Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-28
The Passing Show
It's. Eliot Is Back Again
Murder in the Cathedral at Catholic u.
Reflects Distinction of His Dramatic Style
By Joy Cormody


versity performers as "Oedi-
pus," "Othello" and AN
tigone."
But it is not this alone, how
ever. There is much more to
the Eliot work than form. its
authors use Of verse and his
daring resort to imagination.
Murder in the Cathedral" is
melodrama in the most en-
crossing sense of the word. 1t
is the spectacle Of a majestic
human being. Thomas a Bee
ket, caught in extravagantly
dramatic circumstance and
compelled to make a decision
of matching size.
The decision is acceptance
or rejection of the divine RICH,
of a King, this one Henry II,
who in the days Of Becket's
youth had been his generous
benefactor and sponsor. Earlier
as his Chancellor, Beckett had
found no occasion to chal-
lenge the King. Now, as Arch
bishop of Canterbury, their re-
lationship has undergone a
transcendant change. If his
death alone can make that
change apparent not merely to
the Tuning monarch but. more
Importantly. to his flock and
to posterity, Beckett has no
choice but martyrdom.
No Voeueness Here
The talkinesS and vagueness
with which he has been
charged in subsequent plays is
absent in Murder in the Ca
thedral." It's talk is incessant.
true, but it is a speech in
famed with passion that grows
out Of the ardor Of the Arch
bishop, the terror of his people.
or the arrogant violence of
the Kings COON squad. Here
each Of Eliot's melodic words
seethes with exciting point,
more dramatic to the ear in
deed than the plays climactic
act of violence to the sight.
One Of the most pleasant
surprises (if that is not too
candid a world of this Muir
der in the Cathedral" is the
way it's cast rises to the de-
mands of a spell binding play.
To make it sing with the
moral meaning Eliot put into
it, is incredibly challenging to
the youthful performers and
choral group in the university
production. It Is a challenge
that is handsomely met in
every respect. demonstrating
that once again, after several
lean years, the school Is well
supplied with acting talent.
The overwhelming acting
burden Of Murder in the Ca
thedral," Of course. is that
imposed upon the player in the
Beckett role. In this case. the
task has fallen upon Dermot
Grice. This is a young Eng
lish graduate student, a stand
out in several previous uni
versity productions, who is
properly impressed by his as
signment but never awed by
it. His Beckett is a portrait
that catches the stature of
both the plays subject and
it's author.
Terrifying Test
It has always struck this
Eliot admirer that one Of the
most beautiful passages ever
written is that in which Beckett
delivers his Christmas sermon
to the Canterbury flock. In
the play, it represents the mo-
ment in which Beckett reaches
his decision that life on earth
is but prelude, and foresees
the end Of both his priesthood
and his earthly existence. It
is something Of a terrifying
test for an actor and that
Grice meets it so supremely
well gives the play an un-
forgettable climax.
Eliot's admirers will find his
Murder in the Cathedral"
thus produced. one Of the mod
ern theater's finest achieve
ments in playwriting.