York Mystery Plays 2012

Scaled model of the set. 1:50. Own photo.

 Recently, I was involved with making set and props for the York Mystery Plays. The Plays have been going on for hundreds of years, and are world famous. It was amazing for me to be able to help, as they mean such an important thing to the people of York. 

The Mystery Plays are stories from the bible originally performed in the middle of the 14th century for the common folk because they could not read Latin. They would show the plays on carts which could be taken all over the city.

The plays are always performed in the Museum Gardens and this year the back drop was St Mary's Abbey. So the set designer had to integrate this into the design, which he did perfectly.

Umbrellas, representing the sea. You can see Noah's ark in the back ground.

The angels (pictured at the back right) danced and sang in the background. they were very different from any other character, due to the striking colour and full skirts.

Conceptually, the play was absolutely brilliant. So much thought and depth went into thinking about every scene.

The flooring was used in many different ways. It had 45 trap doors hidden in it. When Herod attempted to kill all the baby boys in Jerusalem, the trap doors were the local's houses, and the soldiers would knock on the floor as in on people front doors.

The Ark, which I helped build and paint.

The costumes were quite modern, from the 1930's which was refreshing instead of the normal dress people accommodate with the bible.

I really enjoyed being part of this, and have started to really appreciate set design. We have a placement year next year for my Interior Design course at University, and I would love to do something to do with set design.

The poster for the plays. Inspiration from Stanley Spencer.

Finished set on the night I went with my family to see the production. Own photo.