Becket

Description

When the Archbishop of Canterbury died, Henry II forced his companion and political lieutenant, Thomas Becket to take his place. Becket told his King: 'If I become archbishop, I shall cease to be your friend.' Becekt, who with Henry had fought the church for the good of the State, now felt responsible for the honour of God. Conflict was inevitable and was followed, just as inevitably, by murder and remorse.

Jean Anouilh was born in Bordeaux in 1910. He studied law briefly at the Sorbonne and then became a copywriter for an advertising agency. In 1931 he became secretary to the actor-manager, Louis Jouvet, and his first play, The Ermine, was staged the following year. Antigone firmly established his popularity in France in 1944, and Peter Brook's 1950 production of Ring Round the Moon in Christopher Fry's translation made his name in England. His best-known plays are: Restless Heart (1934); Dinner with the Family, Traveller without Luggage (both 1937); Thieves' Carnival (1938); Leocadia (1939); Point of Departure (Eurydice) (1941); Romeo and Jeannette (1945); Medea (1946); Ardele (1948); The Rehearsal (1950); Colombe (1951); The Waltz of the Toreadors (1952); The Lark (1953); Ornifle (1955); Poor Bitos (1956); Becket (1956); The Fighting Cock (1966); Dear Antoine (1971); The Director of the Opera (1973); Number One (1981). Twice married, he lived mainly in Switzerland for the last thirty years of his life. Anouilh died in 1987.