YORK MYSTERY PLAYS AND FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS, 1957
THE EXODUS
The "Play on the waggon" which is performed in the streets of York during the Festival is an attempt to produce one of the Plays of the York Cycle as nearly as possible in the manner, and as nearly as possible in the actual places, as in the Middle Ages when the Plays first appeared. The Proclamation of the Plays, the waggon, the simple and primitive scenery, the medieval costumes, are all faithful to the original spirit of these Plays when the Trade Gilds of York performed them in the streets of the City, with the ' spectators crowding close round the stage or watching from the windows and the doors of their houses. There is no reason to suppose that anything so elaborate as a three-decker stage, or even a two-decker, was ever used (or possible) in York; scenery and properties were almost non-existent.
Those who see this Waggon Play should try to picture a succession of 48 of these stages, each pushed by its own squad of six or eight men, advancing in turn, all day long, from 4-30 a.m. to the late evening, to each of the chosen "Stations", of which we have selected two, and there performing in turn its own Play of the 48 which make up the York Cycle. The eleventh Play in the series was this Play of the "Exodus", performed by the Hosiers' Gild; it ends the section derived from the Old Testament. It has been chosen for production this year because it is one of the Plays not used for the performance in the Abbey grounds, and because it is a Play with the necessary qualities of vigorous action and variety which are needed for a Play in the streets, and for no more topical reasons.
The story is told with the usual directness and simple force of these medieval York Plays. Pharaoh is depicted as a blustering tyrant, who is qulte definitely the villain of the piece, crueL cunning and false. Pharaoh plotting with his Councillors to destroy the Israelite children gives place to Moses in the wilderness and to Egypt, where Moses encourages the Jews and then faces Pharaoh with a demand for the release of his people, which Pharaoh refuses furiously. A succession of messengers then rush in to announce the Plagues; Pharaoh pretends to submit, the Hebrews depart; Pharaoh and his army pursue and are destroyed, while the Israelites sing in triumph.
That is the outline of the Play, from which our version is taken. The simple rapidity of the story, without trimmings or decorations, gives it much of its power and effectiveness for outdoor performance, an effect which is aided by the use of familiar and homely language, although the verse-forms are elaborate, with a full use of rhyme and alliteration. So perhaps the Waggon Play may help you as you watch, to recapture something of the spirit of those far-off times when the Hosiers' Gild first brought their Play into the streets of York.
J.S. PURVIS.
YORK MYSTERY PLAYS AND
FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS, 1957
THE EXODUS
THE ELEVENTH PLAY OF THE YORK CYCLE OF MYSTERY PLAYS
performed on a Pageant Wagon in the Streets of York during the
York Festival, 1957.
PLAYERS