Church calls for boycott of McNally play
An appeal by the Orthodox Church to Greeks to boycott ?a blasphemous theatrical work? relates to ?Corpus Christi,? a play by US writer Terrence McNally dramatizing the story of Jesus and the Apostles, whose Greek adaptation opened in Athens on Thursday, Kathimerini understands.
?We are extremely saddened by the writer?s sick imagination and we call on the people to condemn it,? the Holy Synod said. Its statement did not name the play but director Laertes Vassiliou, who oversaw the work?s adaptation into Greek, accused the Church of ?obscurantism,? noting the play is the story of the coming-of-age of 13 young people. ?The work is not at all how the Holy Synod describes it,? he said and challenged clerics to watch the play before condemning it. According to some foreign reviews, the play suggests the 12 Apostles were homosexual.
It is the first time the Church has condemned an artistic work since 2000, when it criticized a book by author and politician Mimis Androulakis which portrays Christ as a philanderer.
