The Inn at the End of the Valley
a new play by Peter Jackson.
Matthew has left the theatre group to start with Anna the ‘Inn at the end of the Valley, a retreat where people of all ages are welcome to come, contemplate and perhaps find new impulses on their way forward through life. The Theatre Company that Matthew has left has itself come to an impasse in its task of producing Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Plays and is contemplating producing a new play that has its roots still in the four mystery plays. John has a more radical approach and has a new play set in the present time. Matthew and Anna invite the theatre group to the ‘Inn’ in the hope that they will find a way out of their impasse. They join in with the activities that are part of life at the Inn and Hugh, the company’s director, rekindles the enthusiasm that was once there when Matthew and he had first started the Theatre Company. The voices of Lucifer and Ahriman are heard expressing the dangers that exist for them. Intertwined, there are scenes where we are given insights into Matthew’s biography both in his present and former lives. The play concludes with a rehearsal of the seventh scene of the Portal on Initiation, the first of Steiner’s plays, which the Company has been asked to perform. Theodora, a seeress, gives the painter Johannes insights into his own destiny with Maria, and Benedictus, their teacher, implores them to recognise the power that love has in human lives. Maria’s Soul forces are represented by silent eurythmy.
In a poetic epilogue Matthew comes to the realisation of how his biography has been working throughout his own lives, both past and present.
The inn at the end of the valley was first performed in Järna at the Kulturhuset on 25 July 2023
There were two performances in the Schreinerei at the Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland on Friday 22 September 2023 and Saturday 23 September 2023