York Mystery Plays and the YMPST
Keeping the story alive
Supporting and maintaining the community tradition of the Mystery Plays in the city of York.
Recent York Mystery
Plays Productions
Resurrection for York took place on 3 & 4 July 2021 in Resident’s Garden, Dean’s Park, York. This was a community, outdoor, production between the Trust, York Festival Trust and York Minster. It was staged on two wagons, in an enclosed area, in order to meet current national guidelines.
‘The Flood’ is coming this year!
Now we’re looking for a Director for our next Wagon Play
York Festival Trust is arranging a festival of wagon plays on the last two Sundays this June, and possibly one evening
(Sunday 19th, Wednesday 22nd and Sunday 26th June).
Tom Straszewski is again overall co-ordinator of the event. This time there will be 8 plays, each partnered with a guild. We will be working with the Company of Cordwainers of the City of York There are two scripts: Shipwrights – The Building of the Ark and Fishers and Mariners – The Flood. Tom has provided a modernised script of both. Because there are fewer plays in the overall event, our play could run longer as it needs to cover The Flood and the Building of the Ark.
Tom’s brief for the overall event is this: “Our theme this year is “reduce, reuse, recycle” – and more broadly the idea of sustainability and transformation. That includes the emphasis of individual plays, but also the work of sustaining the plays themselves, the community of communities that have formed around them, and the wider environment. This continues on a practical level – you are encouraged to re-use old set, props, costumes, and to source as much as you can from charity shops, junkyards, attics etc. Many of you are already doing this, of course, but I encourage everybody to start building this into your process now.”
YMPST have approved a director’s fee of £500. You are expected to rehearse on one weekday evening and one weekend afternoon in York. We have a capable Pageant Wagon Master, Richard Hampton, willing to build your ark. If you are interested in applying, email our Secretary maurice.crichton@ntlworld.com to express your interest. An Information Pack will be sent to you on receipt of your email, which will tell you more about this opportunity. Applications should include your initial ideas for The Flood on one side of A4 and a CV. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview in York in the last week of January. If that week is impossible don’t be deterred from getting in touch.
The closing date for applications is 10pm on Friday 21 January 2022. This is an open call. We are interested to hear from anyone who would like to lead this production.
The York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust
YMPST was set up after the 2012 York Mystery Plays in Museum Gardens. We are a charitable incorporated organisation which exists to advance the education of the public in the medieval Mystery Plays of York.
