Murder In The Cathedral by T.S. Elliot Murder in the Cathedral is a poetic drama by T.S. Eliot that portrays the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. This play deals with themes of individual opposition to authority through a highly poetic text. To emphasize the dramatic quality of both the themes and the text, I chose to represent the play in a equally symbolic, equally dramatic Appian, form. Depicted here are experiments with light on the half-inch scale model to show for evocative the simple manipulation of shadow can be, and how it might help tell the story.