Jesus Christ no superstar to Russian Christians

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/oct/18/jesus-christ-no-superstar-to-russian-christians

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A theatre in one of Russia’s largest cities has cancelled a performance of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar after protests by an organisation of conservative Orthodox Christians.

The show, by a troupe from St Petersburg, was to have been staged on 1 November in Omsk, Russia’s seventh most populous city. But a local group called Family, Love, and Fatherland filed a complaint that the musical mocked religious faith, according to Russian news reports.

State television reported Tuesday that the performance had been called off. The decision comes amid growing conservative sentiment and resistance to western popular culture in Russia.

Amnesty International said the cancellation was “an affront to freedom of expression and the latest example of interference in Russian cultural life by nationalist ‘activists’”.