RICHARD HOLLOWAY, the former Episcopal Bishop of Edinburgh, is to play the murdered Catholic saint Thomas Becket on stage, claiming he can identify with the character’s struggle with authority.

Holloway, who has called for the legalisation of cannabis and brothels and is a passionate advocate of gay rights, will play the former Archbishop of Canterbury in a reading of TS Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral at the Edinburgh Fringe festival next month.

Becket was elevated to the post of archbishop by King Henry II in 1161 but soon earned his displeasure by standing up for the church against the throne.

In 1170, after several years exile in France, Becket returned to England and was assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights who believed the king wanted him dead, after he reportedly declared: “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?”

Eliot’s verse drama was first performed in 1935, when Hitler’s rise to power in Germany raised similar questions about individuals resisting the state.

“I don’t think I can identify with Thomas Becket, [but] I can maybe identify with his struggle,” said Holloway. “When I was bishop, I came to mistrust all power, including spiritual power, because often, that power is not any better than secular power.”

Now chair of Scottish Screen and a director of the Centre of Contemporary Arts in Glasgow, Holloway was the Bishop of Edinburgh in the Scottish Episcopal Church from 1986 until his resignation in 2000, and was frequently criticised for his liberal views on sex and drugs.

“I have been stabbed in the back before, so I suppose it makes a change to be stabbed in the front this time.”

The 74-year-old will perform as part of an amateur cast in six shows at the city’s Old St Paul’s Church organised by two of his fellow churchgoers, producer Janet de Vigne and director Catherine Butler-Burns.

Holloway previously played Becket in a reading at the same venue in the 1970s.

“There were still some people there who remembered my performance. They approached me and asked whether, if they found people to take part, I would play Becket again, and I said ‘sure’.”

Times Recommends

• DIY video helps the WI get to grips with sex
• Artists urge nation to save Titians
• Go home, Iraqi leader tells Britain