[2][3][4] Anouilh's interpretation of the historical story, though often ironic, is more straightforward than T. S. Eliot's 1935 play on the same subject, Murder in the Cathedral, which was intended primarily as a religious treatment.
Becket begins as a clever, but hedonistic, companion; as a result of being created Archbishop of Canterbury, he is transformed into an ascetic who does his best to preserve the rights of the church against the king's power.
[5] The original Parisian production was directed by Roland Piétri, and starred Bruno Cremer as Thomas Becket and Daniel Ivernel as King Henry II.
It was produced by David Merrick and directed by Peter Glenville, and starred Laurence Olivier as Thomas Becket and Anthony Quinn as King Henry II.
Eric Porter played Becket and Christopher Plummer the King, with Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Peter Jeffrey, Diana Rigg, Ian Holm and Roy Dotrice in the cast.
The original English translation for the 1961 version (by Lucienne Hill) was revived at the Southwark Playhouse in September 2001 with Rupert Degas and Colin Salmon.
[10] In 1964 the play was made into a successful film, starring Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton with John Gielgud, Donald Wolfit and Martita Hunt.
At the beginning of the movie's DVD commentary, Peter O'Toole relates his meeting with Anouilh in Paris a few years before the film was made because he was being considered for the play.
Anouilh told him that he had been looking for an idea based on a rift in the leftist Théâtre National Populaire between the actors Gérard Philipe and Daniel Ivernel.