Oxford Medieval Mystery Plays
Oxford Medieval Mystery Plays: medieval drama to a modern-day audience
The Medieval Mystery Plays are held regularly at St Edmund Hall.
The plays were a very popular form of drama in the Middle Ages – with different groups performing short plays telling stories from the Bible. To take part in the next performance, please email Professor Henrike Lähnemann, Fellow of St Edmund Hall and Professor of Medieval German Literature and Linguistics, and Professor Lesley Smith, Fellow and Tutor in Politics and Senior Tutor at Harris Manchester College, Co-Directors of the Oxford Medieval Studies Programme at TORCH, using the address: medieval@torch.ox.ac.uk.
The Oxford Medieval Mystery Plays 2025
Saturday 26 April 2025 from 12 noon at St Edmund Hall, Queen’s Lane, OX1 4AR
Come one, come all! Free entry – no booking or tickets required.
On Saturday 26 April 2025, a cycle of medieval mystery plays will be performed by various troupes around St Edmund Hall’s grounds. Medieval mystery plays were performed throughout the Middle Ages by and for everyone, and we’re excited to put on quite a day of shows for you!
Worried that you won’t understand the performances in medieval languages? Never fear! Each play will be accompanied by a modern English prologue, which will help to summarise the play.
Running order for the day:
12 noon: Old Testament Plays (Front Quad):
The Fall of the Angels (Angels of Oxford) – Middle English
Adam and Eve (Oxford German Medievalists) – Hans Sachs, Early New High German
The Flood (The Travelling Beavers) – Middle English
Abraham and Isaac (Shear and Trembling) – Middle English
1.30pm: New Testament Plays (Churchyard):
The Annunciation (Low Countries Ensemble) – Middle Dutch
The Nativity (Les Perles Innocentes) – Marguerite de Navarre, French
The Wedding at Cana (Pusey House ) – Modern English, with Middle English archaisms
The Crucifixion (The Wicked Weights) – Middle English
The Lamentation (St Edmund Consort) – Bordesholmer Marienklage, Low German and Latin
The Harrowing of Hell (The Choir of St Edmund Hall) – Latin
3.30pm: New Testament Plays continued:
The Resurrection (St Stephen’s House) – Middle English
The Martyrdom of the Three Holy Virgins (Clamor Validus) – Hrosvitha of Gandersheim, Latin and modern English
The Last Judgement (MSt English, 650–1550) – Modern English
6.15pm: Evensong (Chapel)
You are welcome to drop in and out throughout the afternoon. All performances will take place outside, so please dress comfortably for the weather conditions. There will be two small tea breaks, at around 1.15pm and 3.15pm.
If you have any questions about the cycle or the performances, please email the co-heads of performance: Sarah Ware and Antonia Anstatt.
