‘It has been widely acknowledged that the full force of St Paul’s teaching can only be properly recognised when set in the context of the intellectual climate of his time, and this play succeeded by a bold simplicity in doing just that. Each character offered us a particular viewpoint, and became a representative of one strand of the argument that was to run wild in St Paul’s head. As we watched the clash of Roman and Greek, of Senecan Stoicism and sensuous Epicureanism, of Philo’s more humanistic Judaism and Josephus’ guardianship of the “mysteries” of religion, it was as if we were watching, at close quarters, open brain-surgery on St Paul. But it was not just a matter of intellectual argument. These symbolic characters were indeed “walled in by birth and death”, but whereas “life” can be an

abstract problem, “death” can be a very practical and political one, and here the force of Nero’s presence was strongly pointed - with some horrific contemporary overtones for a twentieth- century audience.

‘History, Philosophy, Religion, Politics - but there was another layer as well. Petronius’ cry “What a clash of fantasies!’ took us from the head to the heart. We were shown the horrors of the sexual fantasies of Nero, and the more creative “spirits” of Lucan. All these strands were brought together in the figure of the suffering yet triumphant Paul, subjected to every pressure both intellectual and emotional. It was a telling moment when we watched the juxtaposition of Paul’s exposition of “love” with Tigellinus’ gruesome understanding of the word.’

Barry Webb’s review of the first performance in Canterbury Cathedral
The Cantuarian, August 1979

Out of Print