YORK residents in the Middle Ages may not have had the Theatre Royal, the Grand Opera House or the Barbican Centre, but they staged their very own theatrical performances. The Corpus Christi plays were the biggest dramatic representation and formed the origin of The York Mystery Plays.
The first performance we know of was recorded in Archbishop William Melton’s register of 1322.
They were an all-day affair, performed on the Feast of Corpus Christi, which usually fell in June. At first, these religious scenes and tableaux were presented inside churches as teaching aids for a largely illiterate citizenry.
1980: York Mystery Plays, busker, Vic Ellis entertains crowds in Kings Square gathered for one of the wagon plays. YEP PIC.
And with the passing of time, the performances grew in popularity although they were becoming increasingly raucous. It was felt that the performances overshadowed the religious messages they were supposed to convey. The plays continued to be performed in the city’s churchyards but eventually moved out onto the streets of York.
Responsibility for producing the plays fell to the 60 or so guilds of the city. These guilds were a cross between our modern-day trade unions and benevolent societies. They strictly controlled which craftsmen could work in which trade, and there were sometimes rivalries and overlaps in the work done by members of different guilds. And that’s where the Corpus Christi plays got the name of Mystery Plays. The word ‘mystery’ is derived from the French word métier or occupation.
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There were originally 48 separate scenarios making up York Mystery Plays, and the actors were mostly York citizens. Each craft guild was responsible for staging one or more of the scenes. For example, The Shipwrights’ Guild took charge of The Building of the Ark. The Fishers and Mariners staged The Flood and the Tile Thatchers, the Nativity.
The performance of the first scenario always took place outside the entrance to Holy Trinity Priory in Micklegate. Subsequent scenarios were staged simultaneously at 12 different stations across York, though precise locations could vary.
John Speed’s 1610 map shows us the route usually taken by the Mystery Plays through the city. After processing down Micklegate and across Ouse Bridge, the craft guilds would have stopped at the Church of St Michael in Spurriergate, proceeded onto Coney Street, towards the Guildhall, up Stonegate towards Minster Gates, then along Petergate, King’s Square and Colliergate, finishing in Pavement near All Saints Church.
After the Proclamation was read warning people to avoid riotous and drunken behaviour, the various actors and scenarios that made up the Mystery Plays processed through the city on pageant wagons, accompanied by torch-bearers to light up some of York’s extremely narrow streets.
The wagons were double-deckers: the upper level where the actors performed, and a lower level hidden by a curtain, where actors could change costumes and where props were kept. The first performances began very early in the morning at 4.30am. The actors all assembled in a place called Pageant Green (nowadays Toft Green), then proceeded to the entrance of Holy Trinity Priory where the first scenario was staged.
So-called ‘pageant masters’ used to collect the ‘pageant silver’ from guild members to cover expenses, storage and repair of props and costumes as well as the provision of food and refreshments during rehearsals and performances. During the rest of the year, the scenery and other props were stored in a building on Pageant Green.
By the middle of the 16th century, monumental political and religious changes in the wake of the Reformation meant that the contents of the Mystery Plays fell foul of the authorities.
The Lord Mayor of York decided to consult the Dean of York, Matthew Hutton, as to whether the plays should go ahead. Only two processions of the Mystery Plays then took place: one in 1567 and the last one for 382 years in 1569. An attempt was made to stage the plays again in 1576, but the text of the plays was sent to the Archbishop and Dean. No more was heard of them that year and the plays were then effectively banned by a High Commission.
It wasn’t until 1951 that the York Mystery Plays were revived as part of the Festival of Britain, and a lavish performance took place in Museum Gardens against the backdrop of the ruined abbey. The plays were scheduled to be performed every three years, and the young Judi Dench played the part of the Virgin Mary in the 1957 performance.
Nowadays, the Mystery Plays are performed in a much-abridged edition every four years, either in a fixed location such as The Minster, Museum Gardens, or the Theatre Royal or as waggon plays through the city.
Lucinda Dennison is a member of the York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust and has taken part in several performances. She played the non-speaking part of Eve in the 2022 wagon plays and in the 2014 performance had a speaking part as an upper-class citizen who welcomed Jesus in ‘The Entry into Jerusalem’.
She told me that the biggest challenge was making yourself heard out-of-doors in the middle of the busy city. But she also added that the Mystery Plays bring together a wide variety of people who share a love of theatre and the city of York.
The next performance of the York Mystery Plays will be in June 2026.
See you there!
David Wilson is a Community Writer with The Press
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