Pageant waggons return for York Mystery Plays with free festival of theatre in the city streets

Then as a morning crowd gathers, performers will burst forth tomorrow, sharing old tales in a traditional manner.

This is York Mystery Plays, a Mediaeval custom that dates back to the 13th century, revived by city Guilds and Companies and with hundreds of volunteers.

What it makes for is live moving theatre in dramatic display, as performers take to stages for a celebration of heritage.

Eight plays are to be performed on pageant waggons at four different sites, from what was once 48 texts that told a Christian history of the world.

In Medieval times, these types of plays would have been performed all over the country, said Roger Lee, director of the York Festival Trust. Now, there is only York.

“They are a little time machine, in a way,” he mused.

“It’s the same practice and traditions, people speaking the same words, and in the same places all these hundreds of years later. There is a real resonance to it.

“It’s almost inexplicable - why this has survived is not immediately clear,” he added. “Such a large proportion of the people of York are excited to get involved.

“Some come to this from a faith background, but a lot don’t. It’s about giving people a link to their heritage - to their city. And in quite an extraordinary way.”

Plays such as these, depicting events from the Bible, would have been a way to share stories in 13th century York, and were strongly linked to the city’s trade Guilds.

Disappearance and revival

Then, under reformation in the 1500s, they vanished.

There were revivals - for an historic pageant in 1909, and then in fixed stage productions at the Museum Gardens, Theatre Royal and even York Minster.

It wasn’t until 1994, when theatre historian Jane Oakshott approached the city Guilds to insist they retake their heritage, that it returned to its roots once more.

Now these plays “belong” on pageant waggons in the city streets, Mr Lee said, and they return for the seventh time from tomorrow on a four-yearly cycle.

Over set days until next Sunday, they will be performed for free at three sites in the city, and at a fourth with tickets on sale, as well as Midsummer evening events.

Mystery Plays

The waggons have been painted, costumes made, scripts memorised and a cast prepared by directors. Waggons will arrive at College Green early in the morning, before the first play begins at 11am. Then it moves on, pushed through the streets, and the second one starts.

Once again, the city’s Guilds and Companies lead, paired with performers.

There’s the butchers, the mariners, the cordwainers and merchant adventurers, tailors, scriveners and those representing building or the arts. It takes hundreds of volunteers.

To Mr Lee, these plays in the early days were a “huge expression” not just of piety and faith but of creative pride and responsibility.

Now, he said, it’s created a “huge community of communities”.

“I don’t think there is anything like it, anywhere else,” he said. “It’s these historic settings - so quintessentially York.

“Yes, they are Bible stories, but the themes they cover are universal and always relevant. And the fact that it’s moving is what makes it exciting, and a bit unpredictable at times.

“This, to me, is York’s true identity - with people who care about their city and this artistic expression of civic pride.”

Events

York Mystery Plays return over two Sundays, tomorrow and next week on June 26.

Starting at 11am at College Green, before moving on to St Sampsons and then St Helens Square, they are free to watch at these venues, while tickets are on sale for King's Manor.

Special Midsummer performances will also be held on Wednesday and Thursday evening in the Market Place at the Shambles, featuring five of the eight Mystery Plays.

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