Church film reviewing board chairman removed

The chairman of the Church’s Reviewing Film Board has been removed from his post following his evidence about Anthony Nielson’s controversial play Stitching in court last week.

The play, produced by Unifaun Theatre, was banned by the state-appointed Board of Film and Theatre Classification and the producers took the case the court.

Giving evidence in his personal capacity, Fr Abela had told the court he would have classified the play 18R, meaning it could be watched by adults with reservations.

The Church has no censorship board for theatre and the board Fr Abela sits on only classifies films.

Fr Abela justified his evidence, saying that the play was about suffering and it was very human, “an opportunity for people to try to understand the suffering that people go through when they have lost a child”.

Earlier this week the Church said it had not taken an official stand on the ban of the play, but it distanced itself from Fr Abela's views.

Stitching is about the relationship of a couple, where the woman gets pregnant and they decide to keep the baby in a bid to save their relationship, which was experiencing problems.

The relationship continues to disintegrate and the child dies in a traffic accident while the parents are arguing. They both carry the guilt of the child’s death. This reunites them but the woman appears as a prostitute to distance herself from the emotions of reuniting. She slips into mental illness and later mutilates herself in an attempt to become a virgin.

It takes place on two timelines with the story getting together in the end.

Contacted this morning, Fr Abela declined to comment about the Curia’s decision.