Agnes of God, the Latest Target of Ban Culture
NB: The culture of 'hurt sentiment' strikes again. Banning works of art because they disturb the proprietors of this or that religion has become a habit in India, and the Catholic Church has added to this display of intolerance. In 1988 some Christian groups had obtained the ban on The Last Temptation of Christ, this despite the fact that the film was made and screened in countries with large Christian populations. The persons who have agitated against this play should know that they have contributed to the authoritarian atmosphere that is currently building up in India. DS
The play “Agnes of God”, about an American nun who gives
birth to a dead child and claims it is the result of a virgin conception has
been made into a film and has played all over the world. It was performed in Mumbai
two decades ago. But now it has run afoul of the Church and of self-proclaimed
activists and its first performance on Monday is in jeopardy.
The highest Catholic body of the western region – the
Archdiocese – has issued a strong statement against the play and the manner in
which it was advertised – “The screaming headlines and life-size cut outs of
religious sisters seem to portray them as characters lacking in integrity and
guilty of cover-up of infanticide. Such a depiction will lower the esteem
for nuns in the eyes of children to whom nuns impart knowledge and human
values. This is totally unfair to our very many Religious Sisters who are
working selflessly with dedication and generosity. We deplore this.” At the
same time, it says it does not clamour for in bans of literary works.
The Catholics Bishop’s Conference however has dashed off
letters to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh asking for a ban since it offends
the religious sentiments of the community. “Why write to the Home Minister
about a play-as though there are no other bigger problems in the country,” says
Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, whose company Poor Box Productions was producing the
play.
The Archdiocese’s statement sends out a strong message to
the community that the play is objectionable and will have an impact. In the
past, movies and plays such as Jesus Christ Superstar, the Last Passion of the
Christ and even Da Vinci Code have angered Christians. In the 1970s, Alyque
Padamsee showed his controversial musical Jesus Christ Superstar to senior
bishops in Bombay and added an extra song after which the play was “approved.”
Earlier this week, on the eve of the opening, Mody-Kotwal
was busy working on her play Sister Agnes, she got a call from the manager of
the theatre where it was to open. The theatre was cancelling its booking,
because the “nuns were unhappy with it.” The theatre is in Sophia College,
which is run by the Religious Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. “It sent us
into a tizzy, because we had paid an advance and now had to look for an
alternative space at short notice,” Mody-Kotwal told the Wire. The same play
had been performed at the theatre two decades ago. Kotwal immediately
tried to speak to someone in charge and after many tries, got a nun on the
line. ”She was very rude and did not tell us anything.”
Joseph Dias, who runs the Catholic Secular Forum, also
declared he was going to get the play stopped. He has in the past rushed to
express outrage on behalf the city’s Catholics on a wide variety of movies,
such as Da Vinci Code and Kya Kool Hain Hum and issues. He objects to the play
because, according to him, “The life of a nun is a sacred subject,they live
their lives devoted to service and commodifying their lives for ticket sales
offends me.” “You have to understand that we must question whether India is
ready for this kind of content as morality differs here and in the west,” he
told The Wire.
Kotwal’s son Kaizaad, who has directed the play spoke to
Dias, who said the play was offensive to Catholics. “He also appeared to be
very interested in the economics of putting up a theatre production, including
whether it would make a lot of money,” Kotwal said.
With the opening night cancelled and huge financial losses
staring them in the face, the Kotwals approached the police and leading members
of the Catholic community and tried to get an alternative theatre booking. The
play is scheduled to open next Monday at an alternative theatre, but Dias has
already indicated that he plans to get a court injunction to stop the play from
opening.
Kaizaad Kotwal has asked for police protection for himself
and the cast, including his mother. Though the police have promised it will not
allow the play to be stopped, Mody-Kotwal is a bit nervous: “the police says if
there is a court order we can do nothing.” There is also no saying how the
government will react.
Agnes of God is an American play about a nun who gives birth
to a dead child and insists it was the result of a virgin conception. There is
a clash between the nun, the Mother Superior and a psychiatrist. It was made
into a film in 1985 starring Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft. It has played on
stage around the world. “I loved the play and in fact the suggestion that I do
it came from a Catholic friend,” says Mody-Kotwal. In Mumbai’s theatre circles,
she is known as the person who has been staging the one-woman play “Vagina
Monologues” for the past 13 years – “in English and Hindi” – and she says she
has never faced any form of protest or objection.
Mody-Kotwal says she is worried about the financial losses
she will face since she had planned to perform the play till April and made
investments accordingly. “But we have put in our effort and our passion and who
will compensate that?”
