Harborough enjoyed the resurrection of a medieval religious tradition brought up to date. Local people presented in the open air, modern mystery plays, telling the story of Salvation and Christ’s Passion.

History of Mystery Plays through the ages - text courtesy of Gordon Etherington.

Toward the end of the Middle Ages (1400-1499), the most common form of literature in England was the mystery and morality plays. These plays were very different in terms of theatrical presentation, yet very similar in terms of intent. Characteristics common to both were that they were intended to instruct people about religious issues - the goal was to educate, enlighten, or evangelize; both were about the same topics - human spirituality; they were popular and well-attended in England during the Middle Ages and brought literature to the masses. The plays flourished in an era when life was, for the most part, horrible. Fleas and filth were a normal part of everyday life and sudden death was an ever-present threat. Even the wealthiest citizens, living in relative cleanliness and certain comfort, had very little protection against disease: and to wake with a headache could easily mean death before nightfall. In a world without electric light, the power of darkness was very real, and a walk through the smelly and unquiet streets at night could be a foretaste of hell. Against this terrifying backdrop, the church offered a different vision: bright candlelight, the clean aroma of incense, shining colours, soaring music - all seen to represent the beauty of Heaven. Thus to the people who first wrote and watched the Mystery Plays, the battle between Good and Evil was not theoretical theology, but an all-pervading fact of life. Around 900 AD, the Catholic church was losing the interest of the common people mainly because the services were held in Latin, which was becoming less understood by the commoners. The church did several things to regain people’s interest; they added sculptures, paintings, images, frescoes, crucifixes, picture windows, and short biblical Enactments. The first of these enactments was the scene of the visit of the three Marys to the sepulchre of Christ on Easter Morning, and their interview with the angels. This scene consisted of four sentences in Latin. It was well received and the church expanded this and added other scenes as part of the services. Eventually, many holidays on the church calendar had scenes from the Bible assigned to them which would be enacted on that day. For instance, at Christmas, the Gospel stories of the shepherds, the Magi, and the Slaughter of the Innocents were portrayed. As these plays became more complex and popular, and required elaborate sets, cramming the audience to the back of the room, disorder and riots among the audience became a problem. We are not expecting that sort of problem with the Harborough productions! This along with the excessive length of the developed plays forced the church to move the plays outdoors, in the church porch, church yard, or public square. Many of the plays were beginning to be presented in the vernacular rather than in Latin. The plays were beginning to have a greater depth than being just summaries of the biblical text. Characters and humour were emerging. It took around 500 years from the first liturgical drama for them to develop and be moved outdoors. Professional guilds were in charge of presenting the scenes. Each professional guild, such as the Butchers, Tailors, Carpenters was assigned a scene to produce. Each guild was bound under penalty to produce its play "well and duly." The guilds took pride in impressive performances and often spent considerable money and manpower on their plays. Different guilds – then known as mysteries of craftsmen, hence the name of the plays, often presented stories appropriate to their skills, for example the Shipwrights would present the story of the Ark, and Butchers the death of Christ. People who were barely mentioned in the bible, such as Mrs. Noah, were given large speaking parts, many of them for comic relief. Characters were also developed for dramatic effect, to create sympathy and other feelings. The plays were performed in a "cycle," as the entire set is called. The first play would be the Creation and Fall of Satan, and the total set of from 18 to 42 plays would contain all the major scenes from the Bible, shown chronologically. The stage was a scaffold on wheels, a kind of two-storey float. The bottom storey was curtained off for the actors to dress and wait for their entrance. The top storey was an open stage that could be seen from all sides, with the set and props built into it. Such elaborate props as a fire-spewing dragon head were used. When the festivities began, the first scene would role into the first "station" and perform their play. When they were done, they would role to the second station and perform again, the second scene taking their place at the first station and performing. It would go on like this until every station had seen every play, perhaps more than once. It will be interesting to see how the Plays will be presented here in Harborough; certainly at least one vehicle is involved. The cycles appealed to all social classes, from royalty to peasants; they all came in to watch the plays. The festivities were announced throughout town and the neighbouring provinces. Cycles instilled a love of drama in the people. This popularity allowed for later forms of drama. Cycles originated the dramatical ideas of characterization, realism, and humour in English drama. For a variety of reasons the popularity of the plays declined after 500 years or so – they had had a good run! They were revived later, most notably in York during the Festival of Britain in 1951. I am indebted to the York plays’ producers for some of the information contained in this article, amongst which is the fact that the actor who played Christ in 1951 had to remain anonymous because there remained in England at that time a prohibition on the representation of God or Christ. Nevertheless the York Mystery Plays have become world renowned. Perhaps we can look forward to Market Harborough taking its place in the resurrection of this great tradition in the years to come.