Actor Barnaby Waters in action as George Fox. Photo: Courtesy of Berry Dicker.Historical reenactment in Lichfield
Historical reenactment in Lichfield
A reenactment of George Fox’s first visit to Lichfield took place last month
More than 100 people viewed a reenactment of George Fox’s first visit to Lichfield in its market square last month.
The half-hour play was a historical reenactment of an event in 1651 when the Quaker co-founder denounced the city. It was staged in celebration of the 400th anniversary of his birth.
Berry Dicker, from Lichfield Meeting, who wrote the script, told the Friend: ‘George Fox visited Lichfield in 1651 on his way from Derby Prison, where he was imprisoned after an argument with a magistrate, and he came down what is now the A38. The story goes that, as he was wandering the open fields, he saw the spires of Lichfield and was compelled to visit and preach. He made his way over open countryside, astonishing local shepherds by stopping to give them his shoes. Nobody knows why, but he thought he saw rivers of blood and went around saying: “Woe unto the bloody city of Lichfield!” But, instead of silencing and shunning him, the people of Lichfield reacted with concern and kindness following his long incarceration. Most people think it was an hallucination, but Fox later said it was a vision based on the death of martyrs. There were martyrs killed in Lichfield.’
Lichfield Meeting wanted to do something to both commemorate Fox400, and for ‘peace and outreach’, so they contacted David Titley, a theatre director who organises reenactments of Samuel Johnson, who has a museum about him in the city. ‘David Titley deserves a lot of credit because he took the whole thing from the script to a full-bodied performance in the market square,’ said Berry Dicker. ‘George Fox was played by Barnaby Waters, from Central England Area Meeting, and there were other excellent actors, including a town crier who introduced the play and spoke at the end.’
The play started with music, ‘It’s a gift to be simple’, with the actors walking in and singing by St Mary’s church.
‘George Fox was in a bit of a state,’ added Berry. ‘Some people think he had PTSD at that time, so it was very difficult to know how to draw it back from a focus on him, being in that condition, to general Quaker values. So the last bit was a wider look at Quakerism and included some Advices & queries and Quaker text.’
Fox’s visit to Lichfield is commemorated by a plaque in Market Square and a painting currently hanging in The Hub at St Mary’s. A video of the reenactment should soon be available on Staffordshire Area Meeting’s website.
