‘ORRIBLE MURDER IN CHURCH

 The much dramatised true story of the death of Archbishop  Thomas Becket at the behest King Henry ll in 1170, will be played in a dramatised reading enacted in Brentwood on Friday and Saturday

Becket Players, a new Brentwood based drama group are preparing to put on T.S.Eliot’s ‘Murder in the Cathedral’ using the dramatic and iconic backdrop of St Thomas’ Church in St   Thomas’ Road.

The play, which was written for the 1935 Canterbury Festival, is wrapped in the well documented fractious relationship between the King and the Archbishop.

Becket’s seven year exile in France was eventually reconciled with the aid of the Pope, and Becket returned. He immediately infuriated Henry by excommunicating those bishops who had prudently supported the king during Becket’s exile.

Henry flew into one of his famous rages, allegedly saying ‘Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?’ Four knights, perhaps seeking to curry favour with the King, rode from Westminster to Canterbury and killed Becket in front of the main altar of the Cathedral when he refused to relent.

Directed by Sam White, long time Chairman of Brentwood Theatre, it will feature Alan Ablewhite as Thomas and a number of other well known Brentwood actors who will read the poetic scrip to the accompaniment of a male choir.

The two performances on Friday and Saturday November 29 and 30, will start at 7.30pm.

Tickets are £10 and £12 and available from the door.  More information can be found on the group’s site http://www.murderinthecathedral.co.uk

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