Mystery plays were a type of drama that flourished
in the later MIDDLE AGES in England. Cycles of plays
drew together a series of shorter scripts dramatizing
stories from the Christian Bible, spanning the
Creation to the Last Judgment. Cycles are frequently
referred to by the name of the town in
which they are recorded as having been staged. Full
cycles survive from four towns: York (48 plays);
Wakefield (32 plays, also called the Townley cycle);
Chester (24 plays); and N-Town (42 plays, formerly
referred to as the Coventry Cycle). Single
plays in English survive from at least four other
towns, and one cycle exists written in the Cornish
language. A great number of English towns of all
sizes, including Canterbury and London, document
the staging of mystery plays as early as the
mid-1200s, though the manuscripts for these plays
may be lost. Records suggest that the cycles began
evolving in the 13th century, though existing manuscripts
are of later dates.
Plays were staged within a particular town in
connection with a celebrated event, perhaps a feast
day, which is the case of the plays associated with
Corpus Christi. Performances took place outdoors,
sometimes on a pageant wagon that was pulled
through the town. The term mystery refers to the
guild or craft organizations that sponsored the
events (the term comes from the secret rites or
mysteries of their trades, which the guilds protected
fiercely). The actors, in most cases, belonged
to the guild. Productions were often elaborate; the
Chester cycle took three days to perform. Often the
guilds selected episodes that could best illustrate
the nature of their craft; for instance, the shipwrights
of York commonly presented the story of
Noah and the Flood.
The authors of mystery plays were most likely
clerics.As the plays evolved, several different hands
made revisions and changes to the existing scripts.
Certain playwrights showed more skill than others,
and some made greater contributions, as is the case
with the “York Realist” and the “Wakefield Master.”
Naturally, certain stories of the Bible lent
themselves well to dramatization, blending high
tragedy with low comedy. Favorite scenes from
the Old Testament included the rebellion of Lucifer,
the creation and fall, the story of Cain and
Abel, Abraham and Isaac, and the exodus from
Egypt. The central images of the cycles are the
life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Characteristics
shared among the plays of different towns
point to the development of popular stereotypes,
such as the depiction of Noah’s wife as a scold
who had to be forced to board the ark, and the
portrayal of Joseph as a somewhat feeble and
gullible old man. The dialogue and action of the
plays show biblical characters speaking and behaving
exactly like contemporary English citizens,
which suggests the plays gave voice not only
to the religious tradition but also to contemporary
social concerns. For the audience, the battle
between good and evil was not an abstract concept
but a real issue that had bearing on their individual
lives as they daily faced death, disease,
poverty, and political unrest.
The mystery plays, like the miracle plays,
evolved from the Latin tradition of religious
drama. The morality plays, which developed
slightly later, had a different subject and purpose.
Performances of mystery plays provided a way
to join the community in entertainment and in
worship. In the 16th century, opposition to mystery
plays based on religious controversy and
concerns for public order led to their suppression.
Plays surviving from the Elizabethan and
Jacobean periods were written and produced for
court patrons, no longer a common audience.
These plays had their roots in the lively and complex
tradition of the mystery, miracle, and
morality plays. Modern companies have revived
the mystery plays, and productions of the indigenous
cycles take place with regular frequency in
Chester and York.
English Versions of Mystery Plays
Beadle, Richard and Pamela M. King, eds. York Mystery
Plays: A Selection in Modern Spelling. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1999.
Happe, Peter, ed. English Mystery Plays: A Selection.
New York: Viking Press, 1979.
Rose, Martial, ed. The Wakefield Mystery Plays. New
York:W.W. Norton & Co., 1969.
Works about Mystery Plays
Davidson, Charles. Studies in the English Mystery
Play. Brooklyn, N.Y.: M.S.G. Haskell House,
1969.
Diller,Hans-Jürgen. The Middle English Mystery Play:
A Study in Dramatic Speech and Form. Cambridge,
U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Prosser, Eleanor. Drama and Religion in the English
Mystery Plays: A Re-Evaluation. Palo Alto, Calif.:
Stanford University Press, 1961.