MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A Madison Theater Company’s production of “Corpus Christi” was met by protesters Thursday night.
This comes 20 years after the same theater put on the same show and was met with a similar response.
Stage Q is presenting the show at the Bartell Community Theatre. Shows began on March 20th and run through April 4th.
Stage Q receives community support despite demonstrations over controversial play(WMTV)
“When I heard that Stage Q was bringing the show back, I thought, uh-oh,” said Steve Noll, vice president of the Bartell Theater.
Noll was the producer when the theater first put on the show more than 20 years ago.
“Yeah, it is a little concerning. I did have death threats directed towards me back in 2004. That was scary,” explained Noll.
The 2004 production at the Bartell Theatre received major protests and threats towards the actors and crew.
Show returns as ‘legacy production’
Ren Kaspar-Tracy, vice president and marketing director for Stage Q, says they decided to put on the show for their 25 anniversary season.
“We wanted to do like a legacy show, go back in our archives and pick a show to do again. And this one was an immediate standout,” Kaspar-Tracy said.
Stage Q receives community support despite demonstrations over controversial play(WMTV)
Studio Q is a queer theatre with the goal of celebrating and advancing queer representation through theatre.
“We make sure that our plays are by queer people, for queer people, acted by queer people, put, you know, directed by queer people,” explained Kaspar-Tracy.
The production of “Corpus Christi” explores the teachings of love and acceptance in the Bible.
“And we pretty instantly knew we wanted to do this show because, you know, in today’s day and age, you know, the message is just as powerful as back in 2004 when we did it the first time, and back in 1998 when it was written,” Kaspar-Tracy said.
Stage Q receives community support despite demonstrations over controversial play(WMTV)
The show takes a religious story and re-tells it in a modern way, showing Jesus as a gay man living in Texas in the 1950s.
“And I think there’s something really intriguing about that for people, whether they’re religious or not,” Kaspar-Tracy said.
Protesters line up outside theater
Before Thursday night’s production, protesters lined up in front of the theater.
People were seen with bagpipes and a sign saying the production “attacks the purity of Jesus and His Apostles.”
The protesters stayed peaceful and did not interrupt the show.
“I grew up Christian. I can understand where they’re coming from, but in my opinion, if you take just a few seconds to look deeper into the show and understand, knowing who Jesus was and knowing what we’re doing with the show, that we’re not being blasphemous in the way that they think we are,” Kaspar-Tracy said.
Kaspar-Tracy says the group’s intent was not to be malicious or in protest of any religion.
“Art has always been used as a form of protest, and what we are protesting is not religion,” said Kaspar-Tracy. “And so when we chose to do this show, knowing that it would be volatile in nature, we did not choose it specifically to attack any one religious identity or group of religious people or a religious figure or anything like that.”
Stage Q receives community support despite demonstrations over controversial play(WMTV)
Noll says the attention of protesters has brought more people out to support the show.
“We have been overwhelmed with positive comments from the community, saying, ‘Hey, we heard that you are getting protesters. How can we help you?” Noll said.
Tickets are purchased using a sliding scale based on what audience members can afford, ranging from $10-$50. The suggested ticket price is $30.
The organization whose name is on a banner held by protesters appears to be the same group that organized protests in 2004. They have not yet responded to requests for comment.
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