HOMELESS people in Chester have been getting to grips with the city’s medieval history.

Clients and staff of Chester Aid to the Homeless (CATH) have been working with Chester Mystery Plays to present a version of The Shepherds’ Play.

The Outcasts, performed at The Mulberry Centre in Sealand Road, told the story of the Angel Gabriel appearing to the shepherds to tell them about Jesus’s birth.

Danielle Marsh, of CATH, said: “Shepherds in the Middle Ages lived rough and were outcasts – the most unlikely people to be visited by an angel!

“We started with the script used in the 2008 production and then developed our own ideas, telling the story as it might happen now.”

Watching the performance was Stephanie Dale, who has been commissioned to write the 2013 cycle of mystery plays.

She said: “It was a remarkable achievement and I was really impressed with the writing and performances.”

Chester Mystery Plays chairwoman Jo Sykes added: “Outcasts was a unique and very personal response to The Shepherds’ Play. It was extremely funny and very relevant, giving us an insight not only into the shepherds’ lives, but also into the lives of those living outside of today’s conventional society.”

The project was part of the Sharing the Mystery programme, which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The next project in the Sharing the Mystery programme is a series of free performance workshops for adults (anyone over 16) at St Mary’s Centre in Chester with director Peter Leslie Wild and writer Stephanie Dale on November 19 and 20. For more information visit www.chestermysteryplays.com or email info@chestermysteryplays.com.