St Andrews university in Edinburgh is about to be hit by a wave of nutter protest as the first ever amateur production of the notable West End musical Jerry Springer: The Opera rolls into town.
The play, which caused a nutter storm for
supposedly ridiculing Jesus Christ, God and the Virgin Mary, is to be performed by a group of students from St Andrews, who claim the musical will show the ancient institution is daring enough to promote religious debate.
The Just So Musical
Society at St Andrews University will stage its production in April as part of the On the Rocks arts festival, which launches this year at the university. The show, which will follow the original script and score with a cast of 25 students, will have a
three-night run at the students' association from April 19 to 21.
The student director of the show, John MacLean, who is a practising Christian, denied he was courting controversy. I've decided to put it on because it's a fantastic show. I
think the score is incredible, and I went to see it in Edinburgh and I laughed out loud throughout. .
Stephen Green, national director of Christian Voice, remains implacably opposed to the show. His organisation's campaign against the
earlier, professional tour using leafletting and the threat of legal action against theatres meant the show lost £500,000.
Green said his organisation would try to do the same to the St Andrews production. It is disgraceful that in the
birthplace of the Scottish Reformation, St Andrews University is putting on a production that insults the Lord Jesus Christ. Ridiculing Jesus Christ will bring shame and God's judgment on what should, with all its history, be a devout seat of learning,
not a cesspit.
He called all Christians to take action against the musical. We must pray that this show is cancelled, but if it is not, may the Lord bring Christian people out on the streets of St Andrews to witness and evangelise at all
the events during the arts week. If many sinners repent and turn to Jesus Christ, some good will yet come from this evil.
Solicitor Michael Phillips, who represented Christian Voice when they sued the BBC for blasphemy after broadcasting the
musical in 2007, said: It's a worry that this production is rearing up again, and it's sad that something with so little artistic merit was given such a lot of attention because it used profanity and blasphemy. St Andrews University could be opening
themselves up for protests which could lead to legal action if there is somebody with the right funding behind them.
Gordon Macdonald, of Christian Action, Research and Education in Scotland, said: We would ask people not to see it or give
them any encouragement by attending the performance. We recognise people's freedom of speech, but at the same time that has to be exercised responsibly, and they shouldn't go out of their way to offend people unnecessarily.
There were two shows going on at Cleveland's Beck Center for the Arts last Friday night.
Almost 100 people, from babes-in-arms to grandparents, were gathered outside the theater in protest to what was going on inside the theater. Placards
carried by children and grandparents alike screamed Beck Center Promotes Blasphemy and Just Say No to Jerry Springer in opposition to the regional premiere of Jerry Springer The Opera , a show that pokes fun at Christianity
among other subjects.
It's not fair to Christians, said one picketer: If this were about anti-Semitism or anti-Muslim, the place would burn to the ground, stated another.
A few supporters among them bore signs spouting It's
Satire, Not Satan and Pray for a Sense of Humor, while advocating free speech and freedom for the arts. They were all but drowned out by bagpipes, The Lord's Prayer and other hymns.
So, what was the ruckus all about? Jerry Springer
The Opera, a musical riff on the titular Springer and his trashy talk show, has attracted naysayers wherever it has been produced. It's at Beck through to March 27.
