Social media users hit back at the advert, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that the wording was insulting and using “Victorian” terms associated with class.
“Working class being lumped in with criminal class is awful,” wrote one user. Another said it was “offensive to the point of reading like a parody”.
“The classification is reminiscent of Charles Booth’s 19th century poverty maps,” another wrote. Another said “who identifies as ‘criminal class?’ The Krays?”
Conservative MP Neil O’Brien pointed out that taxpayer money was being spent on the £45,000-£50,000 a year chief executive job, and asked “what if…being a criminal is bad?”
The theatre also said that applications from members of the “global majority” would be welcomed, which the organisation said included “people of Black Caribbean, Black African, South Asian, East Asian, South East Asian, Middle Eastern, Arab, Latinx, Jewish, Romany and Irish Traveller heritage”.
Candidates who self-identified as disabled would automatically get an interview if they met the essential criteria, the advert said.
Deaf and LGBTQ+ people were also encouraged to apply, as well as those who are neurodivergent, a term encompassing those with conditions such as autism.
A growing number of companies are looking to fill jobs with ex-convicts, with prisons offering inmates training courses ranging from forklift truck driving to gardening, furniture painting and even traffic marshalling.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has urged big business to recruit prison leavers as part of a national campaign.
KPMG last month emerged as the first white-collar British company to work with the Ministry of Justice on employing ex-offenders. With around one million vacancies in the UK job market, prisons and probation minister Ed Argar believes that prisoners could provide “businesses with the staff they need to boost the British economy”.
The number of Britons classed as economically inactive, meaning they are neither in a job nor looking for one, has ballooned to 9.25 million post-pandemic.
Previous plays at the Camden People’s Theatre have included A They In A Manger, described as a “a joyful queer Christmas riot”, while current shows include Miss Brexit, described a satire about migrant actors in a place that no longer welcomes them which is running until the end of the month.
The Camden People’s Theatre has been contacted for comment.