Rodrigo García is no ordinary director - and his plays are far from run of the mill: After 'C'est comme ça et me faites pas chier', literally ‘It’s like that, so don’t piss me off’ (an excessively bleak and polemical representation of modern society shown in Annecy last year), the Argentinean is back in Paris with 'Gólgota picnic', possibly his most contentious piece yet, played at the Théâtre du Rond Point.
In fact, so hard-hitting and controversial is the ‘picnic’ that the police have been brought in to contain the demonstrating Roman Catholic extremists ganging up outside. They consider García’s anti-religious, anti-consumerist discourse (portrayed with bodies writhing in paint and hamburger buns, and women crucified in crowns of thorns) so blasphemous that it should be stopped.
This comes just weeks after Catholic extremists caused turmoil at Paris’ Théâtre de la Ville for Romeo Castellucci’s play ‘Sur le concept du visage du fils de Dieu’ in which a father and his son contemplate life and depravity in front of Christ’s face. The extremists actually threatened the ticket sellers and threw eggs and oil on the audiences!
But getting back to 'Gólgota picnic', it would seem that the mere suggestion that McDonald’s and Christ could be two marketing icons that have led modern society into a downward spiral of consumerist debauchery is too much to handle for some folks. If you however are looking for a metaphorical slap around the face, and you speak French or Spanish, book your ticket now.