New York, USA, January 16, 2004 — Biblical plays were all the rage in Medieval times, and now they are making a comeback in New York's theatre district.
Imagine the history of salvation in just under two hours. That's what audiences at Classic Stage Company's The Mysteries can witness. Directed by Brian Kulick, The Mysteries is a melding of the 15th century York and Wakefield cycle plays with renderings from modern writers, recounting such epic Biblical stories as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Abraham and Isaac, Noah's Flood and Christ's Passion.
The play, which runs until February 15, 2004, was first staged in Los Angeles in the summer of 2003, where it was called "wildly inventive with memorable theatricality" by the Los Angeles Times.
According to its mission statement, Classic Stage Company - now in its 36th season - is dedicated to "re-imagining the classics for New York audiences and contributing to the American theatre with innovative works of outstanding merit." CSC explores the literature of many periods, believing that "the works of the past are meaningful, relevant, and indeed essential to the world of today".
Mysteries and Cycles
Beyond being the title of CSC's production, The Mysteries actually describes what the show is about. Mystery plays, which were seen in England and Europe, derive their name from the French "mystere" or "ministere" because the ministerium - the clergy - were the first actors. The genre deals primarily with Scripture narrative, especially the story of man's fall and redemption, and initially was used to give religious instruction and establish faith.
In the late 14th and early 15th centuries the genre was taken out of the Church and into the fairgrounds, being presented in the common language as opposed to Latin, and essentially becoming secular dramas on Biblical themes.
The plays were produced as a "cycle", or series, on feast days, beginning early in the morning with a play about creation and addressing the chief events of the Biblical narrative throughout the day, climaxing at nightfall with a performance of the day of final judgment.
A variety of styles were incorporated into medieval cycles, with some plays taking a reverent, dramatic tone while others employed comedy. For example, the "Second Shepherd's Play" from the Wakefield Cycle is nearly all slapstick and has been called the first real farce in the English language.
A variety of trade guilds sponsored the shows - they were big business for the city, drawing large crowds from the surrounding townships - which were often performed on a series of pageant wagons connected to one another. The wagon trains would pay calls at several different locations throughout the city, performing at each stop.
Classic Stage Company is located on 13th Street, east of 4th Avenue.
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