A Romanian school has come under fire for hosting a play in which children as young as 10  pretend to have their heads chopped off by a masked executioner. The event at the Holy Martyrs Brancoveni school, an Orthodox Christian school in the city of Constanta, south-east Romania is part of an annual festival. Organisers say the play was meant to be a portrayal of the execution of Constantin Brancoveanu, a king of Wallachia, and his five sons, in 1714. But a short film showing five children, all under 10, leaning over a block while an older child pretends to chop off their heads was recently posted online -  and quickly faced a raft of criticism in the wake of the public executions by ISIS. A Romanian school has come under fire for putting on a play in which young children were told to say their prayers and then pretend to have their heads chopped off by a masked executioner . A short film showing five children all aged under 10 lent over a block while an older child pretends to chop off their heads was recently posted online . Organisers say the play was meant to be a portrayal of the execution of Constantin Brancoveanu, a king of Wallachia, and his five sons, in 1714 . In the video the hooded executioner carries a plastic axe and decapitates the children one at a time. Then at the very end the child playing the King in the play is executed after seeing all of his children killed. The short clip concludes with parents and children in the audience applauding the child actors. It quickly attracted criticism from education officials although the school, parents and a priest who was involved in creating the play defended the decision. The Association of the Pupils of Constanta publicly criticised the move saying that the drama was inappropriate for the children. In a statement it said: 'A very worrying fact about this whole affair is that people who played Constantin Branconveanu and his sons were young children, students younger than 10. They were exposed and subjected to simulated scenes of violence, which can seriously affect their psycho-social development and can induce violent attitudes. In the video the black scarf wearing executioner carrying a plastic axe decapitates the children one at a time, and at the very end the child playing the King in the play is executed after seeing all of his children killed . The short clip concludes with parents and children in the audience applauding the child actors . 'We believe that the event may have negative effects on children, as they could perceive in a wrong way a very sensible historical act.' The organisers of the event said that the clip been taken out of context and it was part of a festival that they organised every year. The board of Brancoveanu College, a private educational institution, said that everything happened with parental consent and that there were no complaints about the sketch, whose purpose was just 'to teach children a little history'. One of the teachers who organised the show, who is also a priest, Adrian Chiaga, said: 'The whole sketch was put on because we want our children to learn about this very important moment of our national history. What was filmed and released on social media sites was taken out of the context of a bigger festival, which was very educational. 'The parents thought the same way and they fully supports us. As well as the kids, who understood the meaning of what we were doing and were not emotionally affected. 'What really affected them was the press reaction, because they worked very hard to play their parts, and they are upset about the way their efforts were presented.'
Play was meant to portray execution of King Constantin Brancoveanu . Held at Holy Martyrs Brancoveni school, an Orthodox Christian school . Organisers said 'important historcial event' is held every year at the school . But it has faced a raft of criticism in wake of the public executions by ISIS .