The church and censorship of the theatre

I'm delighted to be able to announce that an article of mine on this subject has been accepted for a forthcoming volume of Studies in Church History. There are some revisions to make, but it examines the private correspondence between the archbishops of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain over stage plays that were received for licensing between 1909 and 1949. Dealing mostly with archbishops Davidson and Lang, it examines the grounds on which the archbishops advised for or against the licensing of plays, and situates the relationship between archbishop and Lord Chamberlain in relation to the peculiar position of Cantuar at the heart of the 'establishment'. It should appear in 2012.

Religion in modern drama

An intriguing flurry of related items in the Guardian last month. Firstly, Michael Billington drew a contrast between the animating force of religious themes in much drama in the Fifties and the lack of religious interest in plays written in more recent years. This was in part a response to Drew Pautz's play Love the Sinner (reviewed, again by Billington, here).
This elicited a response from Ian Bradley, pointing out that religious themes were alive and well in the musical.
Finally, some enterprising soul in the Guardian's research department pulled out a most intriguing archive item from 22 May 1958, on a debate in the Church of Scotland's General Assembly over the future of the Gateway Theatre, which, improbably, was actually owned by the Church.

Reassessing T.S. Eliot

I note an interesting piece on Eliot by Jeanette Winterson in the Guardian, connected with the current series of Eliot's plays at the Donmar Warehouse. See also a review of the series in the TLS, 10/12/2008, with some discussion of Murder in the Cathedral.

Dallas Sweetman

I note the premiere this week of this new play by Sebastian Barry, reviving the commissioning of new plays by Canterbury Cathedral. The heyday of the Canterbury plays was between 1928 and the years immediately after the war; my own article on the first of these, John Masefield's The Coming of Christ, is forthcoming in Humanitas. The Journal of the George Bell Institute.
A preview has appeared in the Telegraph.
[October 10th: reviews in the Times, Observer, Guardian and Telegraph; overall conclusion: nice building, difficult acoustics.]

The Golden Generation

I note a new exhibition at the British Library on the abolition of the Lord Chamberlain's powers of theatre censorship in 1968; it is due to run until the end of November.
There was also a conference to coincide with the exhibition, marking the end of an AHRC-funded research project, details of which are available on the project website.

Sunday theatre

Yesterday's Guardian carried a short note about the National Theatre's decision to begin performances on Sundays. It's interesting that the theatres have been the last of the artistic institutions to bow to the pressure of Sunday opening.
See also Michael Billington in the Guardian, who welcomes the change, and his interview with Nicholas Hytner two years ago, who saw the main barrier as the theatre unions, rather than any lingering Sabbatarianism.

See also the report in the Telegraph.

George Bell, Bishop of Chichester

2008 sees the fiftieth anniverary of Bell's death, and there are two strands of academic events dealing with his legacy, which includes his work as patron of the arts. Chichester Cathedral are to hold a series of lectures, including one by Sir Christopher Frayling on the arts.
There is also to be a major conference in June, also in Chichester, organised by the George Bell Institute and the University of Chichester. I myself will be speaking at that event, on Bell's work in religious drama, and in particular on The Coming of Christ, the 1928 play that Bell commissioned from John Masefield for Canterbury Cathedral.

John Hester

A recent obituary in the Telegraph of Canon John Hester of Chichester Cathedral. He is of interest here on account of his involvement with drama and the theatre: he was from 1963 to 1975 senior chaplain of the Actors' Church Union, an intriguing and under-documented group who acted as chaplains and advocates on behalf of those in the theatrical business. Hester was at the same time rector of Soho, and thus on the doorstep of the West End theatres. (St Anne's Soho had previously had as a churchwarden one Dorothy L. Sayers, incidentally).
He also was connected with the Religious Drama Society (on which I've been doing a little work recently) editing their journal Christian Drama. His later connection with Chichester, and with the Chichester Festival Theatre, connects his story obliquely with another figure, Walter Hussey, former Dean, who was in close touch with the Festival Theatre in its early years (although their tenures at the cathedral did not overlap.)

Wesley the musical

The Guardian recently included an obituary of the actor Gordon Gostelow, principally known for a number of TV and film roles. He also took the lead in Ride ! Ride !, a musical about John Wesley, which was first produced in 1976. Whilst I knew about the churches producing works for their own use, this had a successful run at the Westminster Theatre. I shall try to find out a little more about how it was received, as I think this cross-over of religious work into the mainstream theatre would probably bear further work.