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Programmes/Posters : 1957 Programmes

Item type: Programmes/Posters
Archive reference: YMP/B/3
Date/year: 1957
Description: Programmes of 1957 Mystery Plays production.  The programme cost one shilling. The programme for the wagon play Exodus also cost one shilling.  Cast list below.
Here is a picture from that production, the scene of the Harrowing of Hell, at night-time.  A black and white postcard has been scanned in: Gabriel appears in shining armour, above the Cross.  He is able to lead out of Hell characters from the Old Testament - Adam and Eve, and Prophets, and King David.
Harrowing of Hell 1957Producer:  E. Martin Browne
Designer: Norah Lambourne 
Director of Movement:Geraldine Stephenson
Lighting Director: Percy Corry
Stage Director: Anthony Yates
Music: 15th-century carols and music from the Fountains Fragments edited by John Stevens (now British Library, Additional Manuscripts 40011B, 40011B*) 
CAST
God the Father: Frank Shelley 
Archangel Michael: John Westbrook 
Archangel Gabriel: Eric Goodall
Lucifer (Satan):Robert Rietty
Angels: Catherine Barker, Cynthia Barron, Susan Burkestone, Christine McHugh, Hilary Parker, Judith Shaw, Marie Watson, Mavis Williams
Belzabub: Gerald Morden 
Belial: Brian Mosley
1st Devil: Paul Mead
2nd Devil: Charles Osborne 
Adam: John White 
Eve: Sheila Barker 
Abraham: Reginald Dench 
Isaak: Oswald Heppell
Doctor: Martin Colborn
Isaiah: Peter Jones
Mary: Judi Dench  
Joseph: Norman Tyrrell 
First Maid: Bernice Stewart 
Second Maid:Linda Millen 
First Shepherd: David Cobb 
Second Shepherd: Cyril Edghill
Third Shepherd: David Smith 
First King: Kelvin Higgins 
Second King: Raymond Gatenby
Third King: Roger Rowland 
John the Baptist: Gordon Willett-Bakke 
Jesus: Brian Spink
Woman taken in Adultery: Kathleen Martin 
First Jew: Terrence Sutcliffe 
Second Jew: Michael Gagen 
First Doctor: Alfred Bristow 
Second Doctor: Theo Bruce 
Messenger: Anne Taylor 
Mary of Bethany: Eve Heber-Percy 
Martha: Dorothy Anderson 
Lazarus: John Heu 
Keeper of the Gates: Leslie Wright
1st Citizen: Ronald Burkestone
Blind man:  Arthur Naylor 
Peter: Stewart Lack
James: David Cobb
Thomas: Roger Rowland 
Andrew: Albert Pratt
Zacchaeus:  Wilfred Loftus
Wife to Zacchaeus: Mary Malden
Lame Man: George Cressey
Philip: Raymond Gatenby 
John: John Langton
Apostles: Kelvin Higgins, R. Mouncey, Peter Murray-Rust, Martin Raper, Stanley Stewart
The Lord Mayor: John Westbrook
Judas: Claude Oglethorpe
Annas: Laurence Ward
Portress: Lilian Pickering 
Caiaphas: Alec de Little
Malchus: Bryan Mosley
Jewish soldiers: John Kim, Geoffrey Atkinson, Charles Osborne, Peter Charlton 
Woman by the fire: Eileen Skaife
Pilate:  John Gatrell
Percula: Theresa Green 
Maid: Hilary Moyle
Beadle: Philip Clarke 
Son to Pilate: Stewart Feather 
Roman soldiers: Derek Ball, Peter Wilson, Keith Sutcliffe, Bernard Keen, David Houghton, Harry Green, Michael Madden, Brian Nash
Barabbas: Bryan Mosley 
Mary Magdalene: Jean Buckle 
Simon of Cyrene: Stanley Stewart 
Mary Cleopas: Barbara Hughes
Boy at the Cross: Michael Lehrer 
Joseph of Arimathaea: Martyn Colborn 
Nichodemus: Norman Tyrrell 
David: H. Campbell-Baron
Citizens:  Leonie Alderwick, Maureen Ault, Eileen Barker, Mary Booker, Hilda Bristow, Brenda Burkestone, Pat Butters, Doris Clarke, Margaret Coley, John Cross, Olave Dench, Eileen Dobson, Gillian Emmett, Christine Griffin, Margaret Hibbs, Catherine Hind, Mavis Hitchcock, June Holyoake, Rose Jacklin, Peter Johnson, Laurence Lister, Johnathan Lutman, Paul Marquis, Shelagh Martin, Anne Morris, Pamela Newcomb, Margaret Nixon, Arthur Pickering, Beryl Richardson, Kathryn Smith, Michael Tuthill, Eileen Watson, Ann Whipp
Country Folk:Keith Anderson, Anne Atkinson, Michael Aubrey, Anne Bentley, Gladys Benton, Monica Booth, Roger Boston, Shirley Bowland, Frank Brown, James Cameron, Oliver Clark, John Cockerell, Harold Covel, George Dale, Carole Eden, Mollie Green, Lili Lewins, Brian McKenna, Eleanor Milner, Anne Morley, Clive Mortimer, Alec O'Connor, Bobby Oswald, Terence Pemberton, Freda Pickard, C. W. Rawling, Brenda Ray, Patrick Read, Joyce Robinson, Margaret Rooks, Michael Ruse, Pamela Schofield, Doreen Smith, Jack Tweedle, Brian Waggitt, Margaret Ward, George Wickham, James Wilkinson, Gordon Wood

Music: Schola Polyphonica, conducted by Henry Washington; the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, directed by Denis Stevens, who is also responsible for the transcription and editing of the music from sources contemporary with the plays.
Assistant to the Producer: Barbara Sykes
Stage Director: Myra Thomas
Stage Manager: Edward Scurr
Assistant Stage Managers: Madeline Blackeney, Barbara Damron, Mary Thomas 
Wardrobe Mistresses: Olave Dench, Mary Robinson, Kathleen DeLittle
Property Mistress: Kathleen DeLittle
Front of House Manager:R. L. Rodger
Deputy Front of House Manager: W. Smith
Cast Marshal: Kenneth Matthews

Wardrobe Group: Mesdames Benfield, Blenkin, Byetheway, Craven, Dawson, Hall, Killip, Lawn, McLean, McClenaghan, Maynard, Pim, Rankin, Simpson, Tye, Tatton, Vaughan-Jones, M. Walker, N. Walker; Mlles. Gallimore, Purvis.
Property Assistants: Marjorie Scurr, Eileen Andrewarthur, Ruth Dawson, Joan Fawcett, Ena Mather, Harold Milner.
Assistant Cast Marshals: Patricia Cowell, William Cowell, John Harbottle, Malcolm E. Douglas, Kenneth Wardle.
Music recorded by: Recorded Sound Limited, who also supplied the sound equipment.
Lighting: Strand Electric and Engineering Company Ltd, who also installed the lighting equipment
Scenery built by Arthur Heppell and Mills Scaffolding Company Ltd, who also built the stands.

In 1957 there was a separate wagon play performed in York streets - The Exodus.  The NCEM has a copy.  This extra play proved a popular addition to the 'static' production, and was followed in 1960 by Christ and the Elders; in 1963 by Abraham and Isaak; 1966 Noah's Flood; 1973 Herod and the Three Kings; 1976 Last Judgement; 1980 Noah's Flood; 19 84 Harrowing of Hell. 


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