THE PASSION OF WILLIAM TYNDALE: martyr for free speech

2011: the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible, cultural monument, the book of consolation even in a secular age

I have written a play about the life and death of William Tyndale, the first man to translate the New Testament into English from the original Greek, and who also translated important portions of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew. It is claimed that perhaps 70 to 80 per cent of the King James Version New Testament is Tyndale's and it is perhaps only now that his place in English literature is being recognized. 2011, the 400th anniversary of the King James Version, is a good moment to reflect on the man - his scholarship, his brilliance with English words and the cruel and unjust manner of his death, a true Passion.

In recognition of this, the play is called 'The Passion of William Tyndale' and explores the relationship between Archbishop Cranmer, who trimmed his way through the reign of King Henry VIII (a prototype of Stalin?) and in commissioning the 1539 translation of the Bible must have known and approved of Tyndale's work, even if officially Tyndale had been 'unpersonned', that is to say erased from the record. It also explores the relationship between Tyndale and Pierre Dufief, Procurator General of the Netherlands, who imprisoned and interrogated Tyndale before finally strangling him at the stake in 1536 in a very public execution. All this takes place in the cruel world of the powerful, of political intrigue, and of spies - everywhere. 

What I have written may not be great play-writing, but it is necessary drama that brings to the fore a story that ought to be far better known. Of course, give me the tools and I could make a film of it worthy of Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc and Bresson's Trial of Joan of Arc - and of the best of film noir.

Intrigued? Here is a pdf of the play (58 pages long, 525 kb) for you to download and read at your leisure.

Plaudits, criticisms, complaints even can be sent to me at: cawkwell200@gmail.com.

January 2011