Choral Evensong at Lichfield Cathedral last night turned into an impromptu 'son et lumiere'. It wasn't planned -- but from my point of view it was dramatic and pleasing. The choir was in good voice, and sang the service to Tudor settings. The 'sound' bit of the 'sound and light show' was, then, entirely as expected. The 'light' was provided by a technician, experimenting with special effects on some rigging temporarily installed in the Nave. Thus, as the choir sang the Magnificat, the ceiling of the west end, usually white, turned blue, then red, then gold, back to blue, then red, then gold, and so on. A bit more co-ordination with the music, and we may have stumbled upon a new and exciting development in the English Cathedral Choral tradition.
This, you see, is the weekend of the Lichfield Mysteries. It's an extraordinary triennial event, with a claim to being the biggest piece of amateur dramatics in the country.
Mystery play cycles are a fabulous part of our heritage, dating back to the high middle ages. (I found myself wondering if the Tudor musicians who had composed the settings the choir sang last night ever performed in mystery plays, or wrote music for them.) Fragments of the original Lichfield Cycle survive in manuscripts dating back to the fifteenth century -- though the modern version has in fact only been going for 15 years.
A typical cycle (and our cycle is typical) attempts to trace the whole sweep of the Bible story from Creation to 'Doomsday'. This year's performance comprises 24 plays, including 'the killing of Abel' and 'Noah's Flood', 'Joseph's Doubt' and 'the Dream of Pilate's Wife', 'the Harrowing of Hell' and 'the Resurrection'. The sequence involves some performances of near professional quality (including some stunning choreography and costumes), with some pantomime moments and the kind of hiccups generally associated with amateur dramatics. But the event is breath-taking in its scope and ambition and should be much more widely celebrated than it is. It's good to think that these stories, about Abraham or the Exodus, the Prophets or the Nativity (and the values they cultivate, and the faith they imply), are still part of the public imagination.
If you want an epic today, forget the four hour 'marathon' that was Federer versus Roddick (terrific as that was: a historic achievement eclipsing a heroic effort). For a true epic, take in the six hours (24 plays x 15 minutes) of the Lichfield Mysteries. After all, Wimbledon comes round every year, but for this you have to wait until 2012.
This, you see, is the weekend of the Lichfield Mysteries. It's an extraordinary triennial event, with a claim to being the biggest piece of amateur dramatics in the country.
Mystery play cycles are a fabulous part of our heritage, dating back to the high middle ages. (I found myself wondering if the Tudor musicians who had composed the settings the choir sang last night ever performed in mystery plays, or wrote music for them.) Fragments of the original Lichfield Cycle survive in manuscripts dating back to the fifteenth century -- though the modern version has in fact only been going for 15 years.
A typical cycle (and our cycle is typical) attempts to trace the whole sweep of the Bible story from Creation to 'Doomsday'. This year's performance comprises 24 plays, including 'the killing of Abel' and 'Noah's Flood', 'Joseph's Doubt' and 'the Dream of Pilate's Wife', 'the Harrowing of Hell' and 'the Resurrection'. The sequence involves some performances of near professional quality (including some stunning choreography and costumes), with some pantomime moments and the kind of hiccups generally associated with amateur dramatics. But the event is breath-taking in its scope and ambition and should be much more widely celebrated than it is. It's good to think that these stories, about Abraham or the Exodus, the Prophets or the Nativity (and the values they cultivate, and the faith they imply), are still part of the public imagination.
If you want an epic today, forget the four hour 'marathon' that was Federer versus Roddick (terrific as that was: a historic achievement eclipsing a heroic effort). For a true epic, take in the six hours (24 plays x 15 minutes) of the Lichfield Mysteries. After all, Wimbledon comes round every year, but for this you have to wait until 2012.
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