A stage adaptation of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses debuted without incident in Germany Sunday, despite worries about the controversial production before opening night.

German police were dispatched both inside and outside the Hans Otto Theatre in Potsdam, located southwest of Berlin, for Sunday's nearly four-hour-long performance.

Some German Muslim groups had publicly complained about the production before the curtain went up on what is billed as the first stage play of Rushdie's novel.

The adaptation, for which Rushdie gave his consent, was created by the theatre's director Uwe Eric Laufenberg and playwright Marcus Mislin.

Police said that there were no direct threats or disturbances surrounding the event, but that uniformed and undercover officers had been assigned as a precaution.

Indian-born British author Rushdie has long been the target of extremists for his novel, which was deemed blasphemous by many in the Muslim world.

The novel's publication also sparked Iran's late spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, to issue a religious edict calling for the writer's death in 1989. The fatwa forced Rushdie into hiding for a decade.

European cultural productions that portray the Muslim faith negatively or critically have sparked protests and controversy of late, most recently in the Netherlands with right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders's internet release of his anti-Islam film Fitna.

In September 2006, Berlin's Deutsche Oper House drew wide condemnation for cancelling a production of Mozart's opera Idomeneo, under the advice of authorities. The staging included a scene featuring the severed heads of several religious figures, including the Prophet Mohammed.

The opera house later decided to restage the production three months later under heavy security. The show went off without any violent protest.

With files from the Associated Press