(DAILYMAIL) — A play that portrays Jesus as a transgender woman who refers to God as ‘Mum’ is to be performed in a Church of England church today.
To the fury of critics who say the play is deeply offensive, the Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, will not block the staging of The Gospel According To Jesus, Queen Of Heaven.
The one-woman play by Jo Clifford, an award-winning Scottish playwright who has herself changed gender, imagines Jesus returning to earth as a ‘trans woman’ and retelling the parables with a transsexual slant.
At one point, Ms Clifford, who plays Jesus, says: ‘I love my Mum.
‘I am the daughter of God and almost certainly the son also. My Mum said let there be light and I say I am the light…’
In another, she says: ‘Our Mother who art on Earth, blessed is your name.’ Against images of gay couples kissing, she continues: ‘Give us this day our daily kisses, for yours is the Queendom…’
In the drama, to be staged at St Chrysostom’s church in Manchester’s Victoria Park as part of the city’s Queer Contact festival, the prodigal son is thrown out by his father for wanting a sex change.
