The Mystery Plays

History of Performances
Copy Supplied By the York Guilds

The Passion Plays of England are some of the oldest pieces of English literature. They were performed on the streets of our medieval cities on the church Feast Day of Corpus Christi, around midsummer.
The best preserved of these religious pageant performances are those of York which were staged by members of the City Guilds and performed on carts or wagons drawn through the streets. Each craft guild or 'mysterie' would perform its own play as part of an agreed cycle which would take a full day to view at various stations throughout the City.
The first recorded performance was in 1376. Performances continued every year for 200 years until suppressed by the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
Revived in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain, they were performed for many years in the Museum Gardens, with the last production there in the 1980s. Productions took place in the Theatre Royal and the Minster Production in 2000 was a ‘one-off' highly successful event organised for the Millennium and was specially written for the occasion.
Since 1992 there have been performances of the Plays in the streets of York, both on wagons and as ‘processional' plays.
In 1994 the seven York Guilds and Companies funded and took part in a production on wagons and began to establish a four-yearly cycle of Plays. In 1998 the Guilds again helped fund and facilitate a much larger event.
In 2002, to much popular, academic and critical acclaim, the Guilds took full control of a large scale production of the plays on wagons performed on various locations throughout the City, which involved people from a wide cross-section of the community and the open-air performances harked back to the original spectacle of the medieval Corpus Christi day festivities.
The Guilds again raised substantial sponsorship for the 2006 production. Without question, the Mystery Plays are integral to the culture and of historic significance in the City of York. This is an important event in the city's overall calendar and it is the Guilds' intention to continue with a four yearly cycle of productions.
The York Evening Press ran a campaign to revive a static production which unfortunately did not succeed, however, there is hope that there may be another production in York Minster in 2010. Meanwhile the Guilds of York are the only active group producing York Mystery Plays in the City.
The Plays are steeped in history, have a Christian message, are full of pageantry, have great educational value, and are part of the tourism product of the City of York. The plays benefit the residents of the City and visitors alike with their drama and costume, plus the bringing together of people from many walks of life in their planning and production. The Plays presented in this traditional manner have received considerable acclaim from overseas.

The Guilds' production is truer in spirit to both the medieval original and the 1950s revival. No-one owns the York Mystery Plays, but the Guilds have the greatest claim to be their guardians. The last Mystery Plays were staged in July 2006 - the next quadrennial performance will be in 2010.

The Mystery plays will be returning to Museum Gardens in 2012, it will be the first full-scale production of the plays in the Gardens for over twenty years! The project is a joint venture between The York Theatre Royal, Riding Lights Theatre Company and the York Museum Trust. For more information contact:....

Mystery Plays of 2006

The Passion Plays of England are some of the oldest pieces of English literature. They were performed on the streets of our medieval cities on the church Feast Day of Corpus Christi, around midsummer. The first recorded performance was in 1376. Performances continued every year for 200 years until suppressed by the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
The best preserved of these religious pageant performances are those of York which were staged by members of the City Guilds and performed on carts or wagons drawn through the streets. Each craft guild or 'mysterie' would perform its own play as part of an agreed cycle which would take a full day to view at various stations throughout the City. Since 1992 there have been performances of the Plays in the streets of York, both on wagons and as ‘processional' plays.
The Guilds of York staged the latest quadrennial performance of the Mystery Plays in on Sunday 9th and 16th July 2006 in the city centre. Launched to coincide with Easter, the 2006 Mystery Plays included a graphic scene of the Crucifixion plus the recreation of twelve of the plays to be staged at four sites around the City and following medieval procedures, the stage sets are built onto wagons. The wagons are pushed through the streets, stopping at several places.
2006 focused on education, experience and the opportunity for ordinary people to become involved with experienced actors to recreate these medieval ‘mysteries'. Without question, the Mystery Plays are integral to the culture and of historic significance in the City of York. The plays benefit the residents of the City and visitors alike with their drama and costume, plus the bringing together of people from many walks of life in their planning and production. The Plays presented in this traditional manner have received considerable acclaim from overseas.

The Plays in the 2006 production were:
1) The Fall of the Angels
2) The Creation of the World
3) The Creation and Fall of Man
4) Herod and The Magi
5) Christ and The Doctors
6) The Temptation
7) The Entry into Jerusalem
8) The Crucifixion
9) The Harrowing of Hell
10) The Resurrection and meeting with Mary Magdalene
11) Pentecost
12) The Last Judgement
For more information, please contact: John Gallery Tel: 07967 032623. Fax: 01904 607432 Email: johngallery@greatpotential.co.uk Website: www.yorkmysteryplays.org

Mystery Plays 2010

The 2010 production again fill the City streets with drama and spectacle, offering a truly unique experience for local and visitor alike. The plays were performed on wagons at various locations throughout the City, on Sunday 11th July and Sunday 18th July 2010.
On 2 consecutive Sundays 12 plays were performed on wagons moving through the City streets accompanied by music - a colour and vivid spectacle.
They stopped and performed at 4 different stations:
11th July - Deans Park, College Green, Parliament Street, Eye of York.
18th July - Deans Park College Green, St. Sampson Square, Museum Gardens.
The production involved over 500 local people in various roles.

The Plays in the 2010 production were:
1) Creation of the Fifth Day
2) The Expulsion of Adam and Eve with Cain and Abel
3) Abraham and Isaac
4) Joseph's Troubles with Mary
5) Massacre of the Innocents
6) The Transfiguration
7) The Agony in the Garden
8) The Dream of Pilate's Wife
9) The Road to Calvary
10) The Crucifixion/Death of Christ
11) The Incredulity of Thomas
12) The Last Judgment

Mystery Plays 2012

2 - 27 August 2012
The world famous York Mystery Plays are set to make a return to their original setting in Museum Gardens in the summer of 2012. The Passion Plays of England are some of the oldest pieces of English literature. They were performed on the streets of Britain's medieval cities on the church Feast Day of Corpus Christi, around midsummer. This spectacular production is returning to York in a joint production from York Theatre Royal, Riding Lights Theatre Company and York Museums Trust.

York Mystery plays have a very historic tradition and have been performed in York since the middle of the fourteenth century until 1569, suppressed in the Tudor times and resurrected when published in 1885. Large scale productions then began in 1951 on a 10 year cycle. The original production in 1951 was in Museum Gardens against St Mary's Abbey, so York Theatre Royal's production in 2012 is taking these historic plays back to its famous setting.

There are only four cities in the UK that do the cycles historically and York is the most famous one. This production will be one of the biggest, most historic theatre productions in the country, staged outdoors in the Museum Gardens against the backdrop of medieval St Mary's Abbey.

A manuscript of the York Plays dating back to 1463 still survives in the British Library.

Past performers of the York Mysteries have included Judi Dench (launching her career), David Bradley (playing Jesus in 1976), Christopher Timothy (Jesus in 1980), Simon Ward, Robson Green

Press contact: Rebecca Storey, Press and Media Manager, Tel: 01904 550149, Email Rebecca.storey@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Mystery Play - Yorkwalk

A walk following in the steps of the medieval Mystery Plays, following the exact route of the pageant wagons. Also visits to churches to see what medieval man thought God, angels, saints and devils looked like and to the Halls of the medieval Guilds, which staged the Plays. For more information see the Mystery Plays factsheet

This section of the fact sheet has been provided by YorkWalk. Established in 1990, YorkWalk offers a programme of themed walking tours of York throughout the year. This information is intended to assist journalists with information on different York themes and has been written to give a flavour of York's themed walking tours.
Other tours include the Historic Toilet Tour, the Graveyard, Coffin and Plague tour, the Guy Fawkes Trail and the Bloody Execution Tour...to name just a few. Tel: 01904 622303, www.yorkwalk.co.uk

The Guilds
Mystery - Mastery in Craft
Guilds grew up from 13th century as religious confraternities, and later turned into Trade Guilds, e.g. Guild of John the Baptist became Taylors. Four Guilds had their own Halls - Merchants, Taylors, Butchers and Haberdashers, the rest shared common halls like the present Guildhall and St. Anthony's Hall (Borthwick).
Each Guild performed a play; the number varied from 47 to 57.
The themes often reflected the Guild's trade.
Shiprights - Building of the Ark
Fishers and Mariners - Noah's Ark
Vintners and Taverners - Wedding at Cana (Water into Wine)
Bakers - Last Supper
Sausemakers - Death of Judes (his intestines spilled out!)
Butchers - Massacre of Innocents
Goldsmiths - Three Kings
Merchants - Last Judgement

All Saints, North Street
Its medieval Hammberbeam roof with Angels playing musical instruments and Stained Glass Windows is exceptional - this illustrates how the mediaeval citizens viewed the appearance of Christ, his Angels and Saints and gives a clue to costumes. There are also representations of the donors, the sort of people who financed and watched the plays.

Occasion of Play
Originally religious plays connected with the Feast of Corpus Christi, which was late May/early June depending on the date of Easter. This was a celebration of the Consecrated Host, and was first ordained in 1264. The Feast was first celebrated in York in 1325, and the plays seem to have grown up and been written down in the 14th century. The Corpus Christi Guild dates to 1408. The City Council controlled the plays, though they were put on by individual guilds. The council charged wealthy citizens for the privilege of having a ‘station' by their house so the citizen could erect stands and charge people to sit in them to watch, or view the plays from an upper window.
The plays became suspect after the Reformation (1527-1558) and were last performed in 1569. They were revived for the Festival of Britain in 1951, and performed in the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey every four years or so until 1988; in 1992 they were performed in the Theatre Royal for the first time. Each year has seen wagon plays in the streets, notably in 1988, 1992, 1994 and July 2006.

Performance
The Pageant wagons and props were stored in sheds on Toft Green, which was an open field then used for practicing Archery. The first performance of the first play - ‘The Creation' - was at Dawn at Holy Trinity Priory Gates, Micklegate. Each play was performed there and at each subsequent station in turn, ending with the Last Judgement at about noon at Holy Trinity Gates. The last performance of the Creation must have been at about 2pm at Pavement, and the last performance of the Last Judgement at Sunset at Pavement.
The actors were all men or boys, and amateurs, though occasionally professionals took some roles. The play was in Middle English, with some songs in Latin.

From Holy Trinity Priory the plays then went down Micklegate, over old Ouse Bridge, along Coney St to:
The Guildhall
This is a 15th century Hall from 1447/8 for Guilds of St Christopher and St George, which were suppressed at Reformation. It was also used as a Common Hall for various trade guilds and by the City Council. In 1483 Richard III was entertained here on his first visit as King. It was bombed out in 1942 and rebuilt. The timbers of oak and the stained glass window showing the history of York are noteworthy.

Stonegate
One station mid-way, one at Minster Gates. Mulberry Hall (1434) a good example of a rich merchants house, from which you could watch the plays.
Deviate via Barley Hall to see a house of c.1360, restored to late 15th century appearance.

Pavement
So called because it was the first paved street in York, from the early 14th century. The last performance of the plays took place here.
Go and look at Merchant Adventurers' Hall of 1357, another good example of Guildhall, and late 12th century sanctuary doorknocker of All Saints Pavement Church, which represents the Jaws of Hell swallowing up the Sinner as at Last Judgement.

For any further information and your free guide to York, please contact: York Visitor Information Centre, Tel: 01904 550099, email: info@visityork.org or visit the website at www.visityork.org.