CHESTER Cathedral’s cloisters was transported back to the Jacobean times for a theatre company and film crew.

Chester-based professional theatre company Theatre in the Quarter has been filming scenes for their forthcoming professional production called James.

Commissioned by the King James Bible Trust and supported by Arts Council England, Cheshire West and Chester Council and Chester Literature Festival, James is a new musical play which is being piloted in Chester as part of the literature festival. The intention is for the play to tour more widely next year, marking the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

The film element of the play is being shot in a number of locations, including Chester Cathedral, and will be used during the production.

On Wednesday (August 18) Theatre in the Quarter’s Artistic Director Matt Baker, a film crew from Staffordshire University Film and Media Department, a host of Theatre in the Quarter community actors and professional actor Michael Cole filmed some of the dream sequences for the production in the cloisters of the Cathedral.

Matt said: “King James is such an interesting character, because he is constantly fearful of attempts on his life. The dark shadowy world of the gun powder plot is the underlying theme in this production.

“The cathedral is a great building to film in and perfect for the production.”

Theatre in the Quarter is very much a community based company and all the actors apart from Michael Cole are from the local area.

Matt said: “Our aim is to get local people involved in the theatre and we focus on taking actors from the Chester area. Our community choir will also be the chorus for this production.

“This is a high quality production which aims to show off high quality local talent.”

See next week’s Chronicle for an exclusive interview with the show’s star.