"Community Literature"

After having a glimpse of the York Mystery Plays made me want to time travel back to the fifteen hundred England and watch the guilds perform the traditional bible stories. I admire their intellect to use this form of entertainment to preach the gospel to those not able to read the bible for themselves. So intuitive! 

One of the most intriguing parts of watching the Mystery Plays was definitely the actors, although amateur I feel that they really took on the part of imitation or mimesis. They seemed to be quite emotional and even at times yelling. In the very beginning the audience believed that the woman representing Satan was actually him they booed him as he entered the set. Obviously the acting was not perfect, but I was impressed by their conviction to the role they took.

Also for having such a small set; such as a mere float there was a lot of movement in the plays. There was time when the actors would walk through the audience. In the last scene Satan jumps out from under the float/set. With such simple props it was innovative how they decided to use them.  The only downfall of this for me was that it was hard for me to “lose” myself in the play and truly believe it. However, I believe the audience fully enjoyed the presentation. I was surprised to hear the humor and in turn the laughter that came from the audience.

How John Sutherland says, “drama is ‘community’ literature” was proved certain in the York Mystery Plays.