual (at times provocative) behaviour being magnified, often causing inappropriate social behaviour,” said the statement. “Whilst this is an explanation it isn’t an attempt to dismiss his behaviour and he apologises for any offence caused.”
Abolins made a formal complaint to the company in July, who gave her leave and suspended the director during an investigation. She said Out of Joint took her seriously and had been “kind and supportive”. In August, she was told that Stafford-Clark had been subsequently asked to leave.
But she said she was left feeling “upset, frustrated, a little angry” at how his departure was announced without any reference to the complaint. “I did feel like he’d got away with it,” she said.
Sources inside Out of Joint said there was “unhappiness and unrest” over some aspects of how the matter was dealt with, but said there was confidence that staff in the company had acted “swiftly and correctly”.
Other women who have worked with Stafford-Clark said he also made lewd comments to them. Three women, including Abolins, told the Guardian that Stafford-Clark asked them about losing their virginity.
Abolins said the director asked her and another woman the question during auditions for Rita, Sue and Bob Too, in which two 15-year-old girls have a sexual affair with a married man.
The playwright Rachel De-Lahay said she was asked this question in reference to the play on a separate occasion and had “found herself over-talking and rambling through this story”. Later she said she was angry “not because he asked me but because I had answered”.
A woman who worked for Stafford-Clark as a personal assistant in 2016 said the director asked her about losing her virginity several times. Steffi Holtz, 25, told the Guardian the director had a reputation for always being “outrageous”, which allowed him to get away with making inappropriate comments.
Like Abolins, Holtz said Stafford-Clark had made comments about her appearance. On another occasion, as she was leaving his office he said “You’ve got a really nice arse” and tapped her on her bottom, she said.
Holtz said: “The worst thing he said, I was sat at his desk and he said, ‘If you were sat on the desk there in front of me I would eat you out.’ Coming from a 75-year-old man, I was in absolute shock. You feel so uncomfortable … It makes me feel so uncomfortable to even say that.”
Holtz did not make a complaint and left the role after about 18 months. “I didn’t feel brave or confident enough at that time of my life to challenge that authority.”
Stafford-Clark’s spokesman said the director did not remember all of the incidents put to him and denied any physical contact “of a sexual nature”.
Holtz, like Abolins, said she wanted to speak out to help other women with similar experiences feel that they could come forward. “One of the most important things to me in my life is being a feminist, working towards equality and allowing women the same voice as men and to not have repercussions when they use that voice,” she said.
Abolins said: “We are at an important time, where people are standing up and telling their stories. If more people can find the strength to speak out, hopefully we can make a real difference.”
A spokesperson for Out of Joint did not comment specifically on the reasons for Stafford-Clark’s departure but said: “Out of Joint is a responsible employer taking our duty of care, and that of maintaining confidence, extremely seriously. This applies to existing and former employees, and to people engaged by our organisation.
“In any environment, providing a forum for calling out inappropriate conduct is key, or it risks going undetected. We admire, support and act swiftly, and effectively, to protect those who bravely use their voice to report wrongdoing concerns.”