Originally produced on wagons in the streets of York on the annual feast day of Corpus Christi from the 14th - 16th centuries. The individual episodes, or pageants which make up the Plays were presented by different guilds of craftsmen. They present the history of the world, from creation to the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. Different guilds often presented highly appropriate stories, for example the Shipwrights were responsible for the building of the Ark, the Bakers for the Last Supper, while the Butchers played the Death of Christ. Each guild was responsible for the "mastery" (pronounced mystery) of its craft, and thus the plays they helped to produce became known as mystery plays. 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. back to in the news . . .
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