| Performance details | Venue: Friargate Theatre, York Dates: 1st – 5th Nov 2005 (nb. tour continues outside of York until 27th Nov) Tickets: £8.00 / £5.50 concessions Box office: 0845 9613000 |
Remember Remember, written by Bridget Foreman and directed by Riding Lights founder member Paul Burbridge, is a cleverly devised re-enactment of the events that led up to the attempt by Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators, to assassinate James I and the ruling Protestant elite. The story is told from the perspective of Everard Digby, a Catholic land-owner who attends Protestant church services in order to protect his job, working for the King. Following a spell of severe illness, during which he recalls the Latin prayers of his childhood, Digby reverts to Catholicism. And shortly after that, he's persuaded by his friend, Robert Catesby, to assist in the forced reinstatement of a Catholic monarchy. "We are the agents of God's purpose", Digby tells his wife as he attempts to explain why he's prepared to join Catesby in openly committing treason. England's Catholics are oppressed by the Protestant establishment: priests are commonly executed, and anyone found practising Catholicism is fined. The small group of which Digby and Catesby are a part, sees violence as the only way to respond. Interspersed throughout the play are short accounts from people living in London at the time of the July bombs, and amidst the troubles in Northern Ireland. They're skillfully played by the same five actors playing all the other characters. At one point, a young man considers the motivation of the people behind the London bombs, and in the process asks the key question, "What is passionate allegiance to a religion?" I went to the theatre expecting to learn about the events leading up to the Gunpowder Plot, and the people involved. And I did. But I also came away thinking about the state of the world today and why, after 400 years of religious conflict, people still choose to kill, rather than tolerate, one another. Katy Wright |
