THE head of South Australia's Catholic Church has asked Premier Jay Weatherill to cancel a "blasphemous" Adelaide Fringe show that encourages the audience to "heckle Jesus Christ".

In the show Come Heckle Christ, Melbourne comedian Joshua J Ladgrove dresses as Jesus and asks audience members to jeer in his direction, ask a question or throw something at his head.

Archbishop Philip Wilson sent a letter to Mr Weatherill on Thursday, asking him to intervene. He also sent a letter to SA parishes on Friday outlining his concerns and asked for these to be read during Mass over the weekend.

"While I am a strong advocate for freedom of speech and supporter of the arts, I believe this production is extremely ­offensive to people of any ­religious persuasion and insulting to many South Australians," Archbishop Wilson wrote.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE YOUR SAY BELOW

"It is outrageous and inappropriate for this sort of anti-Christian, blasphemous performance to be included in a public festival such as the Fringe."

He said many other Christians had already expressed their dismay about the performance and he encouraged them to write to the Premier or their local MP.

Mr Weatherill said the title was "deeply offensive" and "juvenile attempt to grab attention". But he said it was not the State Government's role to control what shows the Fringe puts on. "The best way to deal with it is to ignore it," he said.

Fringe sponsors, including Bank SA, have also been targeted by the protesters.

Family First MLC Robert Brokenshire said the party had received a flood of complaints and had also written to the Premier, asking him to cancel the show.

But Mr Ladgrove said when he performed the show in Melbourne last year it contained ­almost no negative references to Jesus or Christianity. He invited anyone with serious concerns about the show to attend for free. "There's an assumption that the show is designed to denigrate Christianity and the Christian establishment, and that's simply not valid," he said.

"The audience drive the narrative. Generally speaking, it would be fair to assume the audience won't be predominantly comprised of evangelical Christians, which implies that all manner of topics are shouted as heckles - a very broad range indeed. Come along and air your complaints on the night, that's part of the point of the whole show. I invite whoever's in the audience to shout out whatever they like."

Fringe artistic director Greg Clarke defended the principle of artistic freedom and said the show was in no way an attack on Christians.

"I think a lot of people have been asked to email different people and organisations calling for this show to be stopped, but they don't actually know anything about it," he said.

"They're just doing what they've been told to do rather than coming from a very ­informed place.

"This is what freedom of speech and the spirit of the festival is all about. Everyone can say whatever they want as long as it's not breaking the law. That's the essence of art. We would never censor or stop any show ... unless they were breaking the law."

St Peter's Cathedral dean Frank Nelson said although he believed the performance was in poor taste, he respected Australia's freedom of speech.

"I haven't seen the play, I think it's in pretty poor taste - the advert certainly is. It's pushing the boundaries and not ­terribly helpful," he said. "I do respect the freedom of speech that we have - it's an important part of Australian society which a lot of people elsewhere don't have - but that doesn't mean I agree with this."

Reactions to Mr Ladgrove's show divided opinion on social media yesterday, with hundreds of diverse comments on Advertiser.com.au and Facebook.

Advertiser.com.au reader Scott wrote: "As a Catholic, I have no issue with this. If people want to heckle Jesus then go for it. It's a bit of light-hearted fun."

But John wrote: "I'm disgusted by it. Separate to that, how is this art? How is this entertainment? Just don't show up people, let him stew."

On Thursday, ultra-conservative New South Wales politician Fred Nile tweeted: "Why is @sagovau & @BankSA sponsoring antichristian hate at the @adelaide_fringe festival 'Come Heckle Jesus'?

He called on followers to protest to the Premier in the hope the show would be removed from this year's Fringe.

FRED NILE'S TWEET TO HIS FOLLOWERS:

The first Come Heckle Christ performance in Adelaide is scheduled for February 27.

EXPLICIT LANGUAGE WARNING - WATCH A VIDEO OF JOSHUA LADGROVE PERFORMING AS JESUS CHRIST HERE