by T. S. Eliot
seen at the Church of St John the Divine, Richmond on 14 October 2026
Tom Littler and Francesca Ellis direct David Suchet as Archbishop Thomas Becket and a supporting cast of twenty-three in an Orange Tree Theatre production of T. S. Eliot's 1935 play Murder in the Cathedral performed in a nearby church.
Robert Jones has adapted the layout of the church by adding a screen of wrought metal before the high altar, which itself is draped with cloth and festooned with candles (lit in the second half). The central aisle of the nave has also been transformed into an acting space by placing a raised platform above it for its entire length. This, together with a slight mistiness enhanced by incense reinforces the atmosphere of the play, which was originally performed in the Chapter House of Canterbury Cathedral, and of course commemorates the notorious murder of the Archbishop in 1170 in the cathedral itself.
The play is not a narrative history of the dealings of King Henry II and his chancellor turned archbishop, unlike Jean Anouilh's play on which the film Becket was made with Peter O'Toole as the king and Richard Burton as Becket. Indeed, the king does not appear in Eliot's play at all. Rather, the play concentrates on the last month of Becket's life when he returned to Canterbury from self-imposed exile in France, apparently well aware that his fractious relationship with secular authority (and even ecclesiastical rivalries) might lead to his own death. After an intemperate outburst from the king four knights indeed travelled in haste to Canterbury and on December 29th murdered the archbishop.
The play is heavily influenced by Greek tragedy, with a chorus of the women of Canterbury providing numerous interludes of poetic reflection on the transient perils of hard life; in this production many of their interludes are sung to the specially composed music of Orlando Gough. In a church setting there are subliminal hints of church singing (though at the time this would have been exclusively provided by men) as well as folk-motifs derived from seasonal chants.
In the meantime, in the first half, Becket is confronted by four Tempters, providing a series of reflections on the nature of action and suffering, and the dangers of embracing martyrdom with muddled motives. The difficult task of embodying these often intellectual points in dramatic form is largely resolved by the clear language and the evocative choreography of this production in its church setting.
In the second half, after the archbishop delivers his Christmas morning sermon on peace and the apparent contradiction of celebrating both the birth of Jesus and his death in conducting a Mass, the Tempters return as the Knights, and the rarefied arguments give way to impassioned argument and threat. The confrontation is rendered all the more powerful by the use of the space in the church as Becket faces down his opponents but refuses to compromise his beliefs.
Astonishingly the four Knights deliver long speeches justifying their actions, asking us to reconsider our judgements of what has happened and who was in the right. Much of this speech-making is self-serving and the political and prudential points are delivered in the eloquent but often condescending tones which may be familiar to us in the outside world. What may have seemed an ancient dispute mired in medieval quarrels is revealed to be relevant to the modern world after all. Political expediency is still rampant and still has its eloquent defenders.
It is fascinating to see a modern play so clearly influenced by classical Greek precedents, particularly so soon after seeing the modern retelling of Antigone Exits. Equally fascinating to have seen a play about martyrdom and self-sacrifice for one's ideals so soon after a small and quiet light (intriguingly produced at the same time by the same theatre company as this production) showed us a similar trajectory in the twentieth century. This play, though testing in its form, was really powerful in its effect.
David Suchet was superb as the Archbishop, intellectually brilliant, warm in the Christmas sermon, and ultimately brave and yet poignantly almost faltering under physical threat. The supporting cast - including a late replacement for one of the Tempters/Knights with script in hand but barely used - was also excellent.
