English mystery plays Book

Humour, pathos and suffering, and the culminating drama of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, give these plays a wonderful immediacy. Their action was conceived on a cosmic scale and all the enthusiasm and vitality of their writing is retained to this day. The energies of whole communities, notably at Chester, York and Wakefield, were devoted to their production and they were to influence later dramatists significantly. The grand design of the mystery plays was to celebrate the Christian story from 'The Fall of Lucifer' to the 'Judgment Day', and this volume contains thirty-eight plays, forming in itself a composite cycle and including almost all the incidents common to the extant cycles. Contents: The pre-Reformation Banns of the Chester cycle. The plays. The fall of Lucifer (Chester) -- The creation, and Adam and Eve (Chester) -- The killing of Abel (Towneley) -- Noah (Towneley) -- Noah (Chester) -- Abraham and Isaac (Chester) -- Abraham and Isaac (Brome) -- Moses (York) -- Balaam, Balak and the prophets (Chester) -- The parliament of heaven, the salutation and conception (Ludus Coventriae) -- Joseph (Ludus Coventriae) -- The nativity (Ludus Coventriae) -- The first shepherds' play (Towneley) -- The second shepherds' play (Towneley) -- Introduction to the three kings (York) -- The adoration (York) -- The flight into Egypt (Towneley) -- The purification, and Christ with the doctors (Chester) -- The death of Herod (Ludus Coventriae) -- The shearmen and tailors' play (Coventry) -- John the Baptist (York) -- The temptation of Christ, and the woman taken in adultery (Chester) -- Lazarus (Towneley) -- The Passion play I. The council of the Jews (Ludus Coventriae) ; The Last Supper (Ludus Coventriae) ; The betrayal (Ludus Coventriae) -- The buffeting (Towneley) -- The dream of Pilate's wife (York) -- The scourging (Towneley) -- The crucifixion (York) -- The death and burial (York) -- The harrowing of hell (York) -- The resurrection (Towneley) -- Christ's appearances to the disciples (Ludus Coventriae) -- The ascension (Chester) -- Pentecost (York) -- The assumption and coronation of the Virgin (York) -- Judgement Day (York).