Medieval Mystery Plays in London

2010 November - The Director's Choice at St Clement Eastcheap

The Players of St Peter are pleased to present their annual performances of scenes taken from the medieval mystery cycles, which in their entirety illustrate the biblical story from Creation to Doomsday. This year our selection is widespread including plays from texts that have survived from cities across the country, some rarely performed.

Our prologue introduces the World, the Devil and the Flesh who corrupt mankind. There follows a little-known version of Abraham and Isaac with its human dilemma between faithfulness to God or family. The Coventry pageant portraying the central story of the birth of Christ and the shepherds' adoration leads into a series of scenes from the main cycle texts about the arrival of the three kings and the reaction and fate of the notorious King Herod.

We conclude with highlights from the final plays of the cycles, featuring Christ's coming to judge the world and the impact of that on a selection of characters.

We hope that you will enjoy these plays as much as we do, and that they will provide a happy start to your Christmas season.

Here is the selection we shall be presenting

• Enemies of the Soul (Castle of Perseverance)
• Abraham and Isaac (Northampton)
• The Prophecy (Coventry)
• The Annunciation (Coventry)
• The Journey to Bethlehem (Coventry)
• The Shepherds (Coventry)
• Herod and the Kings (Chester/N-Town/York)
• The Adoration of the Kings (Chester)
• The Judgement on King Herod (N-Town)
• The Resurrection of the Lord (Wakefield)
• The Last Judgement (York/Chester/Wakefield)