THE MAGIC BEGINS...

Tuesday, 20th May 2008

Chester Mystery Plays are being performed this summer and promise to be a spectacular, passionate and exciting theatrical experience full of music, dance, drama and magical effects!

From the beginning of Creation to the Last Judgment this funny and moving series of plays are drawn from Bible stories and retold with fresh verve and compelling new music.

The Plays this year will have universal appeal – there will be street theatre and circus acts for the audience before the plays begin and during the plays, dramatic and rousing choral pieces, a burlesque, cabaret style Last Judgment and the fantastic magical skills of Oswestry born magician Paul Dabak, who has been cast to play Lucifer. The plays will also be topical in that they promote the theme of recycling – the recycling of religions, props and materials, and even cast members themselves who appear as a main character in one scene and then become a Gawper in the crowd in another. The climactic Last Judgment will leave the audience in no doubt as to what is to become of the world should we not take the issues of global warming, pollution and other environmental disasters seriously!

Not content with presenting such a dramatic spectacle, this year the director Robin Goddard is challenging tradition by showing the women in clearly defined relationships to the disciples and to Christ i.e. not as subordinates but as equals and in particular the transformation of Eve once she has tasted the fruit in the Garden of Eden from new born innocent to a powerful woman of knowledge borders on the erotic.

The costumes and set – which is over thirty metres wide and already under construction – will also reflect the idea that Christianity is built on earlier religions from which it takes its ideas, symbols and theology.

26th June - 19th July 2008

Chester Cathedral Green
7.30pm & Saturday Matinees 1pm
£10 - £23

Chester Festivals Box Office
The Racecourse
Chester
CH1 2LY

Call 01244 304618 or Book Online