Cultural Life
Text: Chester City CouncilROMAN Chester's first place place for public entertainment was almost certainly the Roman amphitheatre.
THE MYSTERY PLAYS The Mystery plays were the great spectacle of Tudor Chester. Although their purpose was primarily religious and educational, they became more secularised during the 16th century and the emphasis upon entertainment was increasingly marked.
A play or plays organisd by the city's guilds is first recorded in 1399, as part of a candle lit procession between the churches of St. Mary and St. John, held on the Feast of Corpus Christi. By 1422, it seems that this procession was an annual event and that the individual guilds were required to put on plays at their own expense. Each guild appears to have used an approved text, although none survive and nothing is known of how these early plays were produced. However, the Corpus Christi plays were not just a religious event, but were performed "for the honour of God and our...city", as an expression of civic pride.
By 1521 the Corpus Christi procession was starting to be replaced by a play or plays performed at Whitsun, eleven days earlier. This was a civic play organised by the guilds, while the Corpus Christi procession contined to be performed by the clergy. For some years, these two great processions existed side by side, until 1548 when Corpus Christi was cancelled as a Feast of the English Church.
The Whitsun play developed into a three part trilogy, telling the story of the Bible beginning with the 'Creation and Fall of Lucifer' and ending with the 'Judgement of the World'. Each play was performed by a different guild and often the subject was appropriate to the trade of that guild. For example, the Drawers of the Dee and Water Leaders (water carriers) performed 'Noah and his Ship'. The 'Harrowing of Hell', which features a corrupt ale-wife sent to hell for adulterating her ale, was performed by the company of Cooks, Tapsters, Ostlers and Innkeepers.
The plays were performed on carriages or carts on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Whit week. Each performance started at the Abbey Gateway and then moved to the Pentice at the High Cross - where it was watched by the Mayor and Corporation - before moving on to different stations around the city. The carriages were generally on two levels, with an upper floor for acting and a lower floor for dressing. Carriages became increasingly elaborate: that for the 'Ascension of Christ' (performed by the Tailors) had lifting gear; 'Noah and the Flood' was performed on a carriage in the form of a tall ship with mast and sail. Eventually there were 24 plays in the Chester Mystery cycle and co-ordinating the movement of these huge carts through Chester's narrow streets must have been difficult. Each cart was pulled by guild members, and movement was co-ordinated so that all the plays at the different stations would be performed together.
By the 1560s, the Mystery Plays were arousing opposition from both inside and outside Chester. After the Reformation they were still linked with the unreformed Roman Catholic church and puritan hostility strengthened. The plays had never been performed on a regular basis and there were only 5 performances during the reign of Elizabeth I. In 1572, the city ignored an inhibition issued by the Archbshop of York banning the plays. The last performance was held at midsummer in 1575, after which the mayor Sir John Savage was ordered before the privy council to explain why he had permitted the 'Popish plaies'. The City Assembly took full responsibility and Savage escaped punishment. However, there were no more performances until the Chester Mystery Plays were revived in 1951.