A "Passion of Christ" stage play held during the Holy Week in a small town in Brazil turned surreal when an audience member got up on stage to attack the Roman soldiers and "save" Jesus from being crucified.
The unidentified man reportedly charged to the stage shouting that he was "not going to let Jesus die!" and then hit the head of an actor in a Roman soldier costume, who had a helmet on. The other actors tried to pacify the man while the actor who played Jesus apparently remained in character and appeared calm amid the chaos.
At least 1,000 people witnessed the commotion, according to reports. Other spectators also caught the incident on videos that have been shared online.
Adriano Ferreira, the play's director, told reporters that they did not expect someone from the audience to get up on stage like that. After realizing what had happened, he ordered that the play be stopped in order to check if anyone was seriously hurt.
Fortunately, Samir Rodrigues, who was the Roman soldier, suffered no injuries but was shaken from what happened. Ferreira said the helmet that Rodrigues wore protected him well.
"A city businessman gave the Roman soldiers new helmets and that probably ended up protecting Samir," the director said.
Reports also stated that the man who attacked Rodrigues suffers from mental health problems and drug abuse.
Some of the spectators reportedly did not immediately realize that the commotion wasn't part of the play. The Holy Week presentation, however, quickly resumed after the actors were checked over.
"We halted the play for a few moments, but as no one had been injured, we decided to continue with the staging," said Ferreira.
