A play at Tarleton State University featuring a gay Christ-like character canceled its production after the school received hundreds of hateful e-mails and threatening phone calls. Tarleton is 15,000-person Texan town about 70 miles southwest of Forth Worth.

"I'm disappointed. I'm mad," cast member Chance Underwood said. "But I also understand the safety issues. I can't believe that people that I saw in the community as neighbors, friends, leaders of things, would go so far as to put threats on students and cast members. It's just ridiculous to me. I do feel it was the right decision. In no way would we have wanted anyone to get hurt."

Corpus Christi, written by Terrence McNally, was chosen by student director John Jordan Otte.  It revolves around a character named Joshua who has the ability to heal the sick, feed the hungry and provide spiritual guidance before being crucified.

Otte said he chose the play because he wanted to shed light on the experiences gay Christians have in life.  Otte, who is gay himself, left the Mormon church because he disagreed with their views on homosexuality.

"I do understand the decision" to cancel the play, Otte said in a statement. "The University has been so supportive in fighting for my rights and those of my cast. If anything is to be blamed, it is extremists doing what they do best."

The play was scheduled to have been performed Saturday, but the influx in hate mail had steadily increased leading up to the date.

"We received so many threatening calls and e-mails today across campus, the numbers were just staggering," said Drama Professor Mark Holtorf. "One administrator received in excess of 800 e-mails.”

The decision to cancel all four performances was made by the professor, not the University.  Administration officials made clear that the production would not be barred from campus due to academic freedom principles.

But in the end the safety of the students and faculty was put as the highest priority on campus.  Holtorf said the reasons he canceled the play were “safety and security concerns for the students, as well as the need to maintain an orderly academic environment."

"Our department received calls of a threatening nature," he said. "I could not guarantee the security of my students. The administration was truly behind the academic exercise, but I could not justify the risk."

No violence has been reported against members of the production. But last year, Tarleton was fined for grossly underreporting crimes and sex offenses on its campus from 2003 to 2005. The University is disputing the $137,000 penalty, which targets a time period before the current president, Dominic Dottavio, took on the job. Dottavio has not addressed this history in the context of current threats of violence on campus.

Instead, Dottavio has focused his statements about the play on the University’s efforts to uphold academic freedom. He published an opinion piece for a local newspaper defending the production by saying that there was no legal basis for him to stop the performance. The play never received an endorsement from the school and Dottavio made clear he did not like it, either.

"I see no artistic or redeeming quality in the work," he wrote. "I believe, as many have opined, that it is offensive, crude and irreverent."

But Underwood said Corpus Christi still may be performed off-campus.

"We've had a few offers from the Metroplex," Underwood said. "It would not be in this community."


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