[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
The Criterion
14 January 1938
Dearest,

I was very glad to get your long pencilled letter of the 31st, and to learn that my Christmas letter had arrived; and I trust that my letter to New Bedford arrived there before you left, though the sailings were poor at about that time. I can understand, indeed expected, that you would find the stay in Boston trying in several ways, and am glad that it is over; but should like to know how well you feel and strong [sic] in beginning the new term.

IPerkins, Edith (EH's aunt);d1 cannot be sure at this distance of time, but I have no recollections of Mrs. Perkins’s note asking me to tea with the Brownes. I don’t recall her ever saying that the Brownes were coming or had come to tea, and I did not know that she had seen them while in London. So I believe that I could not have received the note; but I am puzzled to know why Mrs. Perkins never mentioned the matter to me. I am sorry about it, however it happened.

IMurder in the Cathedral1938 American tour;f6preparatory re-rehearsal for;b1 shall depend upon you for an accurate report and criticism of the company when you see them in Boston. As I may have told you I think the company has been strengthened on the whole: two good new knights, and one poor one who was to be demoted to the herald’s part instead, and was looking very sad. There is a very good understudy for Martin. I depend as much upon the chorus as anything, for it is the strongest the play has ever had, and I don’t believe people in America have ever heard anything like it. MartinSpeaight, Robertproblems with his performance persist;d2 wasBrowne, Elliott Martin1938 American Murder tour;c4suffers fit of pre-tour gloom;a2 very depressed, justMurder in the Cathedral1938 American tour;f6pre-crossing Liverpool dates;b2 before they went off to Liverpool, feeling that Bobby had become unteachable. He had picked up in the early rehearsals, but at the end had relapsed into his old somnambulistic rendering. I talked to Bobby a bit too, about his defects particularly in dealing with the first two temptations. I always felt that he played the part in the flat. One gets no feeling that these two temptations ever could have meant anything to him; there is no suggestion of the Becket of the past; he is external and solemnly pontifical and official, as he always was. I am afraid he is rather stupid, as well as conceited with success; and in America he will find more critical and discriminating audiences than most of those here. That should be good for him, but not for the success of the play. However, I don’t think it is as bad as Martin believed; and I told him it was quite right and proper that the producer should be depressed at this point, and it was a good thing to have his fit of gloom now. But of course the success or failure will make a difference to Martin’s future, as well as Bobby’s. We think it would have been a good thing if from the start Bobby had been made to exchange his role from time to time, and Martin or somebody else had sometimes played Becket: but of course it is much too late to broach such a suggestion now. Bobby has been rather difficult about terms too, and thought that he, as the star, ought to travel cabin, though everybody else was going tourist – however he was finally persuaded to travel in the humbler way.

TheWaste Land, Thedramatised for broadcast;b2 eventBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)dramatic Waste Land adaptation;b4 this week has been a ‘dramatic interpretation’ of ‘The Waste Land’, in the ‘experimental’ hour of the B.B.C. Half a dozen different speakers, of course, and a lot of incidental music, off-noises of crowds, bells, thunder etc. You can imagine. I was glad to have it done, merely as evidence that a poem should NOT be produced as a kind of play or noise-pageant. GeoffreyBridson, D. G. ('Geoffrey');a1 Bridson, a little lad from Lancashire whom I know, produced it; and he is quite the ablest man they have at that sort of thing.1 The actors evidently had not the smallest comprehension of what it was all about, but were eventually moderately well drilled, most of them. The B.B.C. had wanted me to come to the microphone afterwards and say exactly what I thought of it; but I am satisfied that it was best for me not to associate myself in any way, even to the extent of criticising unfavourably. AsRoberts, Michaelintroduces radio Waste Land;a3 it was, they got Michael Roberts (my own suggestion) to give a kind of introduction, in dialogue form with one of the staff, beforehand, and then say what he thought of the production afterwards; and he really spoke quite frankly and severely, and made some excellent points.2 Howeverpoetryversus drama;b5 ‘dramatic’ a poem is, it isn’t a drama; and lines which are really conceived to be spoken by one voice (and in writing a poem one is really working in terms of one’s own voice) lose a great deal of their effect when broken up and given to various speakers. And of course the music at times was irrelevant and made the verse difficult to hear. And of course they put too much expression into the lines. Now when one is writing a play, one forms the lines somehow quite differently from the start, conceiving them to be spoken by somebody else playing a part: and the result is entirely different – in so far as one is successful.

IFamily Reunion, TheTSE on writing;b4 have nearly finished the first draft of the new play: there is only a final chorus to be finished. Of course I am prepared to find that the end may have to be completely re-written; and there are a number of incidental flaws throughout which do not worry me, because I am confident that hard work can get the better of them. What is my greatest fear (and no one can judge of this danger until he has seen the entire text) is that the emotions which I am interested in recording may be too intangible and rare to make any clear impression upon the audience. Will the audience be baffled to see why the people behave as they do? will it all seem a great fuss over nothing? That is the serious question. ItDukes, Ashleypleased with Family Reunion fragment;d5 doesBrowne, Elliott Martin1939 production of The Family Reunion;c1pleased with draft;a6 not seem to have worried Dukes and Browne at all so far – that is in reading the first two-thirds of the play; but, as I say, this is a criticism which is more likely to rise in people’s minds after the play is over than while it is going on.

ThecheeseTSE's first Old Blue Cottenham;a9 other event of this week is a lovely Old Blue Cottenham cheese – the first I have ever tasted – which they have had at the club. It is a rare and expensive cheese – something like a Stilton, but incomparably better – made with cream instead of milk, and is really memorable.

I must stop now. I look forward to a succession of quiet weekends in London, and am really very well.

Waiting impatiently for Northampton news,

Your devoted
Tom

1.D. G. BridsonBridson, D. G. ('Geoffrey') (1910–80), dramatist and poet, worked for thirty-five years as one of the most creative writer-producers on BBC Radio, for which he produced two authoritative series, The Negro in America (1964) and America since the Bomb (1966). Early writing figured in Ezra Pound’s Active Anthology (1933), and later books include The Filibuster: A Study of the Political Ideas of Wyndham Lewis (1972) and Prospero and Ariel: The Rise and Fall of Radio (1971).

2.OnBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)which is censored for broadcast;b5n 11Waste Land, TheBridson on 'dramatised' broadcast;b3n Jan. 1938 the BBC broadcast The Waste Land for the first time – produced by D. G. Bridson: with comments on the broadcast by Michael Roberts and Freddie Grisewood (later famous for the programme Any Questions). The Programme Contracts Executive (Robert Gillott) had contacted TSE on 4 Jan.: ‘We understand from Mr Cox that you may wish to be present in the studio during the broadcast of the “Waste Land” programme on Tuesday, January 11th, from 10.15 to 11.0 p.m., and that you may possibly be broadcasting for about five to eight minutes at the end of the programme.’ TSE did not contribute to the broadcast.

Bridson, Prospero and Ariel, 64–5, 67: ‘The only production that I had time to mount in London was a radio dramatisation of The Waste Land, for which I had Eliot’s blessing. So far as I was concerned, this made quite remarkable radio, but I have to confess that Eliot did not share my own enthusiasm for the result. It will be remembered that the substance of the poem, on Eliot’s own showing, is “what Tiresias sees”. As dramatised, the substance of the poem becomes “what Tiresias says”. Apart from his linking narration, therefore, the poem resolved itself into a medley of remembered sounds and voices – the Lithuanian woman, Madame Sosostris, the girl in the pub, and the rest of them. As it transpired, the girl in the pub faced me with my only serious problem; for unlike poor Lil, the BBC flatly refused to swallow any abortion pills. I suddenly found myself under strict orders to omit all mention of them – vital as they were to the argument of the poem! Eliot was so incensed by this ridiculous censorship, that he only allowed the mangled text to go on the air at all out of a friendly feeling for me as producer. But what principally dismayed him about the production was Robert Farquharson’s performance in the key role of Tiresias.

‘Farquharson took to his role of the old man-woman with natural relish; his interpretation gave to it new shades of implication which Eliot little supposed were there. Never was sexual ambivalence heard more convincingly on the air … Even so, an audience of millions accepted The Waste Land on the air with surprising enthusiasm. For one thing, resolution into its different parts made it a great deal easier to follow. The mail which reached me after the broadcast was something of a surprise even to Eliot himself.’

Bridson, D. G. ('Geoffrey'),

1.D. G. BridsonBridson, D. G. ('Geoffrey') (1910–80), dramatist and poet, worked for thirty-five years as one of the most creative writer-producers on BBC Radio, for which he produced two authoritative series, The Negro in America (1964) and America since the Bomb (1966). Early writing figured in Ezra Pound’s Active Anthology (1933), and later books include The Filibuster: A Study of the Political Ideas of Wyndham Lewis (1972) and Prospero and Ariel: The Rise and Fall of Radio (1971).

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), TSE's committee service for, its future discussed, TSE working on autumn programme for, TSE on educational broadcasting in general, Barbara Burnham production of Murder, lobbies TSE for next play, 'The Need for Poetic Drama', Metaphyical poet broadcasts for, 'The Church's Message to the World', Christmas Day 'Cats' broadcast, dramatic Waste Land adaptation, which is censored for broadcast, repeats 'Cats', plays Parsifal on Good Friday, broadcasts Hawkins interview with TSE, 'Towards a Christian Britain', 1941 production of Murder, Eastern Service broadcasts East Coker, broadcasts Webster talk, Tennyson talk, Dry Salvages, Poe talk, Dryden talk, Joyce talk, European Service broadcasts TSE's talk, TSE declines Christmas broadcast for, wants to record 'Milton II', broadcasts TSE's personal poetry selection, broadcasts Gielgud's Family Reunion, marks TSE's 60th birthday, Gielgud Family Reunion repeated, solicits TSE post-Nobel Prize, TSE's EP broadcast for, records TSE reading Ash-Wednesday, floats Reith Lectures suggestion, approaches Marilyn Monroe to star in Fitts's Lysistrata,
Browne, Elliott Martin, meets TSE at Chichester, production of The Rock, meets TSE over possible collaboration, talks over outline of play, meets TSE with Martin Shaw, delighted with Rock choruses, discusses unwritten pageant scenes with TSE, predicament as The Rock's director, well connected in amateur circles, revising into the night with TSE, argues with Shaw at dress-rehearsal, presented to Prince Arthur, honoured by Rock cast-supper, producing Gordon Bottomley's play, speaks at Londonderry House with TSE, 1935 Canterbury Murder in the Cathedral, approached by TSE to 'produce', consulted throughout composition, goes silent, lunches with TSE and Speaight, directs and acts despite illness, pursues London Murder revival, 1935–6 Mercury Theatre Murder revival, engaged as producer by Dukes, keen that EH attend rehearsals, simultaneously part of BBC production, agrees about Speaight's decline, preferred as producer for TSE's next play, and Charles Williams's Cranmer, in which he plays 'the Skeleton', and TSE attend Tenebrae, taken to Cambridge after-feast, producing York Nativity Play, which TSE thinks Giottoesque, at Savile Club Murder dinner, producing Shakespeare's Dream, and Ascent of F6, and Tewkesbury Festival Murder confusion, 1939 production of The Family Reunion, due to be sent script, weighing TSE's proposal that he produce, enthused by script, suggests TSE see Mourning Becomes Electra, against Family Reunion as title, pleased with draft, quizzed on fire-safety, typescript prepared for, new draft submitted to, rewrite waits on, receives new draft, criticisms thereof, reports John Gielgud interest, mediates between Gielgud and TSE, TSE throws over Gielgud for, secures Westminster Theatre production, steps into company breach, then into still-greater breach, and the play's weaknesses, direction of Family Reunion, receives TSE's Shakespeare lectures, 1938 American Murder tour, re-rehearsing actors for, suffers fit of pre-tour gloom, yet to report from Boston, and Tewkesbury pageant, accompanies TSE to La Mandragola, on Family Reunion's future prospects, and possible Orson Welles interest, war leaves at loose end, advises TSE over next play, war work with Pilgrim Players, unavailable for modern-dress Murder, compared to tempter/knight successor, requests Pilgrim Players' play from TSE, New Plays by Poets series, as director, and This Way to the Tomb, and Family Reunion revival, urges TSE to concentrate on theatre, 1946 Mercury Family Reunion revival, in rehearsal, possible revue for Mercury Theatre, and The Lady's Not for Burning, Chairman of the Drama League, 1949 Edinburgh Cocktail Party, to produce, TSE's intended first reader for, receives beginning, approves first act, receives TSE's revisions, communciates Alec Guinness's enthusiasm, arranges reading, surpasses himself with production, in Florence, EH suggests moving on from, and the Poets' Theatre Guild, 1950 Cocktail Party New York transfer, compares Rex Harrison and Alec Guinness, TSE debates whether to continue collaboration with, suggests three-play TSE repertory, 1953 Edinburgh Confidential Clerk, receives first two acts, designing sets, 1953 Lyric Theatre Confidential Clerk, attends with TSE, 1954 American Confidential Clerk, 1954 touring Confidential Clerk, TSE and Martin Browne catch in Golders Green, seeks Family Reunion MS from EH,
see also Brownes, the Martin

4.E. MartinBrowne, Elliott Martin Browne (1900–80), English director and producer, was to direct the first production of Murder in the Cathedral: see Biographical Register.

cheese, chocolate-coloured at Norske Klub, Old Cheshire, which TSE compares to Double Gloucester and Leicester, Wensleydale 'Prince Consort' to 'Queen' Cheshire, cold-curing, smell-restoring Limburger, brie at Prunier's, cheese-eating ruined by perfume, discussed with Hoskyns, TSE's first Old Blue Cottenham, TSE's cheese-counsellor, Port Salut, letter to Times on Stilton, and the privations of war, EH sends TSE for Christmas,
Dukes, Ashley, described by Yeats to TSE, approaches Doone over Mercury Theatre season, lines up Mercury Murder revival, with which he is pleased, his ambitions for Murder, which Brace upsets, instructed as to Murder New York negotiations, hustling in New York, from where he reports, agrees about Speaight's decline, explains miscarriage of 1936 American production, at 100th performance of Murder, latest plans for Murder, revised plans for New York, dares to call TSE in morning, TSE's royalty arrangement with, policing pirate productions of Murder, discusses Murder's America rights, full of grand desgins, takes Browne into partnership, on Murder's Abdication Crisis resonance, among Family Reunion's first readers, plans for Murder, American Murder tour, against Family Reunion as title, pleased with Family Reunion fragment, sent full Family Reunion draft, lets EH down, consulted over Gielgud contract, on Gielgud and Family Reunion, negotiating with Saint-Denis, less persuaded by Family Reunion, optimistic on Family Reunion transfer, instructed on Family Reunion licensing, fields Orson Welles enquiry, suggests wartime Murder revival, which he mounts without consulting TSE, attempting season of miniature operas, submits theatrical reminiscences to TSE, and Murder film rights, book launch for memoirs, reports on TSE's continental productions, gives Garrick Club dinner for TSE, takes full control of Mercury, accompanies TSE to Germany, La Mandragola, The Scene is Changed, Too Many Twins,
see also Dukes, the

4.AshleyDukes, Ashley Dukes (1885–1959), theatre manager, playwright, critic, translator, adapter, author; from 1933, owner of the Mercury Theatre, London: see Biographical Register.

Family Reunion, The, and TSE as Orestes, plot sought for, progress stalled, referred to as 'Orestes play', written against countdown to war, should be artistically a stretch, plot still not settled on, begun, compared to Murder, TSE on writing, described (mid-composition), and Gunn's Carmina Gadelica, described to GCF, EH questions Harry's entrance, draft read to Martin Brownes, projected autumn 1938 production, depletes TSE, and Mourning Becomes Electra, its Greek inheritance, alternatively 'Follow the Furies', first draft promised to EH, as inspired by Tenebrae, being rewritten, work suspended till summer, fair copy being typed, waiting on Browne and Dukes, 'Follow the Furies' quashed by EH, aspires to be Chekhovian, Dukes keen to produce, criticised by Martin Browne, under revision, submitted to EH's theatrical wisdom, for which TSE credits her, possible John Gielgud production, Gielgud-level casting, Browne's final revisions, with the printers, Henry loaned draft, Donat and Saint-Denis interested, in proof, progress towards staging stalled, Saint-Denis interest tempered, possible Tyrone Guthrie production, possible limited Mercury run, its defects, publication scheduled, first draft sent to EH, Michael Redgrave interested in, March 1939 Westminster Theatre production, waits on terms, rehearsals for, which are photographed, opening night contemplated without EH, last-minute flutters, opening night, reception, coming off, TSE's final visit to, Dukes bullish on New York transfer, EH spurs TSE's reflections on, and Otway's Venice Preserv'd, American reception, and Orson Welles, F&F's sales, 1940 American production, Henry harps on the personal aspect, its cheerfulness, EH acknowledges part in, 1943 ADC production, in Dadie Rylands's hands, described, certain lines expressing TSE's frustrations, EH discusses with pupils, plays in Zurich, 1946 Birmingham production, 1946 Mercury revival, rehearsals for, opening night, TSE attends again in company, Spanish translation of, VHE's death calls to mind, its deficiencies, BBC Gielgud broadcast version, first aired, to be repeated, goes nominally with The Cocktail Party, Swedish National Theatre production, compared to Cocktail Party, EH's response to, more 'personal' than Cocktail Party, performed in Göttingen, 1950 Düsseldorf production, 1953 New York production vetoed, 1956 Phoenix Theatre revival, described, Peter Brook congratulated on, Martin Browne seeks MS of,
Murder in the Cathedral, idea for initially suggested by Laurence Irving, offered to Martin Browne, St. Thomas as TSE's muse, TSE on writing, tentatively, 'The Archbishop Murder Case', uncertainties over title, currently 'Fear in the Way', which proves unpopular, TSE on rewriting, title settled on, final revisions for printer, tentatively critiqued by EH, and EH on TSE as dramatist, chorus copied for EH, Virginia Woolf's aspersions on, the form of its choruses, defended from obscurity, did not test TSE's plotting, book-sales to-date, $1,000 offered for American rights, pays for 1936 American trip, Italian and Hungarian rights sold, and Whiggery, Savile Club dinner to celebrate, compared to next play, discrepancies of Canterbury Text, Martin Browne's initial response to, TSE recognised as author of, TSE on its cheerful title, EH on, abandoned Mercury Theatre premiere, suggested by Yeats and Doone, in the offing, and Doone's response to first draft, EH requested at, imperilled, text copied for Yeats, 1935 Canterbury Festival production, in rehearsal, opening night, reception, final performance, and EH's response, 1935–6 Mercury Theatre revival, Martin Browne pushing for, in rehearsal, which EH attends, compared to Canterbury original, at the box-office, its 100th performance, still running, proposed tour to end, 1936 BBC radio version, BBC bid to produce, broadcast fixed, BBC memo on, in rehearsal, TSE on, abortive 1936 New York transfer, Dukes visits America to arrange, blighted by Brace's actions, quashed by Federal Theatre production, its usurper founders, deferred to autumn, unsolicited 1936 New York production, licensed by Brace, to be directed by Rice, seemingly withdrawn, Rice resigns from, delights EH and Eleanor Hinkley, TSE sent press-cuttings for, EH reports on, TSE speculates as to textual discrepancies, attended by Eleanor Roosevelt, extended and potentially expanded, TSE to the Transcript on, may predispose immigration authorities favourably in future, royalties from, 1936 University College, Dublin student production, described by TSE, rumoured Australian and American productions, 1936 Gate Theatre touring production, TSE's long-held wish, scheduled, 1936 touring production, due at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, as it was played in Cambridge, 1936 America pirate production, 1937 Duchess Theatre West End transfer, date fixed for, announced in Times, dress-rehearsal attended, reception, reviewed, royalties, still playing, ticket sales pick up, coming to an end, receives royal visit, 1937 touring production, scheduled post-Duchess, beginning in Leeds, then Manchester, going strong, 1937 Harvard University production, 1937 Amherst College production, singled out for praise, 1937 Old Vic production, touring production arrived at, in rehearsal, 1937 Tewkesbury Drama Festival production, 1938 American tour, projected for January 1937, said date seconded by Dukes, deferred to September 1937, confirmed again by Dukes, pre-tour dates in Golders Green, then Liverpool, opening in Boston in January, over which EH is consulted, tour itinerary, Family Reunion keeps TSE from, preparatory re-rehearsal for, pre-crossing Liverpool dates, EH's judgement desired, EH reports on first night, reviewed in The Times, EH sends New York cuttings, prematurely transferred to New York, Dukes reports on, Westminster Cathedral Hall charity performance, 1940 Latham Mercury revival, revival suggested in rep with Family Reunion, wartime modern-dress production suggested, ambushes TSE, in rehearsal, first night, reviewed, Browne's wartime Pilgrim Players' adaptation, Hoellering film, Hoellering's initial approach made, Hoellering's vision for, TSE adapting for screen, reconnoitre of Canterbury for, casting Becket, recording made for, development process described to NYT, non-actor found for Becket, screenings of Groser, set-dressing, screening, approaching release, still in the edit, final screening, and Venice Film Festival, seeking distribution, soon to premiere, opens, initial reception, circulating in shortened version, 1945 Théâtre du Vieux Colombier production, compared to Martin Browne's, royalties, apparently a hit, reviewed, reaches 150 performances, Fluchère's involvement, 1946 German production, 1947 Edinburgh Festival production, 1948 Milton Academy production, 1949 broadcast, 1949 Berlin production, politically resonant, 1952 University of Rennes, Grand Théâtre abridgment, 1952 Théatre National Populaire production, 1953 Old Vic revival, waiting on Donat, TSE on, 1954 Harvard production,
Perkins, Edith (EH's aunt), her relationship to EH queried, to accompany EH to Scripps, asks TSE to dinner, at first Norton lecture, shares pew with TSE, accompanies TSE to Symphony Concert, in audience at Milton Academy, catches cold in Florence, in TSE's private opinion, TSE's occasional poem for, her relationship with EH analysed, dislikes Jeanette McPherrin, explains EH's breakdown to TSE, on the Harvard Murder, as Campden hostess, and TSE's wartime instructions to EH, gives lunch at American Women's Club, gives TSE balsam pillow, requests English edition of Cats, as horticulturalist, without Campden garden, compared to Irene Hale, gives TSE photograph of EH, attends Ada's funeral, reports on EH's Millbrook situation, pressed for ham and pineapple recipe, sight affected in one eye, gives lecture, sight failing, sight deteriorates in other eye, thanked for 1946 hospitality, gives to Books Across the Sea, according to EH, asks TSE to present slides to RHS, which TSE does, on EH and TSE's relationship, and Hidcote House, friendly with Marion, TSE pitches her book to publishers, depressed by the heat, somewhat recovered, approaching 80th, faced with husband's death, letter of condolence to, sent birthday poem, visited in Boston, has sciatica, reports on EH's dramatic activities, Miss Lavorgna on, in her old-age infirmity, suffers 'shock', sacks nurse, EH preserved from, sends funeral tribute to Cousin Will, and the Hale letters, nursing home sought for, moved into nursing home, where TSE writes to her, suffers stroke, deteriorating, relations with EH, her legacy to EH,
see also Perkinses, the
poetry, the danger of illustrating, versus the law, as career path, as social construct, as against didacticism, as redefined by Sweeney Agonistes, TSE on his oeurvre, TSE's own reasons for writing, TSE doubts his own, TSE's unrecorded epigram on, TSE on his own, and the importance of models, relieves TSE's longing for EH, nonsense poetry, versus drama, and TSE's new drawing-desk, and theatre-going audiences, and the dissimulation of feeling, TSE on writing after long intermission, jealousy among poets, and personal experience, TSE's defended from EH's charge of 'futility', and emotion, and marriage to VHE, and varieties of audience,
Roberts, Michael, sketched in thumbnail, reviews Collected Poems, introduces radio Waste Land, described for EH, EH interests herself in, singles out Burnt Norton, asks TSE to be godfather, fingered for TSE's mentor role, recommended for EH's 'criticism' course, working for BBC, resemblance to wife, assists TSE in judging translations, at Norwegian diplomatic dinner, makes way for TSE's broadcast, terminally ill, dies of leukaemia, The Modern Mind, New Signatures, T. E. Hulme,
see also Robertses, the

1.MichaelRoberts, Michael Roberts (1902–48), critic, editor, poet: see Biographical Register.

Speaight, Robert, singled out as Malvolio, chats to TSE at OM's, talked through part of Becket by TSE, excited at TSE's dramatic ambitions, never happier on stage, committed to Mercury Murder revival, unimprovable as Becket, in Mercury Theatre production, issues TSE with Irish introductions, his performance agreed to be going stale, at 100th performance of Murder, cast in Williams's Cranmer, his Becket critiqued by Tandy, as Becket, records Becket's sermon, which TSE is against, at post-performance feast in Cambridge, better as Cranmer than Becket, sermon reblocked for Duchess Theatre, at Savile Club Murder dinner, and the royal visit, becoming conceited, performance pruned in re-rehearsal, problems with his performance persist, in EH's report, compared to Robert Sansom, broadcasts East Coker, gives small dinner at Garrick, swoops on Shamley to record TSE, discounted from film of Murder, complains and is disingenuously soothed, as Elijah in Nicholson's debut, attends Family Reunion with TSE, still playing Becket, misrepresents TSE's views, in Belgium, ruined by Becket, in The Confidential Clerk,

2.RobertSpeaight, Robert Speaight (1904–77), actor, producer and author, was to create the role of Becket in Murder in the Cathedral in 1935: see Biographical Register.

Waste Land, The, once seemed like a consummation, those lines addressed to EH, the figure of 'Marie', and TSE's stay at Lausanne, where it was mostly written, TSE forced to recite at garden-party, TSE recites at Wellesley, TSE on his recording of, TSE relives 'Hyacinth girl' episode, compared to Burnt Norton, dramatised for broadcast, Bridson on 'dramatised' broadcast, referenced by Lord Halifax, TSE reads 'What the Thunder Said' before the Queen, read at Harvard,