York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust - YMPST

York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust - YMPST The York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust supports the city’s Mystery Plays in their various incarnations.

Join us as we raise both funds and awareness - and have some fun in the process!

Director Announcement and AuditionsWe have a director for this year’s Nativity! We are very pleased that Tom Straszewski...
16/08/2026

Director Announcement and Auditions

We have a director for this year’s Nativity! We are very pleased that Tom Straszewski will direct this year’s production. Many of you will remember Strasz as the Artistic Director for both the 2018 and 2022 waggon plays, or from the York Shakespeare Project. His expertise in site-specific theatre also fits very well with our touring production.

With the director in place, we are looking for an energetic ensemble cast of around 15-20 people, of all experiences and backgrounds. You do not have to have performed in a Mystery Play (or any play!) before – but be ready to get stuck in, in a warm and friendly environment. Auditions will be short group exercises of around 20 minutes, working on a section of the Plays. You don't need to prepare a speech or monologue, but be ready to tell a Christmas cracker-style joke as a warm-up!

Auditions will be held at Clementhorpe Community Centre on Thursday 3 September from 7-9pm, and Sunday 6 September from 2-5pm. To arrange an audition slot, please contact Strasz directly at [email protected].

Performances are 21 & 28 November (matinees), 4 December (evening), and 5 December (matinees).

There is still one more week to apply to direct this year's Nativity! If you think this opportunity might be for you, pl...
24/07/2026

There is still one more week to apply to direct this year's Nativity! If you think this opportunity might be for you, please email our Chair on [email protected] for the information pack. The deadline to apply is 31 July.

(Photo by John Saunders from last year's production.)

CALL FOR A DIRECTORIf you took part in the Mystery Plays Festival this year and enjoyed the experience, or if you watche...
09/07/2026

CALL FOR A DIRECTOR

If you took part in the Mystery Plays Festival this year and enjoyed the experience, or if you watched them and thought, ‘that looks like fun; I want to do that’, we have a Nativity coming up later this year, and we are looking for a director.

This hour-long performance will bring the Nativity section of the York Mystery Play cycle to life in a way that contrasts with previous productions. As with our previous two Nativities, this will be a touring production staged at three venues in and around York.

Want to direct? The Committee has approved a director’s fee of £1000. You are expected to edit the script, audition, and rehearse on weekday evenings and weekend afternoons for a period of at least 8 weeks.

If you are interested, email our Chair, Emily Hansen, [email protected], for an Information Pack which will provide more information about this opportunity. The closing date for applications will be midnight on Friday 31 July 2026.

Please share this message with anyone who may be interested! The call for actors and a production team will go out in August.

Photo by John Saunders, from the 2025 Nativity.

05/07/2026

What a cast! What a crew! What talented Waits! Very proud of you all. The waggons come back in 2030, but you'll see us sooner than that; we'll be touring the Nativity again this year, so stay tuned for details...

It's the last day of the York Mystery Plays today! We'll make the journey to Calvary four more times today - don't miss ...
05/07/2026

It's the last day of the York Mystery Plays today! We'll make the journey to Calvary four more times today - don't miss us! (Or any of the other nine groups. Don't miss them either.)

03/07/2026

It's our play! Come and see us this Saturday at the Bar Convent at 2pm (and, of course, we'll be back with all the other plays on Sunday)

The wagons (and YMPST, sans wagon) are all assembled in town, ready to kick things off at the Refectory Gardens at 10:30...
28/06/2026

The wagons (and YMPST, sans wagon) are all assembled in town, ready to kick things off at the Refectory Gardens at 10:30.

You may have noticed, or perhaps already visited, the York Mystery Plays Festival pop-up shop in Petergate. Do stop in o...
23/06/2026

You may have noticed, or perhaps already visited, the York Mystery Plays Festival pop-up shop in Petergate. Do stop in one day (open every day but Tuesday), for mystery plays merch and information about the festival.

If you have never watched the Mystery Plays before and are confused about the ‘where’ and ‘when', let us boil it down:On...
19/06/2026

If you have never watched the Mystery Plays before and are confused about the ‘where’ and ‘when', let us boil it down:

On Sunday 28 June and Sunday 5 July, there are three un-ticketed performance stations: the Refectory Gardens, King’s Square, and St Sampson’s Square. Every play will come to each of these three locations over the course of the day, so choose a station and the ten plays will come to you. You can stay there the whole day, or just stay to catch a few of the plays.

If you come to the Refectory Gardens for 10:30, the first play (the War in Heaven) will start at 10:30, followed by the others at half-hour intervals until the final play (Doomsday) at 3pm.

After each play is performed at one station it will move on to the next station. Each play is approximately 20 minutes long. Please note that the performance times are approximate.

At King’s Square, the first play will start at 11:15, followed by the other plays at half-hour intervals until the final play at 3:45.

At St Sampson’s Square, the first play starts at 11:50, again followed by the other plays at half-hour intervals, until the final play at 4:20.

(If you’ve bought tickets for the Dean’s Park performances, you’ll have been told when you bought your ticket where to be and when, so you’re set. Those ones start at 12:30 and end about 5:30.)

You can also see the wagons moving along Goodramgate and Church Street as they travel between performances.

Address

C/O York Theatre Royal, St Leonard’s Place
York
YO17HD

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