Ralph Fiennes pictured at the Abbey Theatre for the T. S. Eliot Lecture 2024.
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Photography: Conor Healy / Picture It Photography
Actor Ralph Fiennes delivered a reading of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin yesterday as part of the annual TS Eliot Lecture.
As well as the reading, Fiennes (61) discussed the American-born poet’s works.
Four Quartets is lauded as the culminating achievement of Eliot’s poetic career, a meditation in time of war on the spiritual and philosophical themes that preoccupied him. It is also considered to be his most intensely personal work.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of its first publication as a single volume in 1944.
British actor Fiennes, who spoke to Irish actor Ingrid Craigie on stage, first familiarised himself with Four Quartets during his childhood, part of which was spent in Ireland.
In 2020, he committed its near-1,000 lines to memory during lockdown. When restrictions were lifted, he embarked on a UK tour concluding with six weeks in London’s West End.
After yesterday’s reading, Fiennes and Craigie discussed Four Quartets and the relationship between performer and work, as well as the challenges of poetic performance.
This year’s lecture was introduced by journalist and editor Catherine Heaney, who is the daughter of the late Irish poet Seamus Heaney.
The lecture has been presented at the Abbey Theatre since 2016. It is inspired by Eliot’s legacy and impact on modern literature.
Previous speakers included Paul Muldoon, Steven Pinker, Samantha Power, Sean Scully, Edna O’Brien, Es Devlin, Sally Rooney and Jeanette Winterson.
