Mystery plays to return to city streets with community cast of 600 performers

PAGEANT WAGON plays are to be brought back to York’s city streets this summer as details are revealed of plans rooted in Medieval traditions.

The York Mystery Plays, reclaimed by the city’s guilds in the 1990s, were originally performed some centuries ago to illustrate the Christian history of the world.

Now to mark more than a quarter of a century since their return, the city’s guilds are once more to drive productions in June with a community cast of some 600 people.

The “fantastic spectacle” will see the plays performed on pageant wagons, pushed by the residents of York and accompanied by musicians, to create hours of free drama.

Eight wagons will proceed through the city’s streets to perform at places such as St Sampson’s

Square, St Helen’s Square and King’s Manor.

Productions have seen great success since 1998, with the latest performance in 2018. This year it will be held over two Sundays in June, 19 and 26, with a theme of sustainability and transformation.

Roger Lee, chairman of York Festival Trust, said this supported a “rebirth” of live performing arts: “Our past productions have met with great popular, academic and critical acclaim, and we hope to build on this success with our 2022 production.

“In their medieval heyday, the plays and the guilds were inextricably linked, and it is this heritage we are reclaiming with these regular four-yearly productions.”

Artistic director Tom Straszewski said there were still opportunities to get involved. He added: “After two years of uncertainty for the arts, this is an opportunity for York’s communities to come together to celebrate our city’s heritage through drama, spectacle and pageantry.

“This will be a huge boost for people’s well-being and a festival to attract York residents and visitors alike to the city on these two Sundays.”