‘Come Heckle Christ’ ruffles feathers at Fringe

An Adelaide Fringe production has been attacked by Christians after the Rev Fred Nile criticised the production on Twitter.

31 Jan 2014

Richard Watts

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The publicity image for Come Heckle Christ plays up Joshua Ladgrove’s resemblance to the classic Orthodox image of Jesus.

Melbourne comedian Joshua Ladgrove’s Adelaide Fringe production Come Heckle Christ has generated complaints from concerned Christians over its allegedly blasphemous nature.

The frequency of complaints escalated today after conservative NSW politician the Reverend Fred Nile waded into the fray on Twitter, calling the show ‘antiChristian hate’.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts