Medieval Mystery Plays return to Teddy Hall

The fourth iteration of the Oxford Medieval Mystery Plays took place on Saturday 26 April at St Edmund Hall, performed to an enthusiastic audience of around 350 members of the College, University and public across the day.

The programme included 13 short plays staged by 150 participants – actors, directors, singers, costume designers and musicians – at various locations around the Hall. Led by 17 directors, the plays were delivered in medieval English, Dutch, German, French, and Latin, with prologues in modern English.

The plays were a very popular form of drama in the Middle Ages, with different groups performing short plays telling stories from the Bible. Together, they provide a whistlestop tour from Creation to Last Judgement, featuring devils, angels and a whole ark full of animals.

The play cycle was first performed at the Hall five years ago and it has since become a firm Oxford tradition.

Order of performance (and performing troupes) for the 2025 cycle:

The Fall of the Angels (Angels of Oxford)
Adam and Eve (Oxford German Medievalists)
The Flood (The Travelling Beavers)
Abraham and Isaac (Shear and Trembling)
The Annunciation (Low Countries Ensemble)
The Nativity (les perles innocentes)
The Wedding at Cana (Pusey House)
The Crucifixion (The Wicked Weights)
The Lamentation (St Edmund Consort)
The Harrowing of Hell (The Choir of St Edmund Hall)
The Resurrection (St Stephen’s House)
The Martyrdom of the Three Holy Virgins (Clamor Validus)
The Last Judgement (MSt English, 650–1550)

Many thanks to everyone who made the event such a success, including Hall Fellow Professor Henrike Lähnemann and Professor Lesley Smith, Co-Directors of the Oxford Medieval Studies programme, and Antonia Anstatt and Sarah Ware, Co-Heads of Performance for the 2025 cycle.

Read the full event report