Lincoln Mystery Plays

The Lincoln Mystery Plays are modern performances of medieval mystery plays and other productions in Lincoln Cathedral and the surrounding area.

The Lincoln Mystery Plays are based on the N-Town Plays and were inspired by Keith Ramsay, who directed the productions every four years between 1978 and 2000. Throughout these years, Keith worked as translator, artistic director and performer. He developed a performance tradition and an important part of Lincoln life. The cycle continues to this day, the most recent round of performances in 2012.

The plays are performed in the Lincoln Cathedral and Southwell Minster. Apart from the Mystery Plays themselves, there are occasionally other performances. For example, in 2003, Mister Wesley, a new play by Roy Clarke, who also wrote Last of the Summer Wine, was performed in Lincoln and Southwell. In 2014, "The Last Post" was performed by the Lincoln Mystery Plays company at The Drill Hall, and based on the true story of the Beechey brothers. The Beecheys' were a local family in the first World War, who had eight brothers, all of which signed up to fight. Of the eight, five were killed and one was badly injured. The family's youngest daughter, Edith (Edie) and her mother Amy kept over three hundred letters from the brothers, all of which are now housed at the Lincolnshire Archives. The production starred Caroline Davies as Older Edie, Juli Charlton as Amy Beechey and Harriet Mawson as Edie Beechey. The production was directed by Janie Smith and was written by David Owen Smith and Peter Came.

The Mystery Plays tell the story of mankind as seen through the eyes of a person from the Middle Ages. The plays are usually set between the birth of Christ and his crucifixion. The plays were written in middle English, the language of the ordinary people of that time. These great guild productions flourished over 200 years in cities throughout the land until Cromwell and the Reformation ended the tradition.

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