Stephanie Kercher, sister of murdered student Meredith Kercher, has called for Amanda Knox's Edinburgh Fringe show to be cancelled, backing a petition that claims the performance turns her sister's death into "entertainment".
Family's outrage
Stephanie said she "could not fathom" how rape and murder could be the subject of a comedy routine. She said: "Imagine 20 years after Meredith's death, your pain is turned into someone else's laughter. My sister's tragedy is being used to debut a comedy show this weekend in Edinburgh of all places by the very person who was questioned and taken to the legal system by Italian prosecution."
She added: "I'm very aware that in high profile cases everyone has their own opinions on guilt and innocence and I also agree with freedom of speech. However, when someone is still using Meredith's name to support themselves, and furthermore, when a comedy is linked to an individual case and individual person, I cannot fathom how rape and murder can be laughed about and I cannot understand how one person's behaviour at the police station can be the subject of the comedy show."
Petition launched
Sally Alington, who has known the Kercher family since before Meredith's death in Perugia, Italy, started a petition on Change.org calling on the Gilded Balloon and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to withdraw Cartwheel - a show billed as stand-up comedy with "adult" themes, centred around the case. The petition has gathered almost 1,000 signatures in 48 hours.
Alington said: "I have a personal connection to the Kercher family and so know very well what they have been through since that tragic day in November 2007. To see this distasteful and disrespectful performance being given the green light to go ahead under the label of a 'stand-up comedy' with 'adult' themes when we are talking about the rape and murder of a young woman totally beggars belief. This isn't just wholly inappropriate and hurtful to family and friends of Meredith, this goes far beyond that. It normalises and trivialises violence against women. I am urging the organisers from the Gilded Balloon and the Fringe Festival to adjust their moral compasses, do the right thing and cancel these shows."
Knox's defence
Amanda Knox, who was convicted in 2009 of the murder before being acquitted two years later, has defended the show, which she said was about her wrongful imprisonment and how she will explain her past life to her daughter. In an interview earlier this week, she said she believed her former flatmate would have found the show "funny". The show is named Cartwheel after the move Knox was widely reported to have made after being taken in for questioning, which she denies.
A spokeswoman for Knox said: "Cartwheel is a show about motherhood, raising a daughter in a world that is unfair and dangerous for women, and what it costs to be the kind of mother who tells her the truth about that. Neither the author of this petition nor anyone who signed it has seen Cartwheel. The petition contains false assumptions and mischaracterises the show. Cartwheel honours Meredith Kercher's memory. A petition to cancel a show no one has seen, on the grounds of false accusations intended to shame and vilify a wronged woman into silence, is not an argument against Cartwheel. It's a fairly precise description of what Cartwheel is about and why it deserves to exist."
Venue's response
Gilded Balloon said it had no comment beyond a statement given last month in defence of hosting the show. It said: "The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is an open-access festival. As a Fringe venue, we provide a platform for a wide range of voices, in line with the Fringe's long-standing commitment to freedom of expression (within the confines of the law) and ensure our audiences can make informed choices. Artists and companies choose to participate at our venue and take on the financial and creative responsibility for their work. Amanda's show is a one-woman piece exploring themes of motherhood, presented independently by her."
