Murder in the Cathedral...

[fajrdrako]

Since golden October declined into sombre November
And the apples were gathered and stored, and the land
became brown sharp points of death in a waste of water and mud,
The New Year waits, breathes, waits, whispers in darkness.

I just got back from seeing Murder in the Cathedral performed by the Third Wall Theatre. The last thing I'd seen by them was a very bad production of Henry V; they redeemed themselves with this one, because I absolutely loved it. Riveting!

First credit does to T.S. Eliot, whose work I have loved forever. Though this isn't my favourite of his works, it has special meaning for me because it is about a key event in the 12th century, the murder of Thomas Becket by the knights of King Henry II on Christmas Day, 11070. This was the climax of a long and fascinating series of personal and political decisions by Henry and Becket; Eliot makes it a story of spiritual heroism. I adore his Becket, even though historically I think Henry was in the right, and I would support his secular nationalism rather than Becket's Rome-based faith. I wish a visionary poet like Eliot would take on Henry's point of view.

I love some of the images he also uses in Four Quartets, like the wheel that is both motionless and moving - and image I believe he got from Dante.

The play was performed as a read-through by some magnificent voices, the best being William Beddoe as Becket. The actors all dressed in black, but not period costume. Glebe-St. James United Church, which is one of the most beautiful churches in Ottawa, did a magnificent job of playing Canterbury Cathedral. In the introduction, the Minister of the church said she hoped more plays would be performed there, as she believes that theatre grew out of the Church¹. "Doesn't this look like a Shakespearean stage?" she asked, waving towards all the carved dark wood and vaulting. Yup, works for me. Perform Shakespeare in my neighbourhood, oh yes, please.

¹ Would Aeschylus agree?