I’m Not Jesus Christ

I’m Not Jesus Christ is a darkly humorous true tale about 11-year old Mihai, raised by his mother to believe he is the Second Coming. All he really wants is to be like his hero Michael Schumacher but, as his birthday approaches, his mother has other ideas. Based on a real life story, Manolescu’s play contrasts innocence with violence and asks where the limits of love and sacrifice are, in a world where the characters both resist society and are rejected by it, yet where they desperately crave love and approval.

'I was attracted to the true event that inspired the play because, although extreme and unusual, it outlines a danger, which can affect us all. I understand that particularly well now, as a mother: the danger to cast our children in the role of redeemers of our own anguish or sins.' Playwright Maria Manolescu

'I want to interrogate stereotypes and tackle misrepresentation, especially concerning audience expectations of Eastern Europeans, poverty porn and sexual assault in performance.' Director Melissa Dunne