Martyr
Martyr Genesius the Comedian of Rome (Orthodox veneration unconfirmed)
III век, †286 или 303
Also known as: Генезий-комедиант
Genesius of Rome — a comic actor and leader of a mime troupe, miraculously converted to Christ during a performance mocking Christian baptism before Emperor Diocletian; refusing to recant, he was tortured and beheaded; venerated in the Western (Catholic) tradition as the patron of actors, but his veneration in the Orthodox Church is unconfirmed.
Genesius was a Roman comic actor, leader of a mime troupe that staged a theatrical performance mocking the Christian sacrament of baptism before Emperor Diocletian. During the mock-baptism scene, tradition holds, Genesius had a vision of angels holding a book of his sins, and he underwent a sudden conversion right on stage, publicly confessing faith in Christ before the astonished audience and the enraged emperor. Refusing to renounce his newly found faith despite torture, he was beheaded — according to varying sources, in 286 or 303. His relics are venerated at the Church of Santa Sabina in Rome. In Western tradition he is considered the patron of actors, comedians, lawyers, and related professions; his vita survives in 11 versions composed between the 6th and 9th centuries.
IMPORTANT CAVEAT: neither azbyka.ru, pravenc.ru, nor drevo-info.ru include Genesius among the saints venerated by the Russian Orthodox Church — drevo-info.ru and the Russian Wikipedia explicitly characterize him as a Catholic saint venerated in the Western tradition. There is also a separate, distinct Western saint, Genesius of Arles (a notary-martyr) — not to be confused with him.