View source for Becket

{{Short description|Theater play by Jean Anouilh}}
{{about|the 1959 play||Becket (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox play
| name           = Becket
| image          =
| image_size     =
| caption        =
| writer         = [[Jean Anouilh]]
| characters     = {{ubl|Thomas Becket|King Henry II|King Louis VII|Cardinal Zambelli|Pope Alexander III|Bishop Folliot|Brother John|Empress Matilda|Eleanor of Aquitaine|Prince Henry|Prince John}}
| setting        = 12th-century Europe
| premiere       = 8 October 1959
| place          = [[Theatre Montparnasse]]
| orig_lang      = [[French language|French]]
| subject        = [[Becket controversy]] 
| genre          = [[Historical drama]]
| web            =
| original title = ''Becket ou l'honneur de Dieu'' (literally "Becket, or the honour of god")
}}
'''''Becket or The Honour of God''''' ({{langx|fr|Becket ou l'honneur de Dieu}}), often shortened to '''''Becket''''', is a 1959 [[stage play]] written in [[French language|French]] by [[Jean Anouilh]]. It is a depiction of the [[Becket controversy|conflict]] between [[Thomas Becket]] and King [[Henry II of England]] leading to Becket's assassination in 1170.<ref name="Pfeiffer 2011 e621">{{cite web | last=Pfeiffer | first=Lee | title=Becket: film by Glenville [1964] | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=February 11, 2011 | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Becket-film-by-Glenville | access-date=March 31, 2024}}</ref> It contains many historical inaccuracies, which the author acknowledged.<ref name="Tunzelmann 2009 n781">{{cite web | last=Tunzelmann | first=Alex von | title=Becket: forking Normans and a not so turbulent priest | website=The Guardian | date=January 1, 2009 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jan/01/reel-history-becket |quote= Thomas Becket was a Norman, just like Henry II. Writer Jean Anouilh knew this, but he thought Norman-Saxon tensions made a good story.| access-date=March 31, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Clements 2007 w620">{{cite web | last=Clements | first=Warren | title=Film's factual errors great fodder for O'Toole's anecdotes | website=The Globe and Mail | date=May 18, 2007 | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/films-factual-errors-great-fodder-for-otooles-anecdotes/article1326356/ | quote=Anouilh wanted to capture a personality clash within a theatre troupe he worked with, but couldn't find a way to frame the conflict on stage until he visited Canterbury. "He read about five sentences [concerning Becket's clash with Henry] giving a brief outline of what happened, and said" ... "I've got the plot. And that's all the research he did. Hence, many, many factual errors." |access-date=March 31, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Karnoor 2016 i005">{{cite web | last=Karnoor | first=Maithreyi | title=Irony cast in stone | website=The Hindu | date=June 23, 2016 | url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/Irony-cast-in-stone/article14397063.ece | access-date=March 31, 2024}}</ref>

==Background==
Anouilh's interpretation of the historical story, though often ironic, is more straightforward than [[T. S. Eliot]]'s 1935 play on the same subject, ''[[Murder in the Cathedral]]'', which was intended primarily as a religious treatment.  However, there are one or two similarities in the interpretation.

In the introduction to the play, Anouilh explained that he based it on a chapter of an old book he had bought because its green binding looked good on his shelves. He and his wife read the 30 pages about Thomas Becket, and she urged him to write a play about Thomas. He did so, finishing the first part in only 15 days.  It was not until he showed the finished play to a friend that he found out the old book he had based it on was historically incorrect in certain important aspects. Having built his play on Becket being [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] (when he was actually a [[Normans|Norman]] whose family was from near [[Caen]] and was called ''Becquet'', ''Bequet'' or ''Becket'' in Old Norman), Anouilh could not recast the play to accord with historical facts, so he decided to let it stand.

Aspects of the content that can safely be considered true are the conflicts between England and France, church and state, and the outline biography of Becket.

==Synopsis==
The play is a re-enactment of the conflicts between King Henry II and Thomas Becket as the latter (Henry's best friend) ascends to power, becoming the king's enemy.  Becket begins as a clever, but hedonistic, companion; as a result of being created Archbishop of Canterbury, he is transformed into an ascetic who does his best to preserve the rights of the church against the king's power.

Ultimately, Becket is slaughtered by several of the king's nobles; and lastly we find the king thrust into penance for the episcopicide.

==Stage productions==
The play was first performed in the original French at the [[Théâtre Montparnasse]]-Gaston Baty in [[Paris]] on 8 October [[1959 in literature#New drama|1959]] and in an English translation on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1960.<ref>{{cite web | title=Becket, or the Honour of God  | url=http://www.enotes.com/becket | work=E-notes | year=2008 | access-date=2008-06-17| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080626233640/http://www.enotes.com/becket| archive-date= 26 June 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> The original Parisian production was directed by [[Roland Piétri]], and starred [[Bruno Cremer]] as Thomas Becket and [[Daniel Ivernel]] as King Henry II.

===Broadway===
The first Broadway production premiered on 5 October 1960 at the [[St. James Theatre]]. It was produced by [[David Merrick]] and directed by [[Peter Glenville]], and starred [[Laurence Olivier]] as Thomas Becket and [[Anthony Quinn]] as King Henry II. The production was nominated for five [[Tony Awards]] and won four, including [[Tony Award for Best Play|Best Play]]. The play later transferred to the [[Royale Theatre]] and then to the [[Hudson Theatre]]. It was wrongly believed that during the run Quinn and Olivier switched roles, with Quinn playing Becket to Olivier's King.  In fact, Quinn left the production to work on a film, and director Glenville suggested a road tour with Olivier as Henry.  Olivier happily acceded, and [[Arthur Kennedy (actor)|Arthur Kennedy]] took on the role of Becket, with Olivier playing Henry, both for the tour and a brief return to Broadway.<ref>{{cite magazine | author=Staff | title=Henry the Second | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874346,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114104250/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874346,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 14, 2009 | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=7 April 1961 | access-date=2008-06-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Spoto | first=Donald | title=Laurence Olivier: A Biography | location=New York | publisher=HarperCollins | year=1992 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/laurenceolivierb00spot/page/360 360–368] | isbn=0-06-018315-2 | url=https://archive.org/details/laurenceolivierb00spot/page/360 }}</ref>

However, according to [[John Cottrell (biographer)|John Cottrell]]'s biography of Laurence Olivier,<ref>John Cottrell: ''Laurence Olivier'', Prentice Hall, 1975</ref> Anthony Quinn was dismayed and angry when he read that Olivier was getting better reviews for his performance as Henry than Quinn had got, claiming that he would never have left the production if he had known that was going to happen. (After Olivier's death Quinn displayed extreme animosity towards the actor in his second autobiography.)<ref>Anthony Quinn: ''One Man Tango: An Autobiography'', HarperCollins, 1995</ref> Even so, it was Quinn who was nominated for a [[Tony Award]] for his performance, while Olivier was overlooked.

===London productions===
The first [[London]] production was at the [[Aldwych Theatre]] on 11 July 1961, directed by [[Peter Hall (theatre director)|Peter Hall]] for the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]]. [[Eric Porter]] played Becket and [[Christopher Plummer]] the King, with [[Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies]], [[Peter Jeffrey]], [[Diana Rigg]], [[Ian Holm]] and [[Roy Dotrice]] in the cast. The play later transferred to the [[Gielgud Theatre|Globe Theatre]]. Plummer won the [[Evening Standard Award]] for his performance after taking over the part from [[Peter O'Toole]], who broke his contract with the [[Royal Shakespeare Company|RSC]] before rehearsals began in order to take the lead in [[David Lean]]'s film ''[[Lawrence of Arabia (film)|Lawrence of Arabia]]''.

The play was revived in a new [[translation]] by [[Frederic Raphael]] and [[Stephen Raphael]] in October 1991 at the [[Haymarket Theatre]] with [[Derek Jacobi]] as Becket and [[Robert Lindsay (actor)|Robert Lindsay]] as the King and again in October 2004 with [[Dougray Scott]] and [[Jasper Britton]].  The original English translation for the 1961 version (by [[Lucienne Hill]]) was revived at the Southwark Playhouse in September 2001 with [[Rupert Degas]] and [[Colin Salmon]].

===Edinburgh===
In 1964, the play was staged by the [[Gateway Theatre (Edinburgh)|Edinburgh Gateway Company]], directed by [[Victor Carin]].<ref>Edinburgh Gateway Company (1965), ''The Twelve Seasons of the Edinburgh Gateway Company, 1953 - 1965'', St. Giles Press, Edinburgh, p.55</ref>

==Film adaptation==
{{main|Becket (1964 film){{!}}''Becket'' (1964 film)}}
In 1964 the play was made into a successful film, starring [[Peter O'Toole]] and [[Richard Burton]] with [[John Gielgud]], [[Donald Wolfit]] and [[Martita Hunt]].  Additional scenes were written by [[Edward Anhalt]] for the film. Anhalt won an [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Academy Award for his screenplay]].

The film introduced a somewhat fictionalized plot element not in the original play. Rather than the main conflict between Becket and the King revolving around the [[Constitutions of Clarendon]] - as is depicted in the play and as happened in historical fact - the film's dispute between Becket and Henry II centers on the assassination of an accused priest by the henchmen of Lord Gilbert, a nobleman and friend of King Henry, and Becket's excommunication of Gilbert as a result.

At the beginning of the movie's DVD commentary, [[Peter O'Toole]] relates his meeting with Anouilh in Paris a few years before the film was made because he was being considered for the play. Anouilh told him that he had been looking for an idea based on a rift in the leftist [[Théâtre National Populaire]] between the actors [[Gérard Philipe]] and [[Daniel Ivernel]]. He visited Canterbury and decided the Becket story would be a good vehicle. Philipe and Ivernel were cast as Becket and Henry respectively for the Paris première of the play, but Philipe died before rehearsals were completed.

==Radio adaptation==
Ukemi Productions has adapted the work into a radio play for [[BBC Radio 3]]. The play stars [[Toby Stephens]] as the King and [[David Morrissey]] as Becket, and was broadcast on 4 October 2009.<ref>BBC Press Office (28 August 2009). "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/08_august/28/radio3drama.shtml Classic stage plays and adaptations of major works of fiction at the heart of new drama season on Radio 3]". Press release. Retrieved on 28 August 2009.</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
* {{IBDB title|2256}}
* [https://digital.library.illinois.edu/collections/810eac30-e3fb-012f-c5b6-0019b9e633c5-e/items?q=becket Costume design sketches] by [[Motley Theatre Design Group]] for [[Jean Anouilh]]'s 1960 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production at [[St. James Theatre]]  and [[Hudson Theatre]] - [https://digital.library.illinois.edu/collections/810eac30-e3fb-012f-c5b6-0019b9e633c5-e Motley Collection of Theatre & Costume Design]

{{Jean Anouilh}}
{{TonyAwardBestPlay 1947-1975}}

[[Category:1959 plays]]
[[Category:Broadway plays]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Thomas Becket]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Eleanor of Aquitaine]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Henry II of England]]
[[Category:Biographical plays about English royalty]]
[[Category:Plays set in the 12th century]]
[[Category:Plays based on actual events]]
[[Category:Biographical plays]]
[[Category:Plays by Jean Anouilh]]
[[Category:Tony Award–winning plays]]
[[Category:French plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:Plays adapted into radio programs]]
[[Category:Martyrdom in fiction]]