Or if they read the policies of the venue and adhered to them, the play could go on. Saying "you can't do X at this venue" is not the same as saying "you must do X".
...but the university is doing exactly that - forcing diversity for diversity sake. The play was written to be all male and they refused them the venue as a result of no women being called to audition for a role that isn't for women.
They should've had in the casting call, a role for a woman in a sandwich-board sign, on it printed directions to the theater's fire exits. She stands at stage left for the entire performance, and has no lines, requiring no additions or subtractions to Beckett's work.
Hold an audition allowing all people to try out, and if a woman does get cast because she is best for the role, read the prepared statement before the play indicating the rights holders don't like it.
…and get sued by the Beckett estate; because that’s an out only if you’re in one jurisdiction in France. I suppose if the University was willing to accept liability, that’d be different.
> Famously, in 1988, Beckett brought legal action against a Dutch theatre company, which wanted to stage a production of Waiting for Godot, with women acting all the roles. His lawyer argued that the integrity of the text was violated because actresses were substituted for the male actors asked for in the text. The judge in the Haarlem court ruled that the integrity of the play had not been violated, because the performance showed fidelity to the dialogue and the stage directions of the play
