For one week in June Lancaster Cathedral will provide the setting for St Peter’s Walk, an innovative performance based on the life and times of St Peter, the Apostle and early Christian martyr to whom the Cathedral is dedicated.
St Peter, who was crucified – upside down – by the Romans around 64AD, was left with the task of setting up the early Christian Church following the death of Jesus.
“St Peter was an interesting character”, explains Caroline Hull, Events Co-ordinator at Lancaster Cathedral. “He definitely had his faults and he struggled with the same sorts of conflicts that most of the rest of us do, but he showed great strength and courage in the early days of the Church. Without his leadership the early Church would have been missing a crucial unifying force.”
It isn’t just the topic of the performance which is intriguing. St Peter’s Walk is an ‘experience drama’ which uses dramatic sketches, lectures, music, workshops and even an early Christian banquet to explore the legacy of the first leader of the organized Church.
According to Emma Rucastle, a Lancaster-based theatre director and practitioner, who has devised the show, “St Peter’s Walk incorporates many different elements of performance, so there should be something for everyone to enjoy. It has been very exciting working with so many people to create what we hope will be a special evening’s entertainment: fun, engaging, challenging and thought-provoking.”
The evening is divided into a series of 15-minute segments each of which takes places in one of the Cathedral’s many varied architectural spaces. Fans of promenade drama will recognize the basic format of the evening as the audience moves about the building during the show. However, St Peter’s Walk differs from traditional promenade performances in that each member of the audience selects which pieces to see and the order in which he or she sees them. With as many as ten different options available each evening, each performance will be unique. Whether visitors want to learn about the women St Peter left behind when he decided to follow Jesus, how St Peter’s shrine in Rome set the course for all later ecclesiastical architecture or what might have been served at the famous wedding feast at Cana, St Peter’s Walk promises to be a truly memorable experience for all who attend.
• ‘St Peter’s Walk’ will be performed nightly at Lancaster Cathedral during the week between Monday 15 June and Sunday 21 June; shows begin at 8pm and last approximately 90 minutes. Tickets (£10; concessions £8; 16 & under £6) are available each night on the door. There are matinees with reduced prices for schoolchildren. For more information, please contact the Cathedral Office (01524 384820; events@lancastercathedral.org.uk).