The Flood 2022

Performed as part of the York Festival Trust’s pageant of Wagon Plays for 2022

When?

York Festival Trust arranged a festival of wagon plays on 19 and 26 June 2022, with special midsummer evening performances on 22 and 23 June in the Market Place in the Shambles. 

What’s happening?

There were 8 plays, each partnered with a guild. We worked with the Company of Cordwainers of the City of York to bring forth The Flood.

Where?

The wagons rolled from College Green to St Sampson’s Square to St Helen’s Square to King’s Manor. View map

Picture credit: John Saunders

Since first performing on a wagon at the age of 16, Paul has been a firm fan of the Mystery Plays tradition in York in all its forms. He was an Assistant Director on the Minster Mysteries 2000, and acted in the large scale Mystery Plays productions in 2012 and 2016. He is particularly associated with the Wagon Plays, having directed a play for the first experimental production back in 1988, and subsequently served as Artistic Director in 2010, and as Musical Director in 2002, 2006 and 2014.

Paul studied Drama and Theatre History at the Universities of Manchester, York, and Durham, and trained for the stage at the Webber-Douglas Academy. He has worked for a variety of small scale theatre companies, including The Actors of Dionysus and Theatre Mill, and has directed for the York Shakespeare Project and Baron Productions.

Says Paul: “Directing ‘The Flood’ will be an invigorating challenge. Weaving the different Biblical, Medieval and Modern themes together, and producing an engaging performance that honours all three aspects requires commitment, energy and talent. I’m certain that the YMPST will provide all that and more. Together we can produce a vivid and joyful entertainment for everyone”.