Every four years, York remembers.
For a few days, streets that have witnessed these stories for centuries become a stage once more. Actors become angels, kings, labourers and executioners. Ancient words are spoken between cafés and market stalls, and the ordinary briefly gives way to the extraordinary.
The Mystery Plays are more than a performance. They are an act of communal remembrance.
Born from the medieval craft guilds, the mysteries that first gave the plays their name, they continue because each generation chooses to tell the stories again. Costumes, audiences and beliefs may change, but the tradition endures.
These photographs are not a record of theatre alone. They trace the journey from preparation to performance, from suffering to judgement, and finally back to everyday life, as York quietly resumes its rhythm.
For a brief moment every four years, the past walks beside the present.
That is the mystery.
Listening Companion: 'On the Nature of Daylight' - Max Richter
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