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Stage Q receives community support despite demonstrations over controversial play(WMTV)<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I heard that Stage Q was bringing the show back, I thought, uh-oh,\u201d said Steve Noll, vice president of the Bartell Theater.<\/p>\n
Noll was the producer when the theater first put on the show more than 20 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it is a little concerning. I did have death threats directed towards me back in 2004. That was scary,\u201d explained Noll.<\/p>\n
The 2004 production at the Bartell Theatre received major protests and threats towards the actors and crew.<\/p>\n
Show returns as \u2018legacy production\u2019<\/p>\n
Ren Kaspar-Tracy, vice president and marketing director for Stage Q, says they decided to put on the show for their 25 anniversary season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d Kaspar-Tracy said.<\/p>\n
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Stage Q receives community support despite demonstrations over controversial play(WMTV)<\/p>\n
Studio Q is a queer theatre with the goal of celebrating and advancing queer representation through theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe make sure that our plays are by queer people, for queer people, acted by queer people, put, you know, directed by queer people,\u201d explained Kaspar-Tracy.<\/p>\n
The production of \u201cCorpus Christi\u201d explores the teachings of love and acceptance in the Bible.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we pretty instantly knew we wanted to do this show because, you know, in today\u2019s 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,\u201d Kaspar-Tracy said.<\/p>\n
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Stage Q receives community support despite demonstrations over controversial play(WMTV)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think there\u2019s something really intriguing about that for people, whether they\u2019re religious or not,\u201d Kaspar-Tracy said.<\/p>\n
Protesters line up outside theater<\/p>\n
Before Thursday night\u2019s production, protesters lined up in front of the theater.<\/p>\n
People were seen with bagpipes and a sign saying the production \u201cattacks the purity of Jesus and His Apostles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The protesters stayed peaceful and did not interrupt the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up Christian. I can understand where they\u2019re 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\u2019re doing with the show, that we\u2019re not being blasphemous in the way that they think we are,\u201d Kaspar-Tracy said.<\/p>\n
Kaspar-Tracy says the group\u2019s intent was not to be malicious or in protest of any religion.<\/p>\n
\u201cArt has always been used as a form of protest, and what we are protesting is not religion,\u201d said Kaspar-Tracy. \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Stage Q receives community support despite demonstrations over controversial play(WMTV)<\/p>\n
Noll says the attention of protesters has brought more people out to support the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been overwhelmed with positive comments from the community, saying, \u2018Hey, we heard that you are getting protesters. How can we help you?\u201d Noll said.<\/p>\n