Merry Christmas Everyone! Here's a little audio gift for you.
Many years ago I organised a little reading of some edited Mystery plays in the bar of the Quay Theatre - it was a heavily edited Nativity sequence, mostly from the Towneley Cycle (including most of the Second Shepherd Play), with an introduction from the Chester Banns. Luckily I recorded the show on a mini disk player, so this very rough audio recording can now be heard. With Christmas coming around again, here's the first half of Medieval Mysteries. The second half, featuring the three Kings and Herod plays, follows below.
Medieval Mysteries - Part One
Narrator and Mak: Robert Crighton
Gabriel and Shepherd: Richard Fawcett
Mary and Gill: Sara Knight
Joseph and Shepherd: David Knight
Other Shepherd: Michael Harding
Medieval Mysteries - Part Two
Narrator and Soldier: Neil Arbon
Herod: Robert Crighton
Nuncius and Mother: Helen Arbon
King and Soldier: Joseph James
King and Mother: Carole Hughes
Medieval Mysteries was edited and produced by Robert Crighton and performed in the bar at the Quay Theatre in December 2006.
From the earliest drama in English, to the closing of the theatres in 1642, there was a hell of a lot of drama produced - and a lot of it wasn't by Shakespeare. Apart from a few noble exceptions these plays are often passed over, ignored or simply unknown. This is a blog about what exists beyond Shakespeare, about the plays, fragmentary and extant, that shaped the theatrical world that shaped our dramatic history.
