TS Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral review – gather in wonder at David Suchet’s excellent archbishop

St John the Divine church, London
The poet’s 1935 verse drama has its eccentricities but the meticulous star plays Thomas Becket with a Shakespearean relish

A striking example of site-specific theatre, TS Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral was first performed in 1935 at Canterbury Cathedral. This was the location, in 1170, for its pivotal event: the killing by Henry II’s knights of Archbishop Thomas Becket during a dispute over the powers of church and state.

Subsequently, audiences have been more likely to enter a production via a church nave than a theatre aisle. The latest host venue is St John the Divine, opposite the Orange Tree theatre, whose boss, Tom Littler, co-directs with Francesca Ellis.