Murder in the Cathedral

The stunning Castle Great Hall was an ideal venue for Castle Theatre Company’s production of TS Eliot’s poetic drama, Murder in the Cathedral. The play portrays the chilling tale of Thomas Beckett’s assassination, focussing predominantly on his internal struggle in the days leading up to it.
Performed in the round, a feeling of intimacy was achieved the second that the doors were closed, and the Great Hall genuinely felt like a cathedral as the beautiful choral opening came hauntingly from the unseen floor above. The lighting was wonderfully controlled throughout the play, and was one of many factors conducive to what was a ghostly atmosphere.

As well as the archbishop himself, there are three distinct groups of people: the chorus, the priests of the cathedral who wish to protect him, and a group of knights who are sent to tempt him to change his stance and accept the authority of King Henry II.

The archbishop himself was played by the ever-impressive Ollie Lynes, who personified torment, anguish and distress. A captivating performance drew the audience into his struggle to resist the temptations of the knights and to justify the act of martyrdom itself. The idea that action is suffering and suffering action was brilliantly accentuated throughout his performance.

The priests of the cathedral (Andrew Chambers Barratt, Greg Silverman and Tom Barber) make a futile effort to convince the archbishop to accept their protection; a frustrated sense of delaying the inevitable was at the fore-front of their performances.

The Attic tragedy-style chorus of four women  commentates on the action, foresees the misery which is to come; Stevie Martin, Maddy Mutch, Nicola Jones and Natasha Cowley combined to create a sense of foreboding as they anticipated Beckett’s impending doom. An inextricable mixture of misery and fear was wonderfully conveyed through their over-lapping speech which varied impressively in both tone and volume.

The use of stage whispers by the chorus would have added to the atmosphere had it not been so difficult to hear what was said; theatre in the round often meets the obstacle of vocal projection, and whilst the cast themselves could have done little more to be heard, a distracting excess of background noise proved extremely irritating, particularly when the doors were opened for entrances and exits.

The assertive performances of the knights provided an impressive contrast to the helplessness of the chorus members and priests; Joe Wood’s quietly authoritative offer of physical safety and Harry Bresslaw’s assertive offer of power and wealth through submission to the king paved the way for Callum Cheatle’s  chillingly robotic attempt to tempt the archbishop into a resistant coalition with the barons.

It was the fourth tempter (or rather temptress), however, who really stole the show. The flirtatious Catherine Goode’s sensual attempt to lure the archbishop in martyrdom was a wonderful depiction of temptation as a form of seduction. She was physically both tactile and restless, and yet remained in full control, driving the archbishop into a far deeper torment than the other knights achieved. A promise of “dreams to damnation” is part of a persuasive effort which raised the central argument of whether Beckett was a victim of a violent state or a man who desired the glory of martyrdom.

The murder itself took place with all cast members present, and was performed probably as tastefully as a brutal murder can be, with Goode bringing down the knife upon Lynes as the room went dark.

Overall, this was a wonderful production from every aspect; cast, choir, costume, lighting, venue and direction combined to provide a beautiful piece of student theatre.