Unpacking the Theatre-Religion Dialectic: Siting Christianity’s Mary Magdalene

In this article, we focus on the portrayal of Mary Magdalene in the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar as a case study to offer insights into the dialectical relationship between theatre and religion. This allows us to better understand the difficulties and limits involved as one attempts to challenge or confront the other. Drawing on the framework of ideological sites, particularly the anthropological distinction between primary and secondary sites, we provide a valuable explanation as to why, despite the endeavours at redressing them, misconceptions about Mary Magdalene continue to exist. We close with a discussion of metatheatre and extract guidelines on how a metatheatrical critique of received understandings about Mary might be conceived.