“The children were all dressed up and only minutes were left for the curtains to go up, when I got this envelop. It was an order banning the staging of the dance drama Jesus Christ Superstar, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim rice, in Kottayam district. The students had rehearsed for months together,” remembers Mary Roy, former Principal of Pallikkudom (then Corpus Christy School).
“It was 5.05 p.m. on October 15, 1990. The show was to begin by 5.30 p.m. Children were crying. Some were in shock and a few of them did not speak for days to come.”
It was planned as the annual mega production of her school. It was banned in the district by the then District Collector Alphonse Kannamthanam through a magisterial order and the legal battle to lift the ban went on till the Supreme Court lifted it on Tuesday through an order, after 24 years.
The drama has been staged the world over, including the Vatican, during this period. The only place it remained banned was Kottayam district.
Ms. Roy attributes personal vendetta to the ban on the play. “Why should it be banned in Kottayam alone? He had a personal score to settle with me. Moreover, my civil case with my brother was also going on. There were many who were against me. They too might have influenced,” she said.
However, speaking to The Hindu on Wednesday, Mr. Kannamthanam, now a member on the BJP national executive, said: “Whatever I had to say I had written in my magisterial order. To attribute motives to a magisterial order is not right,” he said.
Ms. Roy later lost interest in restaging the drama. “Every year we will have different production. We are teachers and students. We have to move forward,” she pointed out.
It was in 2002 that Fr. Abraham Vellathadathil, a Christian priest, approached the Kerala High Court to lift the ban.
It was dismissed and the priest took the case to the Supreme Court in 2004.
“The magisterial order was an affront to the sensibilities of the people of this district and I wanted to prove it,” said Fr. Vellathadathil over the phone on Wednesday. “Is there any chance of re-enacting the play, in the light of the lifting of the ban?” Yes, We will have to think in that lines now,” says Ms Roy.
SC lifts ban on dance drama Jesus Christ Superstar
on Tuesday
