Mystery plays and miracle plays were some of the first officially created plays in medieval Europe. Mystery plays showed Bible stories in churches using still pictures and singing that happened back and forth. These plays told stories like the Creation, Adam and Eve, the murder of Abel, and the Last Judgment. They were often performed together in groups that lasted for many days.

Terminology

The names of the plays come from the English word "mystery," which is used in a religious way to mean a type of miracle.

Origins

As early as the fifth century, living scenes were used in religious services. These plays began as simple additions to religious texts and gradually became more detailed. Early on, songs from the service were added to the spoken dialogue. As these religious plays became more popular, performances in everyday language appeared, and traveling groups of actors became common in the later Middle Ages.

One of the earliest known religious plays is called Quem quaeritis? It shows a conversation between an angel at Christ’s tomb and women searching for his body. Early versions of these plays were based on parts of religious services and later included more dialogue and actions. These early performances were in Latin and often started with a short explanation in everyday language spoken by a person called a herald. The people who wrote and directed these plays were likely monks or religious leaders.

In 1210, Pope Innocent III banned clergy from performing on public stages because these plays were becoming too popular. This change led to town groups, called guilds, taking over the organization of the plays. From this time, performances were written in everyday language instead of Latin, and new scenes not from the Bible were added, such as humorous parts in Secunda Pastorum from the Wakefield Cycle. Acting and character roles became more detailed.

In some large English cities, like York, these religious plays were created and performed by guilds. Each guild was responsible for a specific story from the Bible. Later, these plays were banned again during the Reformation and the creation of the Church of England in 1534.

Over time, the mystery play evolved into a series of plays covering important events in the Christian calendar, from the creation of the world to the Day of Judgment. By the late 1400s, these plays were performed in cycles during festivals in many parts of Europe. Sometimes, each play was shown on a decorated cart that moved through the city so different groups of people could watch. A full cycle of plays could take up to twenty hours to perform and might last several days. These collections of plays are called Corpus Christi cycles and were often performed during the Feast of Corpus Christi.

These plays were performed by a mix of religious workers and non-professional actors. They were written in complex poetic styles and often included elaborate sets and special effects. However, some performances were simple and focused on personal stories. Each cycle of plays showed a wide range of styles and techniques.

English mystery plays

There are four complete or nearly complete English biblical play collections that still exist today. These include the York cycle, which has forty-eight plays; the Towneley plays, with thirty-two plays; the Ludus Coventriae; and the Chester cycle, which has twenty-four plays and is believed to be a recreated version from the Elizabethan period based on older medieval traditions. Two plays from a New Testament cycle performed in Coventry also remain. Other surviving plays include a fifteenth-century story about Mary Magdalene, The Brome Abraham and Isaac, and a sixteenth-century play about Saint Paul's conversion. In addition to these, there are a few plays written in Cornish, a language spoken in Cornwall. These include Ordinalia and Pascon Agan Aruth, which tell biblical stories, and Bewnans Ke and Bewnans Meriasek, which describe the lives of saints.

These biblical plays cover a wide range of stories. Many include scenes such as the Fall of Lucifer, the Creation and Fall of Man, the story of Cain and Abel, Noah and the Flood, Abraham and Isaac, the Nativity, the Raising of Lazarus, the Passion, and the Resurrection. Other plays include the story of Moses, the Procession of the Prophets, Christ's Baptism, the Temptation in the Wilderness, and the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin. In some cycles, the plays were sponsored by Medieval craft guilds, which were groups of skilled workers. For example, the York mercers (a guild of merchants) sponsored the Doomsday pageant. Other guilds presented scenes related to their work, such as the carpenters' guild showing the building of the Ark, the bakers' guild showing the miracle of the five loaves and fishes, and the goldsmiths' guild showing the visit of the Magi with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. However, not all towns used guilds to sponsor or produce plays. While the Chester pageants are linked to guilds, the N-Town plays are not known to be connected to guilds or performed on pageant wagons. The Wakefield plays are among the most famous mystery plays, though it is unclear if the plays in the Towneley manuscript were actually performed in Wakefield. A reference in The Second Shepherds' Play to a place called Horbery Shrogys suggests a possible connection. In The London Burial Grounds (1897), Mrs. Basil Holmes wrote that the Holy Priory Church, near St. Katherine Cree on Leadenhall Street in London, was a location for miracle plays from the tenth to the sixteenth century. In 1542, Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London (c. 1500–1569), ended these performances.

Spanish mystery plays

The oldest religious play in Spain is from the 12th century. It is kept today in Toledo Cathedral. The play tells the story of the Biblical Magi, three wise men from the East who followed a star and visited the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. It is believed to have been based on an earlier play written in France.

The Misteri d'Elx (in English, the Elx Mystery Play or Mystery Play of Elx) is a religious play from the 13th century. It has been performed and celebrated every year without stopping. The play honors the Assumption of Mary and is performed on August 14 and 15 each year in the Basilica de Santa María in the city of Elx (also known as Elche). A rule from the Council of Trent that banned theatrical plays in churches nearly stopped the yearly performance of the Misteri. However, in 1632, Pope Urban VIII gave a special permission for the play to continue. In 2001, UNESCO named it one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Miracle play

Miracle plays, also called Saint's plays, are different from mystery plays because they show miracles performed by saints, such as Saint Nicholas or St. Mary, not events from the Bible. Robert Chambers wrote in the 19th century that in England, the word "miracle" came to mean all kinds of religious plays.

In Cornwall, miracle plays like the Ordinalia trilogy, Beunans Meriasek, and Bewnans Ke were traditionally performed at plain-an-gwarrys. To get the audience's attention, these plays were often loud, bawdy, and entertaining.

Modern performances

Interest in Medieval Mystery plays increased during the early 1800s after they were mentioned and published by William Hone and James Heywood Markland. Poet Lord Byron wrote two plays, Cain and Heaven and Earth: A Mystery, which were modern versions of medieval dramas about similar topics. Mystery plays are still performed regularly across the United Kingdom. Local plays were brought back in York and Chester in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain and continue to be performed by local guilds. The N-Town cycle was revived in 1978 as the Lincoln Mystery Plays, and the Lichfield Mysteries were revived in 1994.

In 1977, the National Theatre asked Tony Harrison to create The Mysteries, a new version of the Wakefield Cycle and other plays. This production was performed again in 1985 (it was filmed for Channel 4 Television) and as part of the theatre’s celebration of the year 2000. The production earned Bill Bryden the Best Director award at both the 1985 Evening Standard Theatre Awards and the 1985 Laurence Olivier Awards, the same year the three plays were first performed together at the Lyceum Theatre.

In 2001, the Isango Ensemble performed an African version of the Chester Cycle at the Garrick Theatre in London, titled The Mysteries – Yiimimangaliso. The production used a mix of Xhosa, Zulu, English, Latin, and Afrikaans. A revised version of this play was performed again in 2015 at Shakespeare’s Globe. In 2004, two mystery plays—one about the Creation and the other about the Passion—were performed at Canterbury Cathedral. Actor Edward Woodward played the role of God, and the cast included Daniel MacPherson, Thomas James Longley, and Joseph McManners.

Since 2019, members of the University of Oxford have performed several cycles of Medieval Mystery Plays in different languages at St Edmund Hall.