"Murder in the Cathedral"

The new Wesley Methodist Church in Gisborne was packed to the doors on two nights in succession last month for a novel and highly effective event—the presentation of T.S. Eliot's play, "Murder in the Cathedral", based on the death of Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170 A.D.

Presented by a Wesley Church group with Rhys McConnochie as producer, the play proved to be a particularly moving event for all who saw it. Mr McConnochie also took the leading role. The theme was the belief that the law of God is greater than any law of man.

(Photographs By Stan Vincent)

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Rhys McConnochie as the Archbishop

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The Archbishop with one of his tempters (Maynard Rutherford).

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Part of the Chorus of the Women of Canterbury (Georgina Tuhoe, Maureen Forbes, June Preston, Margaret Leadley, Barbara Martin)

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The priests: Douglas Wateling, Stan Riley, Derek Beets.

Eliot's famous play was first performed in 1935, is mainly responsible for the revival of verse drama on the English stage. The play moves out of the past into the present when the final speeches of the knights, addressed to the audience, are uttered in the modern idiom.

Mr McConnochie, who played the Archbishop, has since left Gisborne to take up acting professionally.

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Three of the four knights: Oscar Grant, Maynard Rutherford, Lindsay Mellwraith.

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"The last temptation is the greatest treason...To do the right deed for the wrong reason." — The climax of the play.

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The Archbishop is struck down at the altar by the King's knights.

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The Archbishop in meditation.