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Chester cathedral crazy for memorializing these gays like this

#chester cathedral #thomas becket #henry ii #becket #becket or the honour of god #100plays

one of the greatest scenes in one of the sharpest play adaptations of the 20th century

#the birthday party #william friedkin #rip #1968 #harold pinter #british cinema #play adaptation #sydney tafler #robert shaw #patrick magee #100plays

Phaedra: I love you.

[Silence.]

Hippolytus: Why?

Phaedra: You're difficult. Moody, cynical, bitter, fat, decadent, spoilt. You stay in bed all day then watch TV all night, you crash around this house with sleep in your eyes and not a thought for anyone. You're in pain. I adore you.

Hippolytus: Not very logical.

Phaedra: Love isn't.

Sarah Kane, Phaedra's Love (1996)

#100plays #sarah kane #phaedra's love #modern drama #modern theatre #theatre quotes #1996

Andrew Maud as Theseus and Cas Harkins as Hippolytus in the original 1996 production of Sarah Kane's Phaedra's Love, at the Gate Theatre.

#100plays #phaedra's love #sarah kane #phaedra #production photo #onstage #andrew maud #cas harkins #1996 #gate theatre #modern drama #modern theatre

Queen Mother: Henry! I bore the weight of state affairs longer than you ever have. I have been your queen and I am your mother. You are answerable for the interests of a great Kingdom, not for your moods. You already gave far too much away to the King of France, at La Ferté Bernard. It is England you must think of, not your hatred - or disappointed love - for that man.

King: [in a fury] Disappointed love - disappointed love? What gives you the right, Madam, to meddle in my loves and hates?

Queen Mother: You have a rancour against the man which is neither healthy or manly. The King your father dealt with his enemies faster and more summarily than that. He had them killed and said no more about it. If Thomas Becket were a faithless woman whom you still hankered after, you would act no differently. Sweet Jesu, tear him out of your heart once and for all!

Jean Anouilh, Becket (tr. Lucienne Hill, 1960)

#100plays #becket #jean anouilh #lucienne hill #theatre quotes #modern drama #theatre #french theatre #having already rambled a little in other tags about the various historical inaccuracies in this play it would be remiss of me not to #mention that the antagonistic relationship as depicted between Henry and his mother‚ Empress Matilda‚ has no basis in #historical fact as we understand it. on the contrary‚ she was a close advisor to her son and attempted to mediate during the Becket crisis #(she also predeceased Becket by three years). she serves a crucial purpose in the play however‚ as perhaps the only foil to the king #willing to comment directly on his relationship with Becket and the debilitating effect of their estrangement #this is also one of the most direct allusions in the play to a potential homoromantic element to their relationship #perhaps unsurprisingly‚ the play has attracted queer readings and analysis fairly regularly since its publication #the 1964 film adaptation is often credited with this subtext but quite honestly it's all there in the original text #to Anouilh's Henry‚ the ideological conflict with Becket is entirely secondary to the personal betrayal of a love spurned #whether that love is inferred to be romantic or brotherly or chivalrous is dependent on the reader (or viewer)#regardless of its exact nature‚ it's a love that Henry is willing to sacrifice a great deal for: politically‚ personally‚ perhaps even #spiritually.#the part of Matilda may be relatively small but its importance to the plot‚ and the power of her lines‚ were reflected in the casting of #legendary stage actor Gwen Ffrangcon Davies in the first english production

Above: Laurence Olivier as Becket, opposite Anthony Quinn as King Henry, in the first Broadway production of Becket, 1960.

Below: Olivier as King Henry, opposite Arthur Kennedy as Becket, in the 1961 tour of the same production. It was director Peter Glenville's suggestion that Olivier switch roles, after Quinn departed for Hollywood, and that the play go on the road for some time before returning to Broadway. Olivier won glowing reviews as Henry - better than he had as Becket, and better than Quinn had received as the King. Quinn remained bitter about the perceived slight for the rest of his career, although it was he who was nominated for a Tony award in the role and not his successor.

On the 24th of July 1979 the cast of Bent, including stars Ian McKellen and Tom Bell, joined members of other West End productions in protesting increased VAT on theatre tickets. In August, McKellen wrote a piece for Plays and Players magazine:

"The march through London's West End on 24 July was a high-spirited and invigorating experience. At least 4,000 members of British Actors' Equity were on parade, representing every theatre in the country. I was under the Criterion Theatre's banner with the cast of Bent, who were reinforced by the box-office and stage staff and by our manager, Ian Albery. At a brief rally at the Opera House in Covent Garden, its director John Tooley welcomed us all; Trevor Nunn was there with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Peter Hall cabled his support from the National Theatre. Such unity of workers and employers, of commercial and subsidised theatres, was an example to other troubled industries. But then, we had an urgent case to present to the House of Commons, where the day ended as we lobbied our Members of Parliament."

#100plays #bent #martin sherman #moder drama #modern theatre #queer theatre #ian mckellen #tom bell #plays and players #transcript #quote #i should add that McKellen was actually something of a fencesitter #and whilst he deplored the taxing of theatre attendees under tory rule he was equally as sceptical of the WRP and Corin and Vanessa #Redgrave‚ who were calling for the nationalisation of theatres‚ describing both alternatives as 'barbarous'#the redgraves and the 'far left' they represented seem to have been a habitual irritant to McKellen‚ who wrote several pieces critical of #their influence on Equity (the actor's union for which McKellen remains a spirited champion). he was‚ though‚ in favour of the closed shop #approach Equity took until Thatcher made the process illegal in the early 80s #Bell‚ by comparison‚ was not a regular theatre star‚ having made his name in the British kitchen sink dramas and new wave films of the 60s #and mostly kept to tv and film ever since; Bent was a rare starring role on stage. Bell considered television better suited to his talents #and indeed the previous year had seen him BAFTA nominated in Trevor Preston's crime drama Out and winning glowing reviews as Adolf #Eichmann in controversial US miniseries Holocaust. nor was he as politically engaged as his costar‚ though he will forever have my #respect for drunkenly heckling Prince Philip at an awards ceremony early in his career (a move which almost certainly affected his #ability to win leading roles for some years)

Play 20: Phaedra's Love by Sarah Kane

First performed: Gate Theatre, London, 1996

Quote: "There's a thing between us, an awesome fucking thing, can you feel it? It burns. Meant to be. We were. Meant to be." (Phaedra)

Stage direction: [Opens her mouth. No sound comes out.]

Notable cast: the original Gate production included Andrew Scott in a minor role. Laurence Penry-Jones starred in a 2005 revival at the Old Vic.

Notes: Only Kane's second play, Phaedra's Love was commissioned by the Gate Theatre, who asked for a drama inspired by a classical text. Reworking Seneca's Phaedra, Kane produced a clipped, precise distillation of tragedy as narrative. A paean to self-destruction which comments on voyeurism, faith and the inadequacies of love; critical reception was muted when compared to the histrionic moralising that greeted her first play, Blasted (1995). Featuring scenes of astonishing violence and horror, contemporary readings often focus on the brutality and nihilism of Kane's dialogue - but they're missing an extraordinary tenderness which unfolds alongside it. A masterful, troubling work from one of the greatest (and most sorely missed) voices of a generation of theatre.

Read: for the first time, but definitely not the last.

#100plays #phaedra's love #sarah kane #modern drama #modern theatre #seneca #phaedra #andrew scott #laurence penry jones #gate theatre #Kane was just 25 when she wrote Phaedra's Love‚ but her work was already both highly regarded by some champions in the established theatre #(Edward Bond was a mentor of sorts‚ Pinter an admirer) whilst simultaneously provoking outrage among critics and audiences #a remarkable work from an extraordinary playwright‚ one of the most significant voices in British theatre and a burning visionary whose #untimely death robbed us of who knows what kind of incendiary work. Sarah's work has been much reevaluated and appraised in the years since #she took her own life‚ and her current critical standing is beyond anything she could have imagined in her own lifetime; but still academic #work on her texts focus on the perceived nihilism and bleakness of her work‚ equating the graphic violence and strong language with her own #struggles with depression. i think there is some truth there‚ certainly‚ but what I think is missed is the flipside: the tenderness in the #scenes between Hippolytus and Strophe is rarely written about with as much zeal as the horrific scenes which close the play. Blasted‚ the #play which both made her name and brought astonishing condemnation from the press and government‚ remains a distressing and #disturbing work; but again‚ it's rarer to find critical commentary on the revolutionary act of kindness which ends the play. Sarah captured #something deep and true about humanity‚ something cloaked in deep ugliness and terror and violence‚ but at its heart something still very #human and capable of kindness and love in even the most grotesque of situations. and in that she found a unique voice that sees her work #still performed and written about and appreciated as something startling and new and different‚ nearly a quarter century after her death.

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