The Chester Mystery Plays is a cycle of

mystery play Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represe ...

s originating in the city of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, England and dating back to at least the early part of the 15th century.

Origins and history

Biblical dramas were being performed across continental Europe in Latin as early as the 10th century. Originally dramatizing the visit of the shepherds to the birth of new-born Christ. Later priests of the Benedictbeuren in Bavaria combined costumes and content from the Old Testament with their Christmas plays.Zarrilli, B. Phillip, et al. Theatre Histories: An Introduction. Second Edition ed., Routledge, 2010. 73-75 By the late 12th century biblical plays were performed outside of churches and were written in vernacular languages. They still emphasized incidents of the Old and New Testaments but were more dramatic and less orthodox. The 1150 AD performance titled The Play of Adam from Norman France dramatized the fall of Adam Eve in the garden of Eden The inclusion of drama was extremely popular among the French population and found similar popularity in England. In the 14th century a boom in vernacular Bible drama plays were performed across medieval England for three main reasons: the introduction of the institution of the Feast of Corpus Christi, the growing population of towns and subsequently municipal governments independent of feudal lords, and the development of trade guilds. The Feast of Corpus Christi began in 1264 by Pope Urban IV and was created to celebrate the real presence of Christ within the bread and wine of the Eucharist. The feast occurred on Trinity Sunday between the months of May and June and priests processed through the streets displaying the “Host” of Jesus which was a consecrated wafer encased within a casket containing the real presence of Christ in the world. The urbanization of townships and interconnectedness of these communities resulted in populations becoming increasingly dependent on each other. Thus, the specialization of labour was enabled by such interconnectedness. There were trade guilds for bakers, tailors, and goldsmiths who trained apprentices and regulated wages and working conditions. These skilled labourers working with their local communities helped collectively build the stages and props for the performances. Subsequently, the staging of these dramatic performances became increasingly urban, bourgeois, and informed from continental Europe by constant trade crossing the channel into England. The “Host” would be accompanied by a tableau of biblical scenes which represented sacred Christian history which is the origins of the cycle plays known today. By 1394 plays based on biblical history of salvation were being performed in York, England. The usage of pageant wagons enabled performances to travel across the country to various communities across medieval England. The plays attracted people to the towns they were performed in and therefore communities such as York and Chester benefited from commercial trade from visitors. The Mystery plays were banned nationally in the 16th century. Chester was the last to concede in 1578 and so became the longest-running cycle in medieval times. Revived in 1951 for the Festival of Britain, they have since been staged every five years. Prior to the performance, the Crier (officer) read out these banns: "The Aldermen and stewards of every society and company draw yourselves to your said several companies according to Ancient Custom and so to appear with your said several Companies every man as you are Called upon pain that shall fall thereon". Such early banns exhorted each company to perform well. Under Queen Elizabeth I, the plays were seen as '

Popery The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

' and banned by the

English Church The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. Despite this, a play cycle was performed in 1568 and the cathedral paid for the stage and beer as in 1562. They were performed in 1572 despite a protest by an Evangelical minister. They were performed again, over four days, in 1575. This resulted in the mayor, when he retired from his office, being taken to the

Star Chamber The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the ju ...

in London to answer allegations against him, but with the support of the council/assembly he was freed. One edition of the plays begins with "The Banes which are reade beefore the beginninge of the playes of Chester, 4 June 1600". Each play ends with "Finis. Deo gracias! per me Georgi Bellin. 1592". The time of the original composition of the plays is disputed; a date as early as the mid 14th century has been suggested.

Modern revivals

The stage for the 2008 Chester Mystery Plays - geograph

The plays were revived in Chester in 1951 as part of the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

and are presented there every five years.Chester Mystery Plays website
The Players of St Peter have been performing the plays in London roughly every five years since 1946. Under the direction of Jeff Dailey, the American Theatre of Actors in New York City performed the penultimate play, ''The Coming of Antichrist'', in August 2017.American Theatre of Actors
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Adaptations

In the twentieth century, the Noah's Flood play was set

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

tically by both

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

('' Noye's Fludde'') and

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

('' The Flood''). The play regarded the relationship between wife and husband (urban life) and spoke about the physical and spiritual world that provides a backdrop of the play. ''

The Mysteries ''The Mysteries'' is a version of the medieval English mystery plays first presented at London's National Theatre in 1977. The cycle of three plays tells the story of the Bible from the creation to the last judgement. Background It is based lar ...

'' is an adaption by the poet

Tony Harrison Tony Harrison (born 30 April 1937) is an English poet, translator and playwright. He was born in Beeston, Leeds and he received his education in Classics from Leeds Grammar School and Leeds University. He is one of Britain's foremost verse w ...

, principally based upon the

Wakefield Cycle The Wakefield or Towneley Mystery Plays are a series of thirty-two mystery plays based on the Bible most likely performed around the Feast of Corpus Christi probably in the town of Wakefield, England during the Late Middle Ages until 1576. It ...

, but incorporating scenes from the

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, Chester and N-Town canons, first performed in 1977 at the National Theatre, and again revived in 2000 as a celebration of the millennium.

References

External links

The Official Chester Mystery Plays Website
- the website of the Chester Mystery Cycle with news of the performance in June 2008.

- free downloadable media clips from the Chester Mystery Cycle performance of 2003, featuring full mp3 audio track 'Christ Theme' and video excerpt from the performance.
The original text

Origins and history

Modern revivals

Adaptations

See also

References

External links

Further reading