THE complex relationship between church and theatre is the subject of Drama in the Cathedral by Kenneth Pickering, who produced the very successful Mystery Plays at Malvern Priory in 1988.
Published by Colwall-based J Garnet Miller, the book is in fact a completely revised and updated edition of a work that first appeared in 1986.
Dr Pickering, currently the chief examiner in drama and speech at Trinity College, London, tackles the establishment of the first-ever religious drama festival in Canterbury Cathedral in 1928.
On Whit Monday that year, The Coming Of Christ, by Ledbury's most famous son, John Masefield, made history by being the first play performed in a cathedral since medieval times. As Dr Pickering puts it: "The Church had for centuries expressed its total opposition to drama in any form."
At one time, drama and religion were closely tied up in Mystery Plays, but since the Restoration the theatre was viewed with implacable hostility as the abode of sin and licentiousness.
Dr Pickering traces the developments of the late 19th and early 20th centuries which led up to the reconciliation of church and theatre. Among these is The End of the World by Lascalles Abercrombie, one of the group of Dymock Poets.
He brings the story up to with a discussion of more modern productions, including his own in Malvern, which he described as "unique for its collaboration between the professional production company and the local, and very successful, amateur company".
Drama in the Cathedral is available from local bookshops, priced £18.50.
Robert Hale
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