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The Eynsham Mysteries

This Eynsham Mysteries (Part III) have just been scheduled to be performed in November 2010. Mystery plays involve a dramatic version (with music) of selected biblical stories - with a huge cast and usually a slightly larger number of support people - click here to see what's needed for the next production.

This time the stories are going to be told from the women's point of view - think Mrs Noah, Delilah, Ruth, Naomi, Jezebel - it' surprising how many there are, and how many have no stories (think Isaac's mum as her son goes to be sacrificed by his dad).

Maybe they ought to be called the Msteries. Or the Mrs Stories.

What are Mystery Plays ?

A Mystery Play is a religious dramatisation of a story from the Bible. Mystery plays were performed at religious or church festivals and were most common between 1400 and 1600 AD.

When a collection of mystery plays running from the Creation through to the Last Judgement are performed together they form the Mystery Cycle.

The Eynsham Mystery Part I covered the Creation to the birth of Jesus; Part II from John the Baptist to the Crucifixion.

In medieval times, mystery cycles formed the centrepiece of popular day-long festivals enjoyed by hundreds of people. The mystery plays themselves were performed by local craftsmen's guilds (which were called mysteries in those days) who would compete with each other to produce the best play.

Lots of places Britain and in Europe did mystery plays. The best known ones in England were at York, Chester and Lichfield. The Eynsham Mysteries are a unique local revival – based on the mediaeval plays, but updated in the spirit of the original to include topical and local references and jokes.

Sometimes in the past, the plays were presented on different stages; as each play finished, the cast moved off in procession to the next stage and another play started. Not in Eynsham though.