St Paul’s and its Occupy problem

By Robert Butler

A remarkable aspect of “The Winslow Boy” is the way Terence Rattigan tells the story of a celebrated court case through the single setting of an Edwardian drawing room. In “Temple”, which opened at London’s Donmar Warehouse last week, Steve Waters pulls off a similar feat. The off-stage event here is the Occupy movement in London in October 2011, which followed on swiftly from the one in New York. Demonstrators had headed to the Stock Exchange, but the police diverted them towards St Paul’s Cathedral; thousands gathered on the cathedral steps, and hundreds set up tents. In a decision that was fiercely contested by his colleagues and congregation, the dean closed the cathedral for a week for health and safety reasons.


Waters tells the story of the church’s anguish and indecision, which led to the resignation of the dean and the canon chancellor, through the single setting of a room in the Chapter House. This room, in Tim Hatley’s design, is a magnificent one: lengthy wooden table, green leather seats and three tall windows overlooking the cathedral’s world-famous dome. Off-stage we hear bells tolling the quarter hours and the chants and cheers of the protesters.