05/11/2010

A partnership comprising Riding Lights Theatre Company, York Theatre Royal and York Museums Trust, working together with the City of York Council are delighted to confirm that the York Mystery Plays will be returning to the York Museum Gardens in August 2012.

In the fourteenth century from sunrise to sunset on Corpus Christi day, the Mystery Plays traveled through the streets of York on wagons, stopping to perform to gathered audiences at various ‘stations'.  The plays were revived in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain when, for the first time, they were performed in the ruins of St Mary's Abbey in the Museum Gardens.  The plays continued to be performed every four years in the Gardens until 1988 after which the Plays moved to York Theatre Royal.  The last full-scale production was the acclaimed Millennium Mystery Plays in 2000 at York Minster which was performed to more than 28,000 people.

The vision of the joint Artistic Directors for the 2012 production, Paul Burbridge (Riding Lights) and Damian Cruden (York Theatre Royal) is for a Community Festival throughout the city, with the centrepiece being the return of the Mystery Plays to the Museum Gardens. In a joint statement, Damian Cruden and Paul Burbridge said: "Our vision is to create a bold, exhilarating piece of story-telling theatre on an operatic scale. To re-invigorate the tradition and the language and make these plays accessible to a modern audience.  We want to stage the Mystery Plays in a way that resonates with both past and present and appeals to those of religious faith or none. Above all, to bring an extraordinary and passionate performance out of our community, resourced with the highest aesthetic and production values. We want to remind everyone that the ownership of this remarkable tradition rests with the people of York."