‘Corpus Christi’ organizers, cast face blasphemy charges
The public prosecutor’s office on Friday charged the organizers, producers and cast of «Corpus Christi» with blasphemy following a lawsuit filed by Bishop Seraphim of Piraeus.
Directed by Albanian-born Laertis Vasiliou, Terrence McNally’s play had been staged at the Hytirio Theater in down town Athens. The play dramatizes the story of Christ and the Apostles.
Protests by members of far-right Golden Dawn and religious groups had cancelled the play’s Athenian premiere on two difference occasions, before the production had been pulled down entirely following more reaction from extreme nationalist and religious groups.
“It was not our intention to provoke ‘religious sentiment’ or to create tensions,” noted the play’s organizers in a statement following the end of the performances.
