26 Jan 2026
Following the highly successful world premiere of The St Albans Mystery Plays in November last year, The Friends of St Albans Cathedral are offering audiences another chance to catch this charming show in February.
Augmented with three further brand-new playlets telling the stories of Jonah and the Whale, the Third Shepherd’s Play, and The Maid at Emmaus, they join The Creation, The Entry into the Ark, The Crucifixion, and The Apocalypse.
Together they will give audiences an evening of earthy humour, colourful spectacle, and recognisable emotional truths which are as relevant today as they were in medieval times when Mystery Plays were regularly performed in churches.
Originally written by medieval monks in the language of the time Middle English, Mystery Plays enacted Old and New Testament stories for congregations who could not otherwise understand or follow services which were conducted in Latin.
Director Philip Reardon explained: “Mystery Plays speak to universal human themes in ways that are accessible to all. While their medieval worldview may differ from ours, their emotional truths remain powerfully relevant, and offer a fresh lens on enduring moral and ethical questions.”
He added: “Our staging of The St Albans Mystery Plays is important because it revives a deep-rooted tradition that connects the city’s rich religious, historical, and cultural heritage with the present day.”
The St Albans Mystery Plays will again be performed in the nave of St Albans Cathedral, just as they would have been 800 years ago.
Producer Hazel Ireson said: “I am very excited about this show, and thrilled to have three new plays to delight audiences with. We also have costumed Medieval singers, dancers and musicians and trumpeters to bring spectacle to the stage between each of the mystery plays.”
She added: “In Medieval times, Mystery Plays were a bawdy affair drawing large crowds and our own performance will similarly feature fruity humour, comic allusions to modern life, and the possibility of audience participation.”
Hazel Ireson’s other hat is as membership secretary of The Friends of St Albans Cathedral, an independent charity providing financial and practical support to the Cathedral. This evening is a promotion by the Friends to raise the profile of its work and to recruit new members in addition to its 1,000-plus current Friends.
The St Albans Mystery Plays will be staged on Friday February 27, beginning at 7pm, in St Albans Cathedral. Tickets cost £20 and are available from the Cathedral website at: www.stalbanscathedral.org, by phone from the Box Office on 01727 890290, or in person at the Cathedral shop during opening hours.
