A MEDIEVAL MURDER MYSTERY PLAY
Written by Mike Harford Cross

The Première, 7:30pm on 22nd & 23rd May 2025
Tickets £16.50 from wegottickets.com Paper tickets via 07980 865524.

Interval Canapés Included in the Price. Pay Bar Available.

Profits from the play to The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust and St Andrew’s Restoration Fund.

“The Medieval Village of Kirkby Malzeard is to premiere a play based on the murder of Becket during the reign of Henry II. The action is set mainly in Canterbury Cathedral, but it will be performed
in the village’s St Andrew’s Church.

The Mystery provides strong points of discussion, and a tantalising ending. It has been very much created as an interesting and entertaining event for the benefit of the village community, many of whom have committed their professionalism to make the evenings a success.

This startling new play by Mike Harford-Cross is about the Papal Investigation into the brutal death of Becket, executed by King Henry’s four Knights. TS Eliot in his 1950 play suggested that the murder was justified to ensure that the power of the church did not undermine the stability of the state and the power of the King. The real motive for the murder remains hidden in the mists of time.

St Andrew’s Church, Kirkby Malzeard, dating from around 1150, provides the perfect setting for this new play, as history tells of an encounter here with Henry II. Roger de Mowbray, owner of the Castle in Kirkby Malzeard, took part in the 1173 Revolt against King Henry ll, after which the Castle was besieged by the Bishop elect of Lincoln. Mowbray surrendered his Castle in Kirkby Malzeard, along with Thirsk Castle, to the King. Mowbray Castle was subsequently demolished, with only rubble surviving today.

This new play by local resident Mike Harford Cross will have two professional actors, Gamze Seber who plays Queen Eleanor and Ben Elder as the Papal Investigator. There is an additional cast of twenty players which includes notable figures of the time, monks, nuns and ladies in waiting.

Mike Harford-Cross, Writer, Producer and Actor says: “Our supporting cast, who play notable figures of the time, includes talented players from the Mowbray Theatre Group supported by a strong team of volunteers from the area. They provide lighting, sound, make-up, costumes and the catering for the interval of the two-act play.”

Profits from the play will go to the Childhood Eye Caner Trust and St Andrew’s Restoration fund. Tickets are on sale from: wegottickets.com at £16.50 for these two exclusive performances, on May 22 and 23 from 7:30 pm.

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