Actress who played JKR in Edinburgh now in a play about taking on that role

[IwantToRetire]

... As background, in 2024 Bailey played J K Rowling in a controversial play at the Edinburgh Festival called TERF. TERF stands for “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist”; it’s a staple term in any trans debate and, as most will know, J K Rowling herself is very vocal on her refusal to accept trans men and ridicules trans women. The play received an extraordinary amount of adverse publicity and threats of violence, much of which was directed towards Bailey herself.

Rowling In It, we are told in the show’s publicity, is a self-penned show inspired by the tumult of that time which forced Bailey to defend her own complicity and responsibility for the trans debate, despite it only being a character she played. ...

https://everything-theatre.co.uk/2026/04/review-rowling-in-it-kings-head-theatre/

Not even sure it is worth a discussion, but thought it worth noting that not only does JKR make a fair amount of money by her own work, but there seems to be a whole industry of people who make money of her and her work.

Threads about the Edinburgh play

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4993459-edinburgh-arts-group-to-launch-play-about-jkr-called-terf-ct-where-daniel-rupert-and-emma-stage-an-intervention

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5096115-scores-of-actresses-turn-down-roles-in-play-critical-of-jk-rowlings-gender-views

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5134779-terf-the-play-at-the-edinburgh-festival

Whatever. Let them have their fun. There seems to be a whole new career out of being anti-JKR.

As a wise woman once said, "Let them".

In future years, can we look forward to seeing her in a play about being in a play about taking on the role of JKR?

And so on and so on until she and the whole production disappear into a spiralling wormhole.

For me the point is both the first play and now the self penned self indulgence just feeds into the wide spread and assumed to be corrrect understanding that somehow JKR is a problem.

Its not as if anyone has bothered to put on a play about how JKR changed their life in a positive way or something.

All of it just piles more shit on her.

Hmmm i have not seen the original production of the terf play or Bailey’s subsequent play. So hard to judge the meaning of Bailey for sure.

but having read the review it just felt like to me that she did the original play as an unemployed actress and followed it up with this production of how bad it made her feel.

i could of course be wrong. But who cares.

i t is indeed interesting that JKR provokes such artistic expressions around the current situation. She that is JKR is a living legend. Enid Blyton gold plated.

They'll fall away. 10 mins after the new Harry Potter comes out, the anti-JKR grift is over.

They can be sued for defamation, breech of privacy or using jkr’s name for commercial gain, surely?

I saw the fringe terf play. It was very school production.

bird of it were hilarious, but it wasn’t meant to be.

I think there will be an attempt to attention seek at a significant point in time based on JKR’s feminist views. I agree that it will fall flat.

Why would JKR bother

About nine people will watch it compared to about 300 million who will watch the new Harry Potter series

Even though I live in a privileged 1st world bubble, I look at these people and just think ' how can u be SO privileged that you think the right for men to take women's rights is soooooo the thing to stake your mast to?'

I think there are some amazing stories to be told around the 'Terf Wars'. FWS getting the SC judgment for starters. Some of the court cases have been riveting just following them through MN posts and TT tweets.

I'm not sure this is one of them but kudos to her for wringing this for every drop of exposure.

On one level I am just plain cross for JKR.

Is there any other living artist who has had to live with these parasites leaching of her, and being offensive about her at the same time.

It is just clinging on to a fad.

The TRAs having whipped up this hysteria about her are every day rewarding not just by this type of self importance but the never ending stream of luvvies, fighting to get their views about JKR into the press so that everyone will know that they hate her as much as they do.

Anyone else would be now talking to sympathetic media about mental health issues.

Gross hypercritical parasites.

Reviews have been good -

https://www.allthatdazzles.co.uk/post/review-rowling-in-it-king-s-head-theatre

https://theatreandtonic.co.uk/blog/rowling-in-it-at-kings-head-theatre-review

https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/rowling-in-it-zwy4