Introducing Portugal's foremost 20th-century playwright to the London stage was never going to pass without notice. But the Galleon Playhouse in Greenwich has tackled the cutting-edge play head-on in an effort to bring wider acclaim to a European writer neglected in UK theatre.

The Crime of the Old Village by Bernardo Santareno is a ruthlessly controversial play about religious fanaticism, intolerance and faith-driven crime.

But expect nothing less from a play banned when it was originally published in 1959 by the ruling Portuguese fascist regime.

Producer Alice de Sousa says the play has found itself lying uncomfortably within accepted storylines in Britain because of its provocative depiction of Catholicism.

The play was translated by de Sousa and staged to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Portugal's premier playwright's death.

Based on a true story, it dramatises the events leading to the sacrificial burning of a woman accused of witchcraft.

The Crime of the Old Village was published in 1959, posing a challenge to the Portuguese authoritarian regime and to the Catholic church legitimising it.

Santareno used the play to pose questions about the role of religion by blurring the boundaries between Christianity and witchcraft.

De Sousa said: "It's certainly a very significant thing to bring Santareno to a wider audience.

"It is a universal story. In several performances there have been gasps because the intimacy is so powerful. It's theatre at its best."

The Crime of the Old Village runs until December 18. Daily performances from Tuesday to Saturday at 7.45pm and Sunday at 4pm. Tickets £11, concessions cost £8.