Russian authorities recently accused an opera director of publicly offending the sentiments of Christians, after receiving a complaint from a senior cleric at the Russian Orthodox Church. Timofei Kulyabin, 30, was charged for his production of Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhauser, which premiered in December of last year and was subsequently staged at Siberia’s Ballet Theatre and Novosibirsk’s State Opera.

“It’s absurd and I don’t want to take part in something absurd, to be honest,” said Kulyabin. “I just have a sense of deep incomprehension.”

According to prosecutors, Kulyabin, who won the country’s prestigious Golden Mask award in 2014, publicly dishonored an image of Jesus from the Gospels, which is considered to be an object of religious worship by Christians. The case against the opera was issued after a top-level cleric from the Russian Orthodox Church filed a complaint with the country’s authorities, informing them of how Kulyabin’s production had offended devout believers.

“I wrote (to prosecutors) that Tannhauser breaches the rights of believers. ... Believers are offended, so to say,” Patriarch Tikhon said.

Kulyabin’s alleged crime carries a fine of up to $3,165 as well as a jail sentence for up to three years.

“I don’t want to and I cannot understand the system of values of Orthodox activists,” Kulyabin said. “They have nothing to do with theatre.”

Kulyabin explained he and the theatre director Boris Mezdrich had been called by prosecutors, who asked the duo for their respective statements. The opera director believes a court order could ask for the offending scenes in the production to be omitted or the entire production to be removed from the theatre’s repertoire.

“It just depends on the level of their imagination,” he said.

Wagner’s opera, which was first staged in 1845, revolves around the protagonist, who get lured by Venus’ charms, before eventually making his way back to the Catholic Church.

Photo Credits: FeelBucharest