The current (September 2016) issue of MIT’s Performing Arts Journal (PAJ) includes the article “A Disturbing Mix of Religion and Politics: Aleister Crowley’s The Savior” by Edmund B. Lingan, Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Toledo. The issue also reprints Crowley’s play, The Savior: A Drama in One Scene. Originally published in the March 1918 issue of The International and only ever reissued as a pamphlet in 1991, The Savior is one of Crowley’s more obscure works and its republication here is most welcome.
Lingan deftly shines light on the play by examining it through the lens of Crowley’s Christian iconoclasm, as well as the political climate surrounding World War I and Viereck’s “The International” (of which Crowley was contributing editor).
Both articles are behind a paywall, but the first page of each can be previewed at the following links:
- Lingan, Edmund B. “A Disturbing Mix of Religion and Politics: Aleister Crowley’s The Savior.” Performing Arts Journal, September 2016, 38(2): 90-93.
- Crowley, Aleister. “The Savior: A Drama in One Scene.” Performing Arts Journal, September 2016, 38(2): 94-112.
Alternatively, the issue can be ordered for $13 directly from MIT Press.
