John Cleese urged to scrap Life of Brian joke about man having a baby

Actors warned John Cleese that his Life of Brian stage show should not include a scene about a man wanting to be a woman and have a baby, the comedian has said.

The Monty Python star is working on a stage production of the troupe’s 1979 comedy film, The Life of Brian, which parodies the Messianic message of the New Testament.

In the film version, a character named Stan explains that he wants to be a woman called Loretta and “have babies”, before being told by Cleese’s character Reg that this was impossible.

This exchange reportedly met with opposition from actors in a readthrough of the script for the planned stage show because it could “offend people”, raising doubt as to its inclusion in the final production.

'You can't do that stuff nowadays'

Cleese said performers involved in the readthrough told him: “We love the script, but you can't do that stuff about Loretta nowadays.”

Speaking to the audience for his one-man show, he added:  "So here you have something there's never been a complaint about in 40 years, that I've heard of, and now all of a sudden we can't do it because it'll offend people. What is one supposed to make of that?

“But I think there were a lot of things that were actually, in some strange way, predictive of what was actually going to happen later."

The potentially offensive scene features Eric Idle as Stan telling his fellow members of the People's Front of Judea “I want to be a woman”, and adding “from now on, I want you all to call me Loretta”.

He explains that this is because he wants to have babies, and explains that “it's every man's right to have babies if he wants them”.

'You haven't got a womb'

Cleese’s character Reg explains “you haven’t got a womb”, but the People’s Front decide that they will champion Stan’s right to have babies, as it is "it is symbolic of our struggle against oppression”.

Cleese revealed the concerns with the script amid a growing debate about gender ideology, which purports that people born female who identify as male are men, and could give birth to children as men.

This idea has been reflected in the NHS, with the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust recently employing the phrase “birthing people” instead of mothers in an announcement about perinatal mental health care.

In 2021, Brighton and Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust unveiled “gender inclusive” phrases to be used as best practice by medical staff, advising that “birthing parent” was the more appropriate term.

'I've changed some things'

While it remains to be seen if Cleese’s script will include Stan’s wish to be a woman, the star has said that audiences can expect some differences between the stage show and the film.

Cleese said: "I think Life Of Brian is our best film. We are going to do it in London in the second half of next year and I've changed certain things."

According to the Daily Mail, he said: "There is a new character - Fiona Pilate, Pilate's wife - who falls in love with Brian. And, spoiler alert, Brian does not get crucified. But rest assured he will still sing Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life."

The film was accused of being blasphemous when it was first released, and was banned in Ireland as part of a clerical backlash against the comedy, often cited as the greatest of all time.