11/05/2026
The guest speaker at our May monthly meeting was Margaret Scott who told us about the York Mystery plays, which were first revived in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain.
These medieval plays, telling stories from the Bible, were originally performed by the various guilds in the city until they were banned in 1569.
Margaret’s presentation included many images from that 1951 staging in the Museum gardens, including photos (black and white, of course), newspaper clippings and programmes.
She painted a vivid picture of the post war ‘make do’ attitude of that time, with costumes and scenery being made by volunteers and actors performing for free
The plays continued to be put on sporadically at various venues around York until, in 1998, the original concept of staging the plays on wagons moving around the city was revived and it continues in that format to this day.
More information on the York Mystery plays can be found at www.yorkmysteryplays.co.uk/the-2026-festival
Many thanks to Margaret for a really interesting evening.
