Satanic Verses play passes without incident
Good news from Potsdam, Germany, where the Hans-Otto theatre’s production of The Satanic Verses passed without incident.
The first ever stage adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s novel did draw some complaints from the German Islamic Council (“We regret that the religious sentiments of Muslims are being treated in a provocative manner”) and the Central Council of Muslims (“Freedom of expression and of art is important but offences against what is sacred in a religion is not something we value”).
That’s progress.
Would we have had the Satanic Verses passing without incident if the Mo Cartoons hadn’t happened? Seriously doubt it. It takes provacteurs to push the boundaries of cultural dogma. It happened countless times before, and it’ll continue to happen.