ALL THE NAVE’S a stage in Wakefield Cathedral as rehearsals are well underway for the first theatre performance in the city’s iconic building since its refurbishment in 2013.
The cathedral’s labyrinth has been transformed into the main stage and forms the backdrop for Of Truth Be Told, a new piece of writing by local playwright Kate Griffin, which interweaves four individual stories of war, love and loss across different epochs and ask difficult questions about the lies we tell and the truths we hide.
Like Maria who plays a feisty 15 year old who loses her child in the 1950s when she finds herself in a home for teenage mums run by nuns in Horbury. Or Marian whose son goes to Afghanistan and never returns.
The play was commissioned by Wakefield Cathedral’s Heritage, Arts, Learning and Outreach Department and is performed by the newly formed Labyrinth Theatre Workshop. It is the first full length play to be performed in the building since its renewal.
Wakefield Cathedral’s Education Officer, Ali Bullivant, said she was really excited to bring the Cathedral to life in this way.
“The space we have now has opened up tremendous opportunities for us here at the cathedral for people to discover our heritage and our art.
“The writer saw the labyrinth and was inspired by it. It became the starting point and the end point and weaves its way throughout,” she said.
Director, Jim Wilson, who brought together the 13 actors and two musicians to form Labyrinth Theatre Workshop said: “I am a great believer in ensemble theatre and the challenge of working with a variety of different characters and seeing them develop as the play progresses is what it is all about.”
Performances are Friday 17 October 7.30 pm and Saturday 18 October 2.30 pm and 7.30pm
And tickets are priced at £5.Tickets can be purchased online via the cathedral website, from the cathedral bookshop and on the door.
Find Labyrinth Theatre Workshop on Facebook to follow their progress. You can watch two short clips of them in rehearsal here too.