“My uncle was a Benedictine abbot at Douai. I was named after him and really admired Uncle Greg. When he died, I thought he had protected any sense of faith I had had. "

SOON AFTER the death of the actor Antony Sher, his husband of 35 years, the acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director, Greg Doran, found himself in Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral, mother church of the diocese in which he grew up Catholic. Sitting there as the light flooded in through the crowning lantern of this extraordinary building, he was recalling the day in 1967 he had visited it for the first time, on a pilgrimage from their home in Preston with his parents and siblings, and christened it the “concrete shuttlecock”.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

REGISTER

Subscribe for unlimited access

SUBSCRIBE NOW

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login