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Festival loses subsidy over 'blasphemous' show
Dale Fuchs in Madrid
Saturday March 18, 2006
The Guardian
An independent theatre festival in Toledo lost its government subsidies this week for refusing to cancel a show that satirises the Pope and advocates atheism.
It is the latest front in a battle that has raged since February around comedian Leo Bassi's act, Revelation[*], which has angered the Catholic church in Spain, sparked violent protests by the extreme right in Madrid and fuelled a nationwide debate on artistic freedom.
Mr Bassi's show, which also pokes fun at Christian evangelists in America and the Old Testament, will be performed today at a makeshift venue. Donations will help compensate for the €7,000 (£4,857) in lost subsidies, the festival producer told the Guardian.
But the curtain will rise amid controversy. Last Sunday the archbishop of Toledo, Antonio Cañizares, said the show was "blasphemous", "anti-Christian" and an "insult to the church". Days later, the local and regional governments of Toledo threatened to withdraw festival subsidies if the show was not cancelled. "It could offend Catholic sensibilities," a spokesman said.
At the end of the show the New York born comedian, the grandson of British variety star Jimmy Wheeler, directs the audience to his website, where there is a form on which they can renounce their faith. He considers the work "reverse evangelism".
In February about 200 members of the extreme right asked the Socialist prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to "apologise" for "the offence to Catholic principles".
In March police defused a bomb near Mr Bassi's dressing room at the Alfil Theatre in Madrid.
In June Mr Bassi takes his show to a venue near the Vatican in Rome. "I'm looking forward to it," he said.
guardian.co.uk
[*] leobassi.com |
