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46-541: Anouilh's interpretation of the historical story, though often ironic, is more straightforward than T. S. Eliot 's 1935 play on the same subject, Murder in the Cathedral , which was intended primarily as a religious treatment. However, there are one or two similarities in the interpretation. In the introduction to the play, Anouilh explained that he based it on a chapter of an old book he had bought because its green binding looked good on his shelves. He and his wife read

92-471: A Chorus singing, foreshadowing the coming violence. The Chorus is a key part of the drama, with its voice changing and developing during the play, offering comments about the action and providing a link between the audience and the characters and action, as in Greek drama. Three priests are present, and they reflect on the absence of Becket and the rise of temporal power. A herald announces Becket’s arrival. Becket

138-410: A NASA Moon mission. "[Spacesuit transmission from astronaut] Mission control ... I think we've found a body." The mission is aborted when the doors of the cathedral will not open, and not even Becket's Extra-vehicular activity can open them. Roy Dotrice Roy Dotrice OBE (26 May 1923 – 16 October 2017) was a British stage and screen actor. He played the antiquarian John Aubrey in

184-541: A production of Noël Coward 's Hay Fever . He appeared in the stage production of Irving Berlin 's White Christmas at The Lowry theatre in Salford from November 2009 to January 2010. In the 1970s Dotrice played Charles Dickens in the television mini-series Dickens of London . He also appeared as Albert Haddock in the BBC television adaptation of A. P. Herbert 's Misleading Cases in 1971. In 1972 he played

230-458: A result. At the beginning of the movie's DVD commentary, Peter O'Toole relates his meeting with Anouilh in Paris a few years before the film was made because he was being considered for the play. Anouilh told him that he had been looking for an idea based on a rift in the leftist Théâtre National Populaire between the actors Gérard Philipe and Daniel Ivernel . He visited Canterbury and decided

276-409: Is featured in the installments " The Ghost of Harrenhal " and " Blackwater ". In 1982 BBC Radio 4 broadcast Dotrice's reading of G.B. Edwards ' novel The Book of Ebenezer Le Page in twenty-eight 15-minute parts on its Woman's Hour segment. The producer subsequently wrote that the serialisation was "without question the most popular serial I have ever done in the 500 or so I have produced in

322-497: Is immediately reflective about his coming martyrdom, which he embraces, and which is understood to be a sign of his own selfishness—his fatal weakness. The tempters arrive, three of whom parallel the Temptations of Christ . The first tempter offers the prospect of physical safety. Take a friend's advice. Leave well alone, Or your goose may be cooked and eaten to the bone. The second offers power, riches, and fame in serving

368-430: Is ready to die. The chorus sings that they knew this conflict was coming, that it had long been in the fabric of their lives, both temporal and spiritual. The chorus again reflects on the coming devastation. Thomas is taken to the Cathedral, where the knights break in and kill him. The chorus laments: “Clear the air! Clean the sky!", and "The land is foul, the water is foul, our beasts and ourselves defiled with blood." At

414-404: Is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason. The Interlude of the play is a sermon given by Becket on Christmas morning 1170. It is about the strange contradiction that Christmas is a day both of mourning and rejoicing, which Christians also do for martyrs. He announces at the end of his sermon, "it is possible that in a short time you may have yet another martyr". We see in

460-700: The BBC in 1936, during its first few months of broadcasting TV. The play was later made into a black and white film with the same title. It was directed by the Austrian director George Hoellering with music by the Hungarian composer Laszlo Lajtha and won the Grand Prix at the Venice Film Festival in 1951. It was released in the UK in 1952. In the film the fourth tempter is not seen. His voice

506-462: The Buffyverse , he played the role of Roger Wyndam-Pryce , the overbearing father of the character Wesley Wyndam-Pryce . An earlier science-fiction role was Commissioner Simmonds in two episodes of the 1970s series Space: 1999 . In 1998 Dotrice appeared in three episodes of the series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as Zeus . In June 2010 it was announced that Dotrice would be playing

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552-770: The Guinness World Record for the most character voices by an individual for an audiobook. Dotrice was born in Guernsey , Bailiwick of Guernsey on 26 May 1923 to Neva (née Wilton; 1897–1984) and Louis Dotrice (1896–1991). He served as a wireless operator/air gunner with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War , and was imprisoned in a German prisoner of war camp from 1942 to 1945, after being shot down in an Avro Lancaster R5840 of No.106 Squadron based at Coningsby, all seven airmen of

598-664: The Mayfair Theatre . He revived the role in 2008, again under Patrick Garland's direction. These runs, combined with extensive international touring, earned Dotrice a place in the Guinness World Records for the greatest number of solo performances (1,782). His other one-man productions included Mister Lincoln in 1979, and Churchill in 1982, both premiering in Washington, D.C. at Ford's Theatre . In 1984 he starred opposite Rosemary Harris in

644-671: The St. James Theatre . It was produced by David Merrick and directed by Peter Glenville , and starred Laurence Olivier as Thomas Becket and Anthony Quinn as King Henry II. The production was nominated for five Tony Awards and won four, including Best Play . The play later transferred to the Royale Theatre and then to the Hudson Theatre . It was wrongly believed that during the run Quinn and Olivier switched roles, with Quinn playing Becket to Olivier's King. In fact, Quinn left

690-416: The 30 pages about Thomas Becket, and she urged him to write a play about Thomas. He did so, finishing the first part in only 15 days. It was not until he showed the finished play to a friend that he found out the old book he had based it on was historically incorrect in certain important aspects. Having built his play on Becket being Saxon (when he was actually a Norman whose family was from near Caen and

736-506: The Becket story would be a good vehicle. Philipe and Ivernel were cast as Becket and Henry respectively for the Paris première of the play, but Philipe died before rehearsals were completed. Ukemi Productions has adapted the work into a radio play for BBC Radio 3 . The play stars Toby Stephens as the King and David Morrissey as Becket, and was broadcast on 4 October 2009. Murder in

782-578: The Cathedral Murder in the Cathedral is a verse drama by T. S. Eliot , first performed in 1935 (published the same year). The play portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral during the reign of Henry II in 1170. Eliot drew heavily on the writing of Edward Grim , a clerk who was an eyewitness to the event. Some material that the producer asked Eliot to remove or replace during

828-574: The Cathedral , The Family Reunion , and The Cocktail Party . The lecture was published as Poetry and Drama and later included in Eliot's 1957 collection On Poetry and Poets . In Series 3, episode 2 (1972), Monty Python's Flying Circus used the play as the basis for the weight loss product informercial, Trim-Jeans Theater: Priest: I am here. No traitor to the King. First Knight: Absolve all those you have excommunicated. Second Knight: Resign those powers you have arrogated. Third Knight: Renew

874-624: The Curé Ponosse in the BBC2 TV adaptation of Clochemerle (1972). Dotrice played "Father" in the 1980s TV series Beauty and the Beast and Father Gary Barrett, a Catholic priest, in the 1990s series Picket Fences . His acting career dates from 1945 in a revue called Back Home , performed by former prisoners-of-war in aid of the Red Cross . In an episode of Angel (1999), part of

920-661: The King, with Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies , Peter Jeffrey , Diana Rigg , Ian Holm and Roy Dotrice in the cast. The play later transferred to the Globe Theatre . Plummer won the Evening Standard Award for his performance after taking over the part from Peter O'Toole , who broke his contract with the RSC before rehearsals began in order to take the lead in David Lean 's film Lawrence of Arabia . The play

966-407: The King. To set down the great, protect the poor, Beneath the throne of God can man do more? The third tempter suggests a coalition with the barons and a chance to resist the King. For us, Church favour would be an advantage, Blessing of Pope powerful protection In the fight for liberty. You, my Lord, In being with us, would fight a good stroke Finally, a fourth tempter urges him to seek

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1012-477: The close of the play, the knights address the audience to defend their actions. While the rest of the play is in verse, their speeches of justification are in strikingly contemporary prose. They assert that while they understand their actions will be seen as murder, it was necessary and justified, so that the power of the church should not undermine the stability of the state. George Bell , the Bishop of Chichester ,

1058-612: The crew being taken Prisoner of War. Dotrice was the voice of "Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Gregory Pitkin" in the early episodes of BBC Radio's long-running comedy The Men from the Ministry . He was succeeded by Ronald Baddiley in the role. He also played the caretaker Ramsay alongside Patricia Hayes in the Radio 2 sitcom Know Your Place . Dotrice was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and in

1104-709: The early 1960s played a variety of roles, including Caliban in The Tempest , opposite Tom Fleming's Prospero (dir: Peter Brook ), John of Gaunt and Hotspur opposite David Warner 's Richard II, and Justice Shallow, opposite Hugh Griffith as Falstaff in Henry IV , and then Edward IV in the Hall/Barton-adapted Shakespeare cycle The Wars of the Roses , later broadcast by the BBC. Dotrice played

1150-531: The episcopicide. The play was first performed in the original French at the Théâtre Montparnasse -Gaston Baty in Paris on 8 October 1959 and in an English translation on Broadway in 1960. The original Parisian production was directed by Roland Piétri , and starred Bruno Cremer as Thomas Becket and Daniel Ivernel as King Henry II. The first Broadway production premiered on 5 October 1960 at

1196-447: The glory of martyrdom . You hold the keys of heaven and hell. Power to bind and loose: bind, Thomas, bind, King and bishop under your heel. King, emperor, bishop, baron, king: Becket responds to all of the tempters and specifically addresses the immoral suggestions of the fourth tempter at the end of the first act: Now is my way clear, now is the meaning plain: Temptation shall not come in this kind again. The last temptation

1242-539: The last 21 years ...". He subsequently performed "The Islander", a stage version of The Book of Ebenezer Le Page , to critical success at the Theatre Royal Lincoln . In 2012 AudioGO produced a complete and unabridged recording of Ebenezer Le Page , which is available on Audible . Dotrice recorded audiobooks for each book in George R. R. Martin 's series A Song of Ice and Fire . In 2011 he

1288-423: The latter (Henry's best friend) ascends to power, becoming the king's enemy. Becket begins as a clever, but hedonistic, companion; as a result of being created Archbishop of Canterbury, he is transformed into an ascetic who does his best to preserve the rights of the church against the king's power. Ultimately, Becket is slaughtered by several of the king's nobles; and lastly we find the king thrust into penance for

1334-470: The obedience you have violated. Fourth Knight: Lose inches off your hips, thighs, buttocks and abdomen. In 1982, the play was lampooned by the Canadian/US TV comedy show SCTV . In a typically surreal SCTV sketch, the play is presented by NASA and " Buzz Aldrin 's Mercury III Players," with space-suited astronauts as the actors, and proceedings narrated by Walter Cronkite as if they were

1380-462: The opera Assassinio nella cattedrale by the Italian composer Ildebrando Pizzetti , first performed at La Scala , Milan, in 1958. Full-cast recordings of the play include the following, with the actor playing Becket. In 1951, in the first Theodore Spencer Memorial Lecture at Harvard University , Eliot criticised his own plays in the second half of the lecture, explicitly the plays Murder in

1426-464: The original play. Rather than the main conflict between Becket and the King revolving around the Constitutions of Clarendon - as is depicted in the play and as happened in historical fact - the film's dispute between Becket and Henry II centers on the assassination of an accused priest by the henchmen of Lord Gilbert, a nobleman and friend of King Henry, and Becket's excommunication of Gilbert as

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1472-723: The part of Becket. The production then moved to the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate in London and ran there for several months. In 1947 it was performed by Pilgrim Players at the Gateway Theatre , Leith Walk in the first Edinburgh Festival Fringe . A significant performance of the play was held on 15 February 2018. Nithin Varghese, an assistant professor at St Berchmans College in Changanassery , directed

1518-705: The part of John Aubrey in Brief Lives , a one-man play devised and directed by Patrick Garland in which he held the stage for almost three hours (including the interval, during which he would feign sleep). Premiering in 1967 at the Hampstead Theatre in London, the play later toured England, before two productions on Broadway . In 1968 it moved to the Criterion Theatre in the West End , where it ran for 400 performances before transferring to

1564-586: The play for the first time in Kerala . This performance was part of the golden jubilee celebration of the postgraduate program in English at the college. The play was staged on the outdoor stage located in front of the Arts Block, and received positive recognition from the audience for its adherence to T. S. Eliot 's original text. The play, starring Robert Speaight , was broadcast live on British television by

1610-498: The play was staged by the Edinburgh Gateway Company , directed by Victor Carin . In 1964 the play was made into a successful film, starring Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton with John Gielgud , Donald Wolfit and Martita Hunt . Additional scenes were written by Edward Anhalt for the film. Anhalt won an Academy Award for his screenplay . The film introduced a somewhat fictionalized plot element not in

1656-528: The production if he had known that was going to happen. (After Olivier's death Quinn displayed extreme animosity towards the actor in his second autobiography.) Even so, it was Quinn who was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance, while Olivier was overlooked. The first London production was at the Aldwych Theatre on 11 July 1961, directed by Peter Hall for the Royal Shakespeare Company . Eric Porter played Becket and Christopher Plummer

1702-505: The production to work on a film, and director Glenville suggested a road tour with Olivier as Henry. Olivier happily acceded, and Arthur Kennedy took on the role of Becket, with Olivier playing Henry, both for the tour and a brief return to Broadway. However, according to John Cottrell 's biography of Laurence Olivier, Anthony Quinn was dismayed and angry when he read that Olivier was getting better reviews for his performance as Henry than Quinn had got, claiming that he would never have left

1748-515: The role of Grand Maester Pycelle in the HBO television series Game of Thrones , an adaptation of George R. R. Martin 's A Song of Ice and Fire books. He later withdrew from the part for medical reasons and Julian Glover was cast in his place. Shortly after filming for the second season commenced it was confirmed that Dotrice would be returning to play "Wisdom Hallyne the Pyromancer", who

1794-757: The sermon something of Becket's ultimate peace of mind, as he elects not to seek sainthood, but to accept his death as inevitable and part of a better whole. Part II of the play takes place in the Archbishop's Hall and in the Cathedral, 29 December 1170. Four knights arrive with "Urgent business" from the king. These knights had heard the king speak of his frustration with Becket and had interpreted this as an order to kill Becket. They accuse him of betrayal, and he claims to be loyal. He tells them to accuse him in public, and they make to attack him, but priests intervene. The priests insist that he leave and protect himself, but he refuses. The knights leave and Becket again says he

1840-631: The solo play Brief Lives . He won a Tony Award for his performance in the 2000 Broadway revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten , also appearing as Leopold Mozart in the film version of Amadeus (1984), Charles Dickens in Dickens of London (1976), and Jacob Wells/Father in Beauty and the Beast . Late in life, he narrated a series of audiobooks for George R. R. Martin 's epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire , for which he holds

1886-558: The writing was transformed into the poem " Burnt Norton ". The action occurs between 2 and 29 December 1170, chronicling the days leading up to the martyrdom of Thomas Becket following his absence of seven years in France. Becket's internal struggle is a central focus of the play. The book is divided into two parts. Part one takes place in the Archbishop Thomas Becket's hall on 2 December 1170. The play begins with

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1932-553: Was awarded the world record for most character voices in an audiobook for his recording of A Game of Thrones , which contained 224. Dotrice also narrated many storybook adaptations for Disney Records, including The Little Mermaid and Pooh's Heffalump Movie , for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award . Dotrice was married to Kay Newman (1929–2007), a television and stage actress, from 1947 until her death in 2007. They had three daughters— Michele , Yvette and Karen —all of whom have acted at various times in their lives. He

1978-465: Was called Becquet , Bequet or Becket in Old Norman), Anouilh could not recast the play to accord with historical facts, so he decided to let it stand. Aspects of the content that can safely be considered true are the conflicts between England and France, church and state, and the outline biography of Becket. The play is a re-enactment of the conflicts between King Henry II and Thomas Becket as

2024-614: Was instrumental in getting Eliot to work as writer with producer E. Martin Browne in producing the pageant play The Rock (1934). Bell then asked Eliot to write another play for the Canterbury Festival in 1935. Eliot agreed to do so if Browne once again produced (he did). The first performance of Murder in the Cathedral was given on 15 June 1935 in the Chapter House of Canterbury Cathedral. Robert Speaight played

2070-740: Was revived in a new translation by Frederic Raphael and Stephen Raphael in October 1991 at the Haymarket Theatre with Derek Jacobi as Becket and Robert Lindsay as the King and again in October 2004 with Dougray Scott and Jasper Britton . The original English translation for the 1961 version (by Lucienne Hill ) was revived at the Southwark Playhouse in September 2001 with Rupert Degas and Colin Salmon . In 1964,

2116-451: Was that of Eliot himself. Hoellering wrote that "in stage productions [the knights' final] speeches amused the audience instead of shocking them, and thereby made them miss the point—the whole point of the play." In light of this, he asked Eliot for changes; and Eliot made major reductions to the speeches and added a shorter speech. It was filmed by the ABC in 1962. The play is the basis for

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