Posted on 03/12/2005 8:12:49 PM PST by familyop
On Good Friday, after night has fallen on the medieval Umbrian town of Alviano, the crowds flock to a spellbinding re-enactment of the Passion of Christ.
From the ancient piazza they watch as the bare-chested actor playing Jesus, head crowned with thorns, is tied to a cross 35ft above the ground, fixed to the ramparts of the 15th-century castle.
This year, however, the figure spotlit on the cross will be a woman - a 29-year-old ballerina named Elena Angeli - who was cast by the play's director, Corrado Sorbara, to show the "other, feminine side of Christ".
His controversial decision has split the town in two. While elderly residents talk of heresy and blasphemy, prompting the mayor to call for the play to be scrapped, younger people support Mr Sorbara's choice.
In the only bar in Alviano, a sleepy agricultural centre on the Tiber near Terni, where lively discussion is usually confined to tractors or football, locals have talked heatedly about little else for the past month.
Last week, the mayor, Nazario Sauro Santi, urged Mr Sorbara to "display some humility", arguing that the image of Christ that local people were used to was the "one taught by the Church fathers".
He suggested that if the director wanted to cast a woman as Christ, it would be sensitive not to do so at Easter.
"At any other time I would be happy to recognise its possible contribution to avant-garde theatre," he said. "However, to stage this on Good Friday seems provocative and profane." Elderly people, he said, were "very touchy about religion and liable to feel personally hurt".
Mr Sorbara remained unmoved by what he called the "dictates of people with a different vision of Christ. The Bible says, 'In Christ, there is no male or female' ," he said.
Most of the town's young people, who make up the majority of the cast, favour Mr Sorbara's choice of Christ. Many admit that while they rarely set foot in church, they have been fired with fresh enthusiasm for the New Testament by his interpretation.
"The town is split in two," Mr Sorbara told The Telegraph. "Even families are divided, with the young people generally taking my side. Their new-found interest alone, I consider to be a huge success."
In his vision of the Passion, a male figure will play the part of Christ carrying the cross before Miss Angeli, draped in a long-sleeved white tunic, takes his place high on the ramparts.
The actress said yesterday that she was proud to be involved. "To be asked to do the play at a 'more opportune time' is absurd," she said. "Christ on the Cross represents all of humanity. This seems obvious to me, even if I am not a believer myself. What is heartening is the young people's enthusiasm for this new interpretation. As a result some have even begun reading the scriptures.
"This role has been an important challenge and I never imagined I would take part in such a project. The fact that I suffer from vertigo makes it an extra challenge, but I am not afraid."
Mr Sorbara has agreed to attend a meeting in the town hall this week to take part in a "civil discussion", though the event promises to be stormy.
The dispute came to a head last week as the Catholic Church in France won a court injunction banning a controversial billboard and magazine advertisement for women's wear based on Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, but featuring female models.
Already banned in Milan, the advertisement was ruled by the French judge to be "a gratuitous and aggressive act of intrusion on people's innermost beliefs".
Mr Sorbara, who describes himself as a fervent Catholic, said that he had not meant his casting to be provocative, but had merely been following the scriptures.
"The dignity of the woman is the purposeful expression of God which she has inherited from her creator," he said. "Bible experts and even the Pope are on my side."
Good Lord...
Im speechless. This has nothing to do with ones intepretation of Christ in my opinion..
And here all this time I thought Christ represented (and was) God.
This is Italy. This is an opportunity to display a young woman's breasts, nothing more.
You must have missed the election. We all got to vote.
Christ won, but the runner up was Micheal Jackson.
It's a play. Men played women in drag for ages. She's not claiming she IS Christ, she's merely playing the role. The men were merely playing the role, too.
Pretty shabby way to treat the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
They confuse that Christ does not respect the difference between humans, we are all the same, male and female in need of a Savior.
Christ does not have an "other side" he says "I am that I am"
Basically these people are morons and ignorant
But... what was the name of that town wiped out by the tsunami... oh yeah... Phuket!
Think about the non-believers who might, just might, be drawn to the story of The Passion by this juvenille stunt? It clearly isn't the director or actor's intent. But what if their intent isn't controlling?
The Lord moves in mysterious ways. Some more mysterious than others.
encourage people not to read the bible, where on earth did you get that nonsense???? if you will recall, the Catholic church WROTE the bible and for the first 1,500 years of church history, all Christians were Catholic,,, It wasn't until Mr. Gutenburg invented the printing press that the average person could even come close to purchasing a bible...Before that all were hand written by Catholic Monks and were rare and expensive..
Having been to Italy...I can pretty much guess that 90 percent of the town is against this female portrayal. There is a strong church ethic amongst most Italian adults (over the age of 30)...and they are likely very upset about this whole episode. This little play won't last long...and the woman involved...won't find alot of support amongst her friends.
It's pretty much common knowledge that the Catholic church didn't like the common man interpreting the bible for themselves. In fact I think there were some laws against it up until the printing press was invented. They're always afraid of those "heretics".
Mary will be portrayed by as Al Bundy and Peter will sound like Michael Jackson.
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