It started with a kiss

And can you think of being so discriminatory… of others' race?

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JOHANNESBURG — A theatre production designed to promote inter-racial harmony in South Africa has been hit by recriminations over an onstage kiss between a white and a black actor.

Ms Carolyn Forword walked out of a production of The Pied Piper of Hamelin after being directed to kiss fellow cast member Unathi Dyantyi repeatedly on the lips.

Ms Forword, 22, argues that the kissing was not suitable for the production's audiences of young children. Mr Dyantyi, 28, counters that her description of the kiss as "unhygienic" was racially motivated, an allegation she vehemently denies.

The row has underlined how even the apparently liberal arts are not immune to South Africa's ongoing sensitivities around race.

Director Leslie Ehrhardt supportedMr Dyantyi's account. "She pushed him away and her face was screwed up, as if kissing him was the worst thing in the world."

Mr Ehrhardt, 42, added: "South Africa is 15 years into its new democracy. This lady is 22 and she would have been brought up in a different way from me and others of my age and older. I was really shocked about what happened." The Guardian.

From TODAYOnline.com; see the source article here.

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