20 Nov 2025
Deborah Heath is at St Albans Cathedral for some new interpretations of Bible classics.
In case you missed Jane Fookes’ informative article about Mystery Plays a few months ago and are expecting a dose of Hercule Poirot, let me set the record straight! Mystery Plays are short dramatisations of biblical stories. In early medieval
times, these were performed in Latin and took place within churches. In the late 1300s, the Bible was translated into English and therefore became more accessible to the man on the street. The plays were then taken on by amateur actors from craft guilds such as carpenters and bakers, each one performing a relevant tale (e.g. bakers doing the Last Supper).
The tradition doesn’t stop there – my favourite detail is that these playlets look place on a wagon which was carted around the town for the residents to see. The term “Mystery” comes from the French word “Mystere” meaning craft which relates to the craft guilds performing the plays – there is no dagger, no ballroom and certainly no Colonel Mustard in sight. So that’s the history lesson out of the way, let’s see how The Friends of St Albans Cathedral celebrated this traditional art form.
Writer Imogen de la Bere adapted a small collection of original mystery plays for this production. She explains: “The plays are perforce very short…writing them was closer to poetry than playwriting.”
This she achieved well with short, witty vignettes with some pleasing alliteration thrown in. There were some up to date references too.
The audience thoroughly appreciated Lucifer reimagined as Donald Trump. Philip Reardon was an excellent choice of director as his trademark sense of humour was evident throughout.
The cast were made up of a dedicated group of amateur and professional local actors including Anna MacLeod Franklin, Terry Prince, David Bevan and Annette Holland. They all did a great job and I particularly appreciated Daniel Thorn’s physical comedy as Adam. A shout out to Verity Aitkins and Daisy Partridge, the two young members of the cast.
However, it wasn’t just the actors that made the evening special. As we entered, we were treated to some Medieval Dancing from Herts Early Dance, and beautiful early music throughout from the Fayrfax Consort, including original pieces composed by David Ireson. The Abbot’s Kitchen provided some delicious canapés and Trolls Bottom some Mead to sup as we watched the opening dances. My only quibble about this whole event was that the staging of this dancing hadn’t been fully considered – there was a crowd of audience members standing around with only the front row actually able to see. This was a shame for the talented dancers and musicians. It was quite a long time to stand too so I wonder if it might have been better to seat us or have the action happening centrally. There is definitely a solution to be found.
Costume and design were outstanding. Anthea Buxton, whose creations can often be seen gracing the stage of the Abbey Theatre excellence herself with the Garden of Eden tree. Staging was effective too utilising this historic space well, for instance by placing the voice of God up high behind the action.
All in all this was a uniquely charming and jolly evening. I was entertained and educated in the beautiful surroundings of the Cathedral which was of course the perfect setting for those stories.
If you are regretting your decision not to attend then do not despair – there will be a second performance on Friday February 27 at 7pm, tickets £20.I sincerely hope this will be followed by a touring version of the show taking place on wagons as would have been done by our forefathers.
Tickets: www.stalbanscathedral.org, in person from the Cathedral shop or by phone on 01727 890290.
