Eucharist Mocked at Brown

July 30, 2008

“You’re Eating God” is a one-woman play by Rachel Caris that opened July 23 at the Brown University/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island. The play, which ends August 2, is about a family living in a backyard bomb shelter in the 1960s. “The title of the piece comes from one of its lines,” says Bryan Rourke of the Providence Journal, “which one character delivers after seeing another character ravenously eat a pile of Eucharistic hosts.” He says that the play “satirically questions the conventions of Catholicism.”

The play’s webpage flags the following: “Warning! ‘Eating’ is an outrageous farce. It contains graphic language, sexual situations, and religious satire. Not for the faint of heart. Inappropriate for children and young teens.” On the same page is a picture of Caris drinking a soda in a diner booth with a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented as follows:

“Catholic schoolboy traditions are fair game for a play that pokes gentle fun at Catholicism. But that is not what this play is about: There is nothing gentle about mocking the Eucharist. This should be known even to those who are not Catholic.

“What is most objectionable about this anti-Catholic production is that it is funded by the Ivy League Brown University. And it again demonstrates that the elites will not target Muslim or Jewish beliefs, but they apparently feel free to bash Catholicism with impunity.”

Susan A. Fani is the Director of Communications for the Catholic League. This press release was originally issued on July 30, 2008.