May 20–27, 1999

critic pick|theater

American Gothic

Site-specific theater doesn't get any more specific than this. Lion Productions is staging T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral in the Gothic environs of St. Mark's Church in Frankford. Director Mary De Angelis has 20 years' experience doing theater in "unusual places" (Episcopal cemeteries, Quaker meeting houses), so she's thrilled at the prospect of staging Eliot's verse drama amid stained glass windows, candlelight and the sounds of Gregorian chant, performed live by In Clara Voce. (The play, which deals with the murder of Thomas Becket, was originally performed in England's Canterbury Cathedral in 1935). De Angelis' production, which features a cast of pros, theater students and community residents aged 14 to 65, is yet another example of the upsurge in arts activity in the Frankford area.

-David Warner

Sat.-Sun., May 22-23, 5 p.m., St. Mark's Church, 4442 Frankford Ave. (between Unity and Sellers; near both the Church and Margaret/Orthodox stops of the El), 215-535-0359.