The churches and the theatre

A question occurs to me whilst reading a review of a play (The Christ of Coldharbour Lane at the Soho Theatre): what is the current narrative of the-churches-and-theatre ? It seems that there is a great deal of commentary (and some academic work) on the positions relating to church music, and a growing interest (since the 1980s) in the visual arts, but rather less on the theatre. The churches have used drama amongst themselves very creatively, both within congregations and as a mission tool, but I wonder what happened to the treatment of Christian symbols and ideas within art theatre outside the churches ? We know a bit about clerical objections to the moral behaviour of characters in plays, but there must be a broader story to be told about how the secular theatre handles religious themes. Any pointers to relevant literature would be very welcome.

John Tavener's latest

Interesting note from Stephen Bates in today's Guardian, on Tavener's new piece The Beautiful Names, due to premiere at Westminster Cathedral this week. Apparently a meditation on the names of Allah, it has caused quite a stir, judging by next week's Catholic Herald. A little too early to judge the piece, of course, but a surprising (at least to me) move from Tavener's usual work. All sorts of interesting questions arise, to do with the nature of this type of 'sacred' music, which is produced primarily outside church patronage. It should come as no surprise that it is the location of the premiere, rather than the principle of the piece, that seems to have caused the stir. I shall keep a look-out for further developments.

Theology and the arts: welcome

Just a few words about the scope of this new blog. My purpose is to provide a space in which to share information about the relationship between Christian theology and the arts in Britain since 1945. My own research interests are as an historian, particularly of the period up until 1980, and particularly in music. However, this space may well be used as a forum for debate about present-day artistic thought and practice, since it is informed by the past at every turn. The kind of things I have in mind are:

• notices and reports of events, seminars and conferences in the general field
• news of recent publications, in print and online. I have been involved for several years with a colleague, Dr Ian Jones (Director of the Saltley Trust) in investigating the adoption of popular music by the churches, and so news of this will likely appear here
• appeals for information, and attempts to begin discussions of topics so far neglected
• other things germane to the topic that catch my eye.

This is an area with a relatively under-developed presence in the 'blogosphere' so far, and so comments are enabled and very welcome.

[April 2008: Since beginning this blog, I found that there were enough issues that arose in my mind to merit another blog, with a wider scope - see Christianity, law and culture in Britain since 1945

New blog under construction

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