Translation and adaptation by James Kirkup

Why should a play written nearly 500 years ago in France, a play which at first sight seems very rough and ready, which has many imperfections, outworn conventions and mostly cardboard characters, seem today so alive and as moving to our over-entertained selves as it must have been when it was performed to the unsophisticated audiences of its time? The theme itself is overwhelming, but there have been many other plays about it with far less impact. Certainly the radio production owed a lot to the splendid and lively translation of James Kirkup and the music composed by Reginald Redman, yet the main reason for its success must undoubtedly be attributed to those very early dramatists, the brothers Greban.
We began thinking of a television production of the play when we were planning it for radio. We were borrowing then from certain television methods to help us solve some new problems in that presentation. However, there still remained many problems to be overcome for television; technically, because of the extreme difficulty of mounting a television drama in a cathedral, in sound coverage, in lighting such a great area, in the building of the three stages, and in the installation of six cameras and their ancillary equipment; artistically, because we intend to present the play as a medieval performance, and the right balance between the unpolished acting on the platforms, which serve as stages, and the demands of the television camera for reality must be satisfying.
Tonight's play may perhaps in places seem nothing more than a simple charade incongruously describing the events which led up to the Crucifixion. It may perhaps at times seem cruel and outrageous. Nevertheless, I think if we, as a company of technicians and cast, even begin to do justice to the play, it will be something worth watching and remembering.
(Brandon Acton-Bond)

Performed by courtesy of the Dean and Chapter in the Nave of Bristol Cathedral
At 9.45

Cast of the Medieval Company: