Pupils performed at various sites around the city including St Sampson’s Square and the Museum Gardens.
Alan Heaven, head of drama, described the experience:
“Looking at the bare wagon, the pile of cloth and the angular bits of wood you couldn’t really blame the performers from other wagons for raising an eyebrow. After all, it was supposed to be the dress rehearsal and they had arrived with towering structures of 4×2 and plywood. We had Steve Ryan and a screwdriver.
“We were outside the National Railway Museum on the day before the first of the two Sunday performances for the four yearly cycle of the medieval York Mystery Plays. This time the school had been approached directly by the Company of Merchant Adventurers and were given the best play of the lot to perform on their behalf: The Last Judgement.
“All of the plays are based on Bible stories. Here, God passes his verdict on mankind – mostly we’re ungrateful sinners – and raises the dead so that the Saved (a minority) can be separated from the Damned (you and me) by Jesus. Devils accept the latter eagerly.
“We chose to stage it in a raw, folk style, incorporating a couple of traditional songs for the judged souls to sing to contrast with some of Musical Director Allison Bond’s gorgeous Latin harmonies which the angels enjoyed.
A pair of devils sprinted and jumped around and amongst the audience on pro-jump stilts while a masked Lucifer strode on giant stilts accompanied by his demons.
“Best of all, the play ends with a dance macabre in which the actors joined hands with audience members and followed the monstrous Death figure (a folk play ‘horse’ called Mari Lwyd) through the legs of Lucifer and into Hell.
“As the final play, we began near the Minster at four in the afternoon and hauled the wagon to a further three sites around York, finishing by dragging it back to the Railway Museum around eight o’clock in the evening. Considering that it had been pulled to its starting place at seven o’clock that morning, it made for a long day but a marvellous one.
“The crowds loved the show. A tricky first performance where Lucifer toppled over, the audience sat so close that the stilt runners couldn’t move, the rising wings didn’t and a rubbish bin prevented the set from opening. But after that everything flowed as it should, including the processional with its pounding drums, whistles and music.
“The drama department was honoured to be invited back to this international event. The performers were outstanding, the music exhilarating, Cheryl White’s costumes were beautiful and the crowd response was quite overwhelming. Congratulations to the thirty-odd staff and pupils involved.
“This was a truly Pocklington School Foundation community event, embracing all ages from Lyndhurst to antique staff, from the Heads of School to ex-pupils. Our thanks especially to the friends of the school and ex-staff who pitched in: John Williamson who came with his mighty melodeon; Ed Brindley who looked magisterial as God; Tristan the authentic-looking bearer of the colours; Diane Heywood who replaced Grace as an angel when she was taken ill during a performance and had all of five minutes to learn it.
“And the set? As the organiser put it: ‘Any fool could see that you couldn’t drag a plywood structure fifteen miles along the A1079’. Steve’s set was ingenious and based entirely on blue and white cloth. Wings rose, God stood in the sun, apostles became painted statues in archways. Not only were we ready to perform, we looked amazing.”