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Murder in the Cathedral

 
Richard Beck Review by Richard Beck 3 Published: 6 Nov 2019 Southwark Cathedral Show Dates: 4 Nov 2019-13 Nov 2019

Performing a play in a cathedral about an archbishop assassinated in a cathedral might sound like a match made in heaven. In reality, the pairing is not without its problems, as Scena Mundi Theatre Company no doubt appreciates following their opening in Southwark of T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral.

Part penance part joy.

Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162-1170, although he spent most of that time in France, where he lived in self-imposed exile avoiding the wrath of Henry II. Becket had previously been the King’s loyal and successful chancellor. Henry imagined that by uniting the great office of state in the same person as the country’s senior prelate he could further enhance his temporal power and exercise greater ecclesiastical control. He didn’t bargain on the Cheapside priest’s devotion to his new spiritual calling, however. Becket resigned the chancellorship and embarked upon a defence of the Church’s independence from secular rule, opening up a rift that widened to include the King of France, the Pope and the bishops and nobility of England. It did not close until Becket lay at the entrance to the quire of Canterbury Cathedral, his brains splattered across the floor.

It was in the Priory of St. Mary Overie, now Southwark Cathedral, however, that he preached what was to be his last sermon. Jasper Britton’s delivery of that Christmas Day homily is one of the highlights of this production, that tours other cathedrals in the next year, commemorating the 850th anniversary in 2020 of Becket’s death. Britton speaks with undoubted authority, pious dignity and theological certainty. The register and projection of his voice and the clarity of his speech overcome the problems of the building’s acoustics, adopting a pace of delivery that accommodates the reverberation. Others fare less well, especially among some of the more softly spoken men and the higher pitched chorus of women.

Elliot’s poetry requires close attention to fully appreciate its verse structure and often complex imagery and in this case the debate around remote issues. An audience seated in unraked chairs in the nave, often straining to see the distant action in the chancel is not in the best position to do that and much tends to be lost. Not so with the prose passages declaimed by the assassins once they have committed the murder. In turn they justify the deed pointing out its political necessity in a style that seems only too familiar today and that draws many a wry smile.

Cecilia Dorland has made a valiant attempt to stage this play in a setting that is full of theatrical difficulties yet could not be more suited to its subject. The two create a production that’s part penance and part joy as the somewhat recondite work unfolds.

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The Blurb:

Murder in the Cathedral shows the ultimate struggle of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, an outspoken and courageous priest, silenced for daring to speak out against the king. Witness the assassination of Becket in a beautiful, immersive setting and feel his demons, the darkness and sense of doom ushered in by an iron-fisted monarch.

Written in 1935 by T.S. Eliot, one of the twentieth century’s most innovative poets, this take on Becket’s death has contemporary echoes and warnings for our time.

Scena Mundi’s new staging in stunning cathedral settings coincides with the 850th anniversary of the real murder of Thomas Becket and immerses audiences in the pageant of suspense, murder and passion.