BRITISH summer weather has finally forced a 700-year old Chester tradition indoors.
The next cycle of the medieval Chester Mystery Plays in 2013 will be performed under cover at Chester Cathedral for the first time rather than outdoors on Cathedral Green or on pageant wagons in the city streets, as they were in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Three performances of the plays were cancelled in July 2008 following torrential downpours.
Chairman of Chester Mystery Plays Jo Sykes, who first acted in the plays in 1962, said: “I have performed in the pouring rain but the technology we use nowadays means that, for health and safety reasons, we can’t. To subject the cast to the kind of conditions we experienced in 2008 was unacceptable.”
The cancellation of performances had an effect on the 2008 budget.
Jo added: “Despite performing to 12,600 people during the run, we didn’t realise the box office returns we anticipated.”
It is expected that the 2013 plays will cost a lot less than the 2008 budget of £400,000.
Jo added: “It should be more economic to perform the plays inside and we intend to condense all the plays into one evening. The first half will be the Old Testament until the birth of Christ and the second half, Christ’s ministry until the Last Judgement. We will therefore be commissioning a new script.”
Jo has recently returned from the German city of Oberammergau, where Passion Plays have been performed every 10 years since 1634.
She said: “Even they have had to bow to the weather and have recently invested in a retractable roof to protect the performers.”
This will not be the first time that the mystery plays have been performed indoors. The first revival in 1951 was performed in the cathedral refectory and in 1973 and 1997, the plays were performed inside a marquee on Cathedral Green.
In 2003 and 2008, the audience was protected by a covered stand but the actors were exposed to the elements.
Andrew Bentley, of Chester Performs, is behind the city’s plan to host an open-air theatre season in Grosvenor Park this summer. He is confident that the weather will not affect performances.
“It is a picnic-theatre event which is designed to be outdoors. The stage itself is wrapped around a tree and two bushes in the natural setting of the park.
“I am sure the weather will be glorious and we have no plans to cancel performances in advance. The professional actors will rely on their natural voices and we plan to use acoustic musicians. If it does rain, we will adapt the performance on the night.”
According to Andrew, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, on which the Grosvenor Park project is based, performs 96% of its shows.
Chester Mystery Plays will be performed from June 28 - July 13 2013 with previews on June 26/27. Tickets will go on sale in 2011.
Turn to The Guide, starting on page 41, for a full preview of Chestival events including Chester Mystery Plays in Miniature.
