Miracle Plays or Mystery Plays

These were medieval dramas put on by the city corporation and guilds, representing sacred history or lives of the saints. They were played principally on festivals, Corpus Christi Day, Christmas, Whitsuntide and Easter. Acted usually on wheeled stages and pulled about to various points in the city, they tended to mix their serious subjects with slapstick humour and farce. For example, the star of the Nativity play is Mack, the sheep stealer, who hides a lamb in a baby’s crib and who for punishment is tossed in a blanket. While many Miracle Plays were staged in London, we know more about those put on in Coventry, York, Chester and Wakefield because of the material that has survived.