A well-known comedian has revealed a horrifying string of racist and homophobic attacks he claims a theatre cast suffered in Chichester – despite it just being named 'one of the world's best travel destinations'.
Kate Winslet is among the A-list celebrities who have decamped to the south-coast city, and West Wittering beach is a popular destination for private-school jaunts, but the performers of A Midsummer Night's Dream encountered an ugly underbelly.
After one was homophobically 'hounded' through the streets and black schoolchildren racially abused, Taskmaster's Munya Chawawa said he witnessed more prejudice in those six weeks than across the rest of his lifetime.
Chichester Festival Theatre said it was forced to cancel the performance on October 13 after an actor was 'aggressively hounded and physically pursued' through Chichester city centre in the early evening, before the scheduled start time.
It said the incident had left 'victim, company and staff... extremely shaken'. But Chawawa insists this was just the 'tip of the iceberg'.
Speaking to The Stage, he described being 'stared at in the street', and noticing that the only black man on a barber's sign had 'three scratch marks through his face'.
The comedian said a group of Brit School children who went to watch the show had 'blackies' shouted at them from a passing car, and an audience member was called the N-word by a boy on a bike.
Another group of friends who travelled to see the show were followed to their hotel by a group chanting 'dirty' at them, Chawawa said.
Munya Chawawa said he experienced more prejudiced abuse in six weeks in Chichester than in the rest of his life
Chichester Festival Theatre was forced to cancel one of its performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream because one of the performers had been 'hounded' through the city centre
During a night out in Brighton his mixed-race group of friends was labelled 'migrants', and they overheard a group of boys on a train joking about using the N-word, he added.
Munya said: 'It was just utterly abysmal... I think I saw more (racism, xenophobia and homophobia) those six weeks than I have actually seen across my entire lifetime, which is just an insane concept.'
He blamed the disturbing behaviour on the '24/7 pipeline of hatred into people's eyes and ears', adding: 'This hatred is like a cancer - it spreads.'
Chichester District Council told the Daily Mail it was 'deeply saddened' to hear about Chawawa's experiences and that, while the perpetrators are among a minority, 'any instance of discrimination is one too many.'
The damning report on Chichester locals comes just after the city was identified as one of world's best travel destinations by an online travel agency.
Expedia found that searches for Chichester have increased by 30 per cent on last year, putting it in the top ten fastest-growing tourism spots, alongside the likes of Hyogo in Japan, Holbox in Mexico, and Perugia in Italy.
A travel expert said its rising popularity reflected travellers 'looking beyond the UK's best-known cities in favour of destinations that offer character, culture and a slower pace of life'.
Chawawa did acknowledge there were 'silver linings', such as a meeting with a Romanian taxi driver who was 'valiant' for seeing the good in people.
But his tales of aggression and intimidation from the people of Chichester against people they consider 'remotely different' to themselves are unlikely to be winning the city any new fans.
The Chichester Festival Theatre’s artistic director Justin Audibert and executive director Kathy Bourne said the venue was 'appalled and profoundly saddened by the incidents recently experienced by members of our company and their guests in Chichester and beyond'.
Vowing to consider what measures may be taken to protect performers in future, they said: 'It’s deeply dismaying that the nationwide increase in toxic and aggressive behaviour is being reflected in our city.
'Chichester Festival Theatre stands firmly and resolutely for inclusivity and a warm welcome for everyone – our companies, staff and audiences.
'We have been heartened to receive an outpouring of messages from audiences and residents over the past few days, expressing their sympathy and abhorrence over last week’s incident; and are grateful to our MP, local council and police in showing solidarity with us in standing against hate speech and abuse in all its forms, wherever it is encountered.'
Mr Audibert and Ms Bourne added that the theatre would be 'reflecting and reviewing, with care, what action and leadership we can take going forward'.
Chichester District Council said: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of the experiences described by Munya Chawawa during his time in Chichester.
'Everyone should feel safe, welcome and respected, and to hear accounts of racism, xenophobia, homophobia and discrimination is incredibly upsetting. These behaviours are completely unacceptable and have no place in our district or our communities.
'The vast majority of people who live here share our values of kindness, respect and inclusion, and want our communities to be places where everyone feels they belong. While we know that the overwhelming majority of people who live and work here share these values, any instance of discrimination is one too many.
'We are committed to promoting equality, inclusion and opportunity for all, and to working closely with our partners, community organisations and residents to ensure that everyone who lives in, works in, or visits our district feels safe, valued and respected.'