T.S. Eliot
Murder In The Cathedral
City Lit Theater Company
Chicago Production
World-Premiere Score by Philip Seward
The first full production…
…in Chicago since the early 1950’s (though there have been concert readings from time to time) of Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot, author of Cats and a series of letters to Groucho Marx, among other works. The play dramatizes the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the hands of knights loyal to Henry II in 1170. Eliot wrote it on commission to be performed in the sanctuary at Canterbury Cathedral, the room where Becket was murdered; his depiction of the killing draws from the eye-witness account of Edward Grim, a monk who was wounded trying to protect the Archbishop. This production was staged in the sanctuary of Edgewater Presbyterian Church, the building in which City Lit resides.
Composing the Score
Music for the production was commissioned by former City Lit Artistic Director, Terry McCabe, who also took on the role of directing the production. In addition to the specific indications that T.S. Eliot placed in the script for where music would be heard throughout the performance, McCabe requested that the women of the church who function as a Greek chorus, sing during key moments while onstage. Under the musical direction of Mark Weston, the four talented women who sang in this quasi-Greek chorus were Katarina Bakas, Kara Chandler, Sally Olson, and Isabel Schmitz. They were accompanied beautifully by Jacob Adams on keyboard and Anna Bundy on chimes which enhanced the overall experience.
James Sparling skillfully portrayed the character of Beckett, while the remaining cast members— John Blick, Stephen Fedo, Sean Harklerode, Robert Howard, Varris Holmes, Zach Kunde and Joel Thompson—each took on various roles that included portraying the tempters as well as the knights.
Photo: Kara Chandler, Katarina Bakas, Sally Olson, Isabel Schmitz. Photo by Steve Graue.