The Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Kythira Seraphim filed a lawsuit against the cast and production crew of the musical play “Jesus Christ Superstar”, which has been Playing since February 9 at the Acropol theatre. The religious leader claimed the show violated articles 198 and 199 of the Greek Penal Code regarding malicious blasphemy and insulting a religious confession.
In the play, Jesus Christ is depicted as a member of a hippy commune.
On the morning of Friday, Metropolitan Seraphim contacted the Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court, expressing his strong complaints on the opening of the show, explaining the blasphemous nature of the content and requested that the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office take all necessary actions for the immediate cancelation of the play.
The Metropolitan’s move prompted a response by the Hellenic League for Human Rights, which made released a statement referring to a long-standing lagging of Law in Greece”.
“Jesus Christ Superstar” is the first rock opera that to have been played in theatres, first in Broadway and then in West End of London with huge success. With its modern language and its award-winning music, it has been put on in 42 countries and has been translated into 20 different languages, receiving the highest accolades globally Having swept all the awards (Tony, Grammy, Olivier, Bafta, DramaDeskAward, Theatre World Award, etc.), it won an Oscar and Golden Globe in 1974.
