BECKET

Wed 8 - Sat 11 October 2014
The Great Hall, The Guildhall, Northampton

Photo gallery

Jean Anouilh’s Becket dramatises the friendship between Thomas Becket and King Henry II and its fatal deterioration when Becket transfers his allegiance to God and the Catholic Church upon the King’s impetuous decision to make him Archbishop of Canterbury.

This is set against a background of political and church rivalries and jealousies, the gulf between the Saxons and their Norman conquerors and the almost omnipotent power of the King.

The success of the play obviously depends largely upon the actors portraying Becket (a Saxon in the play but in fact a Norman) and Henry and these were very well played by Masque regular Ste Applegate and newcomer Tristan Smith.

Ste Applegate developed his performance from Henry’s fellow carouser, who still felt the need to tread cautiously and tentatively around this powerful and erratic man (who upon a whim of misguided playfulness would just take his mistress from him), to an Archbishop who had finally found something that he could truly believe in and commit to.

Tristan Smith had the ideal commanding voice for the King and, until Becket’s defection, the regal and arrogant attitude of this powerful monarch. His way of turning a smile into a cold mask was truly chilling.

The framing device of Henry’s penitential flagellation for Becket’s murder in Canterbury worked well and there were a number of telling scenes between the minor members of this large cast, all of whom down to Tom Morath’s (live) hawk made a notable contribution.

The scene between the Pope (Tony Janney) and one of his Cardinals (Owen Warr) fairly dripped with cynicism.

The split level set was effectively used by director Rob Kendall but it was beyond his and the cast’s powers to overcome the hall’s dreadful acoustic.

All in all this was a very commendable production marking an important occasion in Northampton’s history and all involved should be congratulated.

October 2014 is the 850th anniversary of Archbishop Thomas Becket’s trial at Northampton Castle for financial irregularities while he was Chancellor to Henry II.

It was during this trial that he escaped from the castle and made his way to France pausing, as legend has it, to take a sip of water from the spring, now Becket’s well, at the end of Derngate by Becket’s Park.

Masque were approached by The Friends of Northampton Castle and Northampton Borough Council to commemorate Becket’s association with the town and the production of Anouilh’s period drama Becket was decided upon to be performed in The Guildhall.

For those of you unfamiliar with Anouilh’s script, it is principally about kingship versus the church, as it is about Norman values imposed on the Saxons and the struggle between Henry and Becket’s lust for life. (Incidentally some of you will know the film of the same name with Peter O’Toole playing Henry and Richard Burton playing Becket).

As Chancellor, Becket did as he was instructed for the king but as Archbishop of Canterbury he did what he believed he was called upon to do by God. The eventual clash between the two resulted in Becket’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral in December 1170 by barons who claimed they were carrying out the king’s wishes.

The plot of this large cast costumed production covers the full gamut of the quarrel both political and personal between the two men and all of those caught up in the struggle.

This production is directed by Rob Kendall. He has also directed: Troilus and Cressida (2014), Margot (2013), Nicholas Nickleby (2012), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (2012), Romeo & Juliet (2011), Great Expectations (2010), The Cherry Orchard (2010), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2009), Trainspotting (2008), Mother Courage And Her Children (2007), Twelfth Night (2005), Bent (2004), Hell Cab (2004), Murder in the Cathedral (2002), A View From The Bridge (2002), Entertaining Mr Sloane (2000), East (1998), A Streetcar Named Desire (1997) and Antony and Cleopatra (1996)