Lawsuit targets religious play
Actors and the producer of a gay-themed passion play were on Friday charged with blasphemy following a lawsuit filed by Bishop Seraphim of Piraeus.
Terrence McNally’s “Corpus Christi,” staged in Athens by Albania-born director Laertis Vasiliou, was recently pulled down following regular protests, sometimes violent, by religious zealots and members of the neofascist Golden Dawn party –- including several MPs.
In comments made to the press, Vasiliou, who could spend several months in jail if found guilty, rebuffed the charges of “insulting religion” and “malicious blasphemy.”
“What I see is that there are people who have robbed the country blind, who are not in jail, and the prosecutor turns against art,” he said.
A trial date has yet to be set.
