2023-2024 Season
Murder in the Cathedral
April 19, 20: Murder in the Cathedral, written by T.S. Eliot, a dramatic reading performed at Holy Rosary Church, starting at 7:30 pm.
In 1170, Archbishop Thomas Beckett was murdered in the Canterbury Cathedral, in one of the most famous assassinations in British history. King Henry II supposedly said, “who will rid me of this troublesome priest?” In 1935, T. S. Eliot—author of The Waste Land, the most important poem in English of the 20th Century—was commissioned to write a play for that year’s Canterbury Festival, an annual arts event taking near Canterbury Cathedral, where Thomas Becket—then Archbishop —was assassinated in 1170 by knights of King Henry II. Becket subsequently was sainted by the Catholic Church. The novice playwright chose this event as the focal point of his play, Murder in the Cathedral, and Bozeman Actors Theater is excited to present this provocative and innovative work to you in Bozeman’s own Holy Rosary Catholic Church.
Directed by Mike Beehler, this will be a dramatic reading of T.S. Eliot’s provocative-verse play starring John Hosking as Thomas Becket, also featuring Kevin Asselin, Sharon Beehler, Jess Benoit, Jenna Ciralli, Kirsten Daniels, Beth Ann Kennedy, Ben Leubner, Alex Miller, Mary Orr, Aaron Schuerr, and Kalen Watson. Erik Pearson is composing music specifically for this play, which will be performed on Holy Rosary’s wonderful pipe organ, adding lustre to the performance, helping audience members feel they are - indeed - back in a cathedral in Canterbury on a cold winter’s day, December 29, 1170.
The poetry of Murder in the Cathedral does away with the blank verse Eliot felt had become overused, inflexible, and “too remote from…modern speech.” Instead, Eliot here writes in a verse form that relies on alliteration, repetition, and the “occasional unexpected rhyme” for its dramatic effect. It is this hauntingly theatrical poetry that gives depth and texture to our production.
Admission is free for our productions of Murder In The Cathedral. Donations are welcome.
Below is a short video with several excerpts from our ‘Eliot Poetry Salon’, held to provide more understanding of T.S. Eliot and his works, especially as pertaining to Murder in the Cathedral. Also following that are several music clips written specifically to provide underscoring for our production. Further down the page are our production cast and crew.
Notes from the Director, Michael Beehler
In 1935, T. S. Eliot—author of The Waste Land, the most important poem in English of the 20th Century—was commissioned to write a play for that year’s Canterbury Festival, an annual arts event taking place in and around Canterbury Cathedral, where Thomas Becket—then Archbishop and, subsequently, a saint of the Catholic Church—was assassinated in 1170 by knights of King Henry II. The novice playwright chose this event as the focal point of his play, Murder in the Cathedral, and Bozeman Actors Theater is excited to present this provocative and innovative work to you in Bozeman’s own Holy Rosary Catholic Church.
While the play’s title suggests that what we will be witnessing is a murder mystery, there is actually no mystery surrounding the facts of the case. Eliot’s first audiences would have known the story well: the identity of the victim (Thomas Becket, former Chancellor to King Henry II and current Archbishop of Canterbury, appointed by Henry himself); the location of the murder (Canterbury Cathedral, where the play was originally performed only fifty yards from the historical murder site); the weapons used (swords and daggers); the identities of the murderers (the four knights); and the apparent motive—the power struggle between the Archbishop (the Church) and the King (the State)—a Church and State conflict that came to a head on Christmas Day, 1170, when Henry, in the presence of his knights, purportedly uttered the famous line, “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?” Four days later, the knights carry out Henry’s indirect directive.
For Eliot, however, the mystery of the murder lies not in these well known historical facts, but rather in the significance and meaning of Becket’s martyrdom, and in his internal struggle with pride and, as he puts it, with the “greatest treason,” the “last temptation; To do the right deed for the wrong reason.” The play highlights other themes that continue to be important to us today, especially questions concerning the proper relation between church and state, and the roles populism and nationalism play in these relations. But like the Greek tragedies from which he derives some of his dramatic techniques— the most obvious example of which is the chorus of women he uses to comment on and react to the play’s action—Murder remains tightly focused on the ambivalent, solitary figure of Becket, and on his psycho-spiritual struggles with pride, martyrdom, redemption, and renewal; struggles to which the Chorus—and audience—are asked to bear witness.
Finally, the poetry of Murder in the Cathedral does away with the blank verse Eliot felt had become overused, inflexible, and “too remote from…modern speech.” Instead, Eliot here writes in a verse form that relies on alliteration, repetition, and the “occasional unexpected rhyme” for its dramatic effect. And it is this hauntingly theatrical poetry that gives depth and texture to our production.
Notes from our composer, Erik Pearson
How does a person presume to write music to accompany a “masterpiece”? As modern theater-goers, this doesn’t immediately seem like a difficult question. After all, how many productions of Shakespeare introduce us to a new, and wholly un-Elizabethan, world of sound? Scores created for today’s productions of As You Like It (including my own past efforts) would sound strange indeed to Mr. Will.
But all that seems relatively easy compared to a monumental tome from the likes of T.S. Eliot, and a famous title (about a famous event) at that. Taking the setting and subject matter into account, there are obvious choices that could be made: nothing but chant to set the mood (pre-Gregorian Celtic chant, if one could find it); or high screeching strings to accompany the titular event (been done).
But instead I took inspiration and support from Eliot’s choice to focus on finding a new form, using elements of repetition, mixed tonality, and even the “occasional unexpected” major-ish cadence for “dramatic effect.” I took what could be called “a whiff of chant” and mixed it with my own, decidedly modern tonal language; twisting and turning themes to fit the story telling, and utilizing parallel intervals to impart an aural hint of the medieval sound world that Thomas might have heard. All in a score that has abandoned both key- and time- signatures in the traditional sense, harkening back to early music manuscripts while still being readable to a modern performer.
Another major influence comes directly from Eliot’s text, in the sermon found at the center of the play. Thomas speaks of the Christian duality of celebrating both Jesus’ death and birth at once, asking “…who in the World will both mourn and rejoice at once and for the same reason?”
This central theme inspired the creation of the first notes in the score: three massive, unsettling chords made up of a C-minor triad stacked on top of a B-major chord: Two chords so fundamentally different and yet so close together. In a trick of enharmonic spelling, they even share a common tone as their third (E-flat or D-sharp, depending on your point of view). This stacking of harmonies illuminates the very idea of simultaneous grief AND joy, yet provides the necessary undercurrent of tension that runs throughout the play. In the end, does the score “resolve” itself into something like a final chord, some modern plagal cadence (the ‘Amen’ that ends many hymns) perhaps giving us answers to questions poised in the text? I leave that to your own ears.
Recent Past Shows
Born With Teeth
February 23 - March 10: Born With Teeth, written by Liz Duffy Adams, performed at The Eagles Ballroom.
A young William Shakespeare and his contemporary Christopher (Kit) Marlowe meet in the back room of a pub to collaborate on a history play (which turns out to be Henry VI). Born with Teeth is set in a London pub in the 1590s London. Queen Elizabeth I is in the last years of her reign, and she has left no heir. Against the backdrop of religious and political peril, Shakespeare and Marlowe have to write a play that meets the approval of the increasingly authoritarian tyrannical ruler without crossing the line that would bring them imprisonment or death, and yet come close to some of the truths of their subject. This play gives an intimate look into the lives of two of the most famous writers in English history. Perhaps if Marlowe had not died an early death, Montana would celebrate “Marlowe in the Parks”, rather than “Shakespeare in the Parks”.
An Iliad
August 18 & August 20, 2023: An Iliad, adapted by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, performed at The Story Mansion
An Iliad is a modern-day retelling of Homer’s classic. Poetry, humor, the ancient tale of the Trojan War, and the modern world collide in this captivating theatrical experience. The setting is simple: the empty theater. The time is now: the present moment. The lone figure onstage is a storyteller—think of Homer. He is fated to tell this story throughout history. An Iliad starred Ray Schultz.
The Glass Menagerie
November 3 and 4, 2023: The Glass Menagerie, written by Tennessee Williams; a reading performed at the Story Mansion.
The Glass Menagerie was the play that launched Tennessee Williams into international stardom and led to an astonishing career in 1944. BAT is doing a reading of this play to reacquaint our audiences with Tennessee Williams in anticipation of our following production of The Gentleman Caller (see below). It's a memory play, in which the main character narrates the events of the story. The central theme of The Glass Menagerie looks at the conflict between fact and fiction, especially as we recall our memories.
Directed by Gretchen Minton; featuring Susan Miller, Philip Winchester, Mercy Simpson, and Gabe Taurman as readers. Two readings will be held at the Story Mansion.
The Gentleman Caller
November 10-17, 2023: The Gentleman Caller, written by Philip Dawkins, performed at the Story Mansion.
On a cold night in November 1944, the fate of two young writers is forever changed when theater critic Bill Inge is granted an interview with Tennessee Williams, a new promising playwright who is busy crafting his newest play “The Gentleman Caller” (which would later be renamed The Glass Menagerie). The Gentleman Caller is a two-act play by Philip Dawkins that imagines a meeting between these two prolific playwrights. Over drinks the two men strike up deep conversations about their sexuality, their art, and the world who judges both.
Tennessee Williams won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award as Best American Play for The Glass Menagerie. William Inge won a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for his play Picnic. Our production of The Gentleman Caller is directed by Sasha Kostyrko and stars Erik Pearson and Joe Faifer as Williams and Inge.
Director’s Notes, by Sasha Kostyrko
Williams and Inge were both playwrights at a time where they were forced to write in code about their sexuality. They hid behind their plays to express their truths and desires. So who were these profound writers really? We owe it to their memory to explore their “deep sensitivities in a deeply senseless world”. To conjure up these ghosts, in this memory play, is to conjure up the idea that these two men likely had a profound impact on each other's art and lives. For decades the world has pinned William Inge and Tennesee Williams against each other but Philip Dawkins has given us an intimate proposal that maybe these two writers were deeply connected here because for a moment they could see their sameness.
Playwrights have the ability to hide behind their words. Focusing their energy into the pure honesty and candor they inject into their characters. Philip Dawkins has gifted us this brilliant and heart wrenching play, taking focus away from himself and putting the spotlight on these two writers. ‘The Gentleman Caller’ gives us a glimpse into their hopes, dreams, and fears.
From left to right: Erik Pearson (William Inge), Joe Faifer (Tennessee Williams), Sasha Kostyrko (Director), Sara Stanek (Stage Manager), Marc Beaudin (Set Designer), KC Luchsinger (Lights and Sound Designer)