" MARVELLOUS CHESTER MYSTERIES...."

 

CONGRATULATIONS to all who brought WONDERFUL 2013 Mystery Plays to Chester Cathedral over past weeks.
They've been  a TRIUMPH.....

THEY WERE a  superb blend of tradition ( The Cycle of Chester Mystery Plays, performed every 5 years, are known worldwide).....mixed in with the fabulously compelling NEW....

Stephanie Dale wrote this innovative script.....Peter Leslie Wild directed.....Matt Baker ( Mr MusicMan Of Chester) composed and directed...... and Judith Croft designed, culminating in a feast of colour, drama, music and story.
Nick Fry was God, Jonathan Sharps was Jesus, and a huge cast, mined from local community ( whole point of local drama) enthralled us all...

THERE WERE ( Hold your breath!!) :  painters, decorators, cherubs, teachers, pub singers, waitresses, travellers, homeless people, Kings, Angels, radio commentators, Disciples, a donkey, cuddly woolly sheep ( plus a VERY cuddly sheep dog!) jockeys, race goers, horses, child angels, police, shepherds ( from up the road in Wales!) Security Guards, King and Queen Herod.......

THERE WERE: crocodiles, giraffes, pandas, Mothers with Babies, Carol Singers(!) ....a stunning chorus of children, a stunning chorus of adults..... and there were W.A.G.S ( yes, in Cathedral, cavorting in heels!) paramedics and thieves.... ....
THIS LIST COULD GO ON.....
Suffice To Say, there was a mass of music and drama and colour and costume...yes, COMMUNITY!

FAVOURITE BITS: 
My smiling-broadly grandson, G, just 8.... as a Jockey.....galloping to front
of stage...holding tight to his Horse ( Cassian Wheeler, who also played Peter, decorator, reveller, racegoer...not to forget the Hardanger Fiddle....)

The Creation....the immensely dramatic and touchingly topical  Massacre Of The Innocents....a lady nearby was moved to tears......and Noah's Arc ( amazing giraffes...and G a rather fetching crocodile!)...... also The Passion.....The Antichrist...the list goes on..

AND there was us, turning round to see glorious evening sun glittering through massive stained glass.....the raised seats beneath, with the faces of smiling Cestrians..... loving their own homegrown culture...

AND  the comment from someone at the end: " BLIMEY! We've not learned a dicky bird in TWO THOUSAND YEARS!""

***SNAP shows The Cast.( G , front row, 2nd left!)***