Father and Son, Son and Father

Canon Boundy's Father and Son, Son and Father is based on passages from St Mark's Gospel. This version of Christ's life was, when I was at school, always held up as the most factual and (by inference) historically correct telling of the story.

The pillared splendour of Norwich Cathedral with its fan vaulting reaching up to the heavens themselves makes a fitting setting for Mel Sessions' production. It is performed In modern dress with a recorded soundscape by Robin Forrest punctuating the dialogue.

The two actors play initially scripts in hand, so that the impact when these are discarded is all the greater. It is as though print dissolves into reality.

Giles Conneely is an initially naïve Jesus with Peter Sowerbutts as the acerbic Father leading his Son over three years from the youth who finds being baptised by John on a hot day to be a refreshing experience to the man who ultimately embraces the horror of his fate if not willingly then with understanding.

As with medieval plays based on the Gospel stories, the language used is an everyday one. Jesus throws quotations from the prophets to match those quoted, sometimes ironically, to him. The selection of the Apostles presents us with a series of sharp pen-portraits and there is an interesting "take" on the story of Judas Iscariot.

You can see why some church-goers took against this play when it was originally produced. Perhaps nowadays we are just that bit more cynical about accepting official versions as unvarnished truth. But it does remain one of the greatest stories ever told.

Father and Son, Son and Father plays at the RC Cathedral in Norwich on 2 November.