Medieval Retelling of the Bible : City’s Version of Passion Play Keeps a Mystery Going

A 13-year-old God, a Hindu Christ and up to 300 Yorkshire locals have joined thespian forces in the north of England this month as the York Mystery plays return to the stage, reviving a centuries-old theatrical form.

“They so much belong to this city,” Jude Kelly, artistic director of the York Festival, said of the Mystery plays, which form the centerpiece to the citywide festival running through July 10.

This year is the 10th staging of the York cycle since the medieval retelling of the Bible was relaunched for modern audiences at the 1951 Festival of Britain.

Victor Banerjee, who played Dr. Aziz in the movie “A Passage to India,” portrays Christ. He is the first Hindu actor to inherit a role that previously has been held by such established British performers as Simon Ward and Christopher Timothy. The 300-strong lineup of amateur talent around him includes Jon Lacy Colson, 13, as a prepubescent God.

The Mystery plays first appeared during the 13th Century as religious entertainments performed in the vernacular telling the biblical story from the Creation to Judgment Day.

Other countries have their own versions, such as the Oberammergau Passion play in Germany. In Britain, they were associated with towns with significant numbers of guilds, each of which would perform a different biblical pageant. As a thriving medieval city and the seat of England’s second bishopric, York became known for its particular cycle of plays; other cities (Chester, Lincoln) performed their versions as well.

The Mystery plays fell out of favor during the Reformation in the 16th Century, when interest shifted to William Shakespeare and his peers. Interest was rekindled this century after World War II, as the British started to re-examine their literary heritage. The 1988 York cycle is an adaptation by Andrew Wickes from the canonical version by the late Rev. J. S. Purvis.

Religious dramas drawing on both the Old and New Testaments, the York cycle lasts more than 3 1/2 hours. Performed outdoors in a 1,514-seat theater against the backdrop of a ruined abbey, the cycle is a distillation of the 48 Mystery plays written in the 14th Century by the city’s guilds and craftsmen.

Performed in its entirety, the York cycle would last 18 hours, including musical interludes; distilled, it is a stage adventure that brings together outsiders and the local citizenry.

“It’s a thing out of this world; you hear the first chord of music, the butterflies go up and down and you’re away,” said Betty Doig, a York native who first appeared in the 1976 cycle playing Mary, the mother of Jesus, with her husband and five of their seven children.

This year, in addition to working backstage on props, Doig, 67, plays Noah’s wife in the first York cycle this century to include the story of Noah’s Ark.

“I’ve always wanted to box a man onstage,” Doig said of the role, which requires her to get angry. “I think it’s marvelous.”

As the lone professional in the company, Banerjee said he was moved by the enthusiasm of his non-professional colleagues.

“It’s like walking out of 42nd Street into a nunnery,” he said during a recent trip to the ancient cathedral city.

“You’re confronted with a new version of reality--a sense of discovery that you’d lost; the kind of values you had when you began.”

As a Hindu who divides his time between homes in Calcutta and Mussoorie in the Himalayan foothills, Banerjee said he was pleased and surprised to be offered the role of Christ.

“Here I was being asked to play this part when I was living thousands of miles away and they had millions of people to choose from,” said Banerjee, who makes his British stage debut in the role.