It has been two years since OMMP staged their last cycle of medieval drama. Staging six plays in their original medieval languages, the event brought the past to life in all its richness and complexity. This year, we can look forward to roughly double the number of plays in 2023 – and an even more diverse range of talent performing them, ranging from current master’s students to local troupes and societies. It is sure to be a showcase of the best of talent, both from within and without the university.
In their original context, the mystery plays were performed in “cycles” (that is, in distinct groupings of texts), usually over a period of a few days. They were effectively street performances; each play would be performed on a “waggon” that would be paraded around the city streets for the viewing pleasure of locals. Most significantly of all, they were distinctly Christian in subject matter and theme: each would re-enact a key story from the Bible. Certain stories are popular enough to recur across cycles. Adam and Eve, the Flood, the Nativity, the Crucifixion, and the Last Judgement are particular favourites – and (I may add) will all be performed during Saturday’s event.
At a glance, medieval drama might seem rather strange and distant to the average modern theatre-goer. Religious theatre perhaps loses its appeal in today’s largely secular, modern culture, and Bible stories don’t tend to draw the same crowds that they once did. And that’s even without mentioning the language barriers that necessarily accompany a viewing of these plays. For a viewership so accustomed to modern English, Middle English can feel more like an academic exercise than an enjoyable pastime…
Despite all these potential barriers, we are still drawn to mystery plays, which are still widely performed and well-received, even outside of Oxford. The city of York, for instance, frequently re-stages these cycles, inviting local talent to take part in a communal event that spans the whole city. I use the phrase “communal event” deliberately, because community is at the root of mystery plays’ appeal. After all, as street performances, the original mystery plays similarly engaged with local communities, inviting spectators from a range of social classes to witness the religious drama.
This makes the fact that these plays were performed in Middle English quite significant. While medieval languages seem impenetrable today, these performancesdepicted Bible stories in the common tongue in a time when Latin was still “the language of the Church”. Nobody was barred from experiencing the drama. All were welcome to watch.
Perhaps this makes mystery plays’ language barrier, as experienced by a modern viewer, somewhat ironic: plays that were designed to be accessible have now become (linguistically) inaccessible. However, OMMP has made provisions to break through these barriers: Each play will be accompanied by a modern English prologue, which will ease the average theatre-goer into the medieval language. The expressiveness of the performance – and the talent of the actors – will be the visual language that supplies the rest of the story.
There is undeniable value to be had in engaging with media from different languages – especially when those languages come from a different time and nation than our own. Some of OMMP’s revivals will be performed in Middle Dutch (The Annunciation, performed by Low Countries Ensemble), French (The Nativity, performed by Les Perles Innocentes), and Latin (The Harrowing of Hell, performed by The Choir of St Edmund Hall). These plays challenge us – just as I would encourage prospective play-goers to challenge themselves to engage with cultures that are not immediately familiar to them, and to think beyond the English-speaking world.
Performing these plays outdoors, and in their original languages, OMMP will undoubtedly capture some of the medieval zeitgeist. OMMP is an event that is fundamentally about bringing things together: the general audience to the medievalist; the medieval language to the modern English speaker; the past to the present. Play-goers can expect to feel the atmosphere of community that accompanies watching a mystery play – an atmosphere which stretches from the distant past right up to the present day.
[The Oxford Medieval Mystery Plays will take place on Saturday 26 April at St Edmund Hall, beginning at 12 noon with the four Old Testament plays. From 1.30pm, the nine New Testament plays will commence, ending at around 5pm. There will be two short tea breaks, at around 1:15pm and 3.15pm. For more information, please consult the Oxford Medieval Mystery Plays website].