From Canterbury Cathedral in Saint Lucia, relives the murder of Thomas Becket

Imagine entering a church in the evening and find ourselves catapulted back in time, precisely the 1170, astonished spectators, partakers of a tragedy unfolding before our eyes, with characters that materialize in the audience, that appear suddenly from the back of the church, from the side doors, from behind the altar, in an atmosphere so striking that almost immediately gets the impression that what is happening is not a theatrical fiction, but the reality.

The suffering of Thomas Becket in his decision not to bend to the will of the King and the chance to become powerful, choosing martyrdom rather than earthly glory; his inner torment, fomented by tempters; the despair of women's choir that already now prophesying the danger to the Archbishop and to their very survival; il tentativo del sacerdote di salvare il suo superiore per il bene di tutti, diventano il nostro tormento, our fears, our hope of salvation.

Until the end, known for historical event, but no less participatory and painful.

All this happened in the church of Saint Lucia on the Lawn, become for two nights, giovedì e domenica scorso, Canterbury Cathedral, where a company of actors, under the careful direction of Thomas Carli, staged “Murder in the Cathedral”, famous drama of Thomas Stearns Eliot inspired the assassination of the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket, occurred in 1170 homonymous cathedral.

The original text, partly adapted from the same Carli, with some cuts and the change of the final, culminating in the immediacy of the death of the hands of the Knights of the King, and with the appearance of the angel, nothing away from the poetry and drama of the original text.

It affects the skill of the actors, of this company which looks for the first time on a stage in the composition today, with a name yet to be found.

Twelve people, five women and seven men, some of them from previous experience with “Diaries scene”, the company of children who attend the church of Saint Lucia, others their first acting experience, but which have nothing to envy of serious professionals.

Michael Lattanzi

By the number 53 - Year II 25/02/2015