Abstract:
This thesis discusses the modern revival history of the medieval York mystery play cycle, from the 1951 Festival of Britain to the present day. With consideration where appropriate to the cycle’s medieval performance history, it attempts to evaluate the cycle’s role in the contemporary context. The main research question is to determine the extent to which the cycle today still performs its medieval functions of piety, religious devotion and the demonstration of community, assessing how these functions have been re-interpreted for the present day or replaced by other contemporary concerns. Using a combination of archival research, subject interviews and observation of modern performance practice, the thesis contributes to the ongoing documentation of the play cycle’s modern performance history. As a theoretical framework it takes Hans-Georg Gadamer’s model of hermeneutics, using this to explore how meaning is created in contemporary performance through what Gadamer terms the ‘fusion of horizons’ of past and present, with particular reference to medievalism and medievalising impulses. It also applies Gadamer’s thinking on the relationship of the part to whole, and vice versa, to explore the cycle’s change in religious function and how different forms of faith today take up the cycle to explore or express their own concerns. Finally, Gadamer’s notion of ‘play’ is used to examine the most recent performance of the York Cycle, the 2018 waggon production. Ultimately the thesis works towards an understanding of how the play cycle has been taken up by modern-day York and its people as a vehicle for the expression of heritage and identity, and as a performance artefact contributing to the creation of community and local pride.
