CORPUS CHRISTI. ΤΟ ΘΕΑΤΡΙΚΟ ΕΡΓΟ ΠΟΥ "ΣΚΑΝΔΑΛΙΣΕ" ΤΟΥΣ ΑΥΣΤΡΑΛΟΥΣ

A play that depicts Jesus as a gay man who is seduced by Judas and

conducts a gay marriage for two apostles has been condemned by religious leaders.

.
Corpus Christi
What if Jesus Christ hailed from Corpus Christi, Texas . . .
and what if he was gay?
Arguably one of the most controversial plays of the last ten years, Corpus Christi by American playwright Terrence McNally (Love, Valour, Compassion) has outraged Christian groups with its modern take on the story of Jesus' birth, ministry and death and his relationship with Judas and the other disciples. It caused an uproar when first produced in the US nine years ago and the Religious Right picketed the Melbourne production.
Yet the moralists miss the point: this is not a play that mocks Jesus; it is a play that speaks out against inhumanity by providing a witty, contemporary interpretation of Jesus' life.
Director Leigh Rowney was tempted by the play for a number of reasons, even though it wasn’t quite the vanguard of anti religious-right-homophobia that he hoped it might be. “As a Christian gay man, it appealed to me to explore a play which allows the possibility of gay people participating in the Christian faith. While my view of Christ on earth is of a man tempted by all possibilities and embracing (metaphorically and actually) people who identify as gay, straight, transgender, bisexual, kaluhtumpian or, like me, from Scone, I am comfortable with McNally's premise that this 20th century second coming is gay or bisexual.”
The play is very funny, very cheeky, but with moments of profound yearning and tenderness. Into the mix is thrown a dramatised crucifixion, preceded by a scourging that might be a gay-hate male pack rape. Not to mention the presence of sequinned jock straps! All strong stuff, which this production is presenting with a Brechtian stripped-back simplicity.
Rowney believes the play’s broad canvas will appeal to all ages. “My mostly young cast love it, but our senior gay community also will make an immediate connection with some elements: Jimmy Dean as the original male gay icon; the first HIV/Aids epidemic causing even the deeply faithful to wonder where God had gone; the tension between the public and private expression of the gay self.”
Corpus Christi is a play that speaks to our desire in western culture to revisit spirituality (not merely organised religion) after decades of material preoccupation, cult-of-the-individual, greed-is-good global thinking. This play, with its funky ensemble of men and women, makes positive statements about community, acceptance, self-respect, dignity, grace, choice ... and most important of all, love. (australianstage.com.au)