The strolling players of Italy become relevant in York today because once every 4 years, the medieval mystery plays roll out the waggons and take to the streets.

Review by Angie Millard

The mystery plays are a retelling of the biblical stories from the creation through to the last judgement. In York, they were largely performed on waggons which moved through the town from station to station, used as a means of educating the largely illiterate audience. Yes, there were comic characters like Mrs Noah who refused to get on the ark and in Wakefield, there were the shepherds who stole a lamb and passed it off as a baby in the cradle. However, the church forbade them to perform this broad humour and under the auspices of the Guilds they instead took to the streets. 

Mistero Buffo is a play written by Dario Fo, which is a very different thing to the mystery plays of old. Instead, it features a series of satirical sketches and monologues performed by a jongleur (or in this production, two actors) as a critique of contemporary society and its religious institutions. In this venture, miraculous healings are ridiculed, the struggles against oppressive authorities are portrayed and biblical characters are humanised. The stories become increasingly tragic, ranging from a gloss on the marriage feast of Cana to crowds gathering to witness the raising of Lazarus from the dead, paying an entrance fee and hiring chairs. Predictably, a clever hustler steals the proceeds.

The audience are told of a man who owns land and builds a farm to feed his family, only to have it snatched from him by a ruthless lord who rapes his wife and shames his family. It is impossible not to make comparisons with Israel and Palestine and the whole bloodbath of the Middle Eastern conflicts at the moment as the parable becomes reality.

Cathy Sana is one of the jongleurs: a strong storyteller and superb actress who demonstrates her versatility in a range of roles. She is able to move through several characters in her stories with sharply observed animation. Her culminating portrayal of Mary, the mother of Christ, is incredibly moving. Using nothing but a shabby blue coat and a step ladder, she conjures up a vision of grief created in the classical statues and paintings of the Renaissance. A vision of Michelangelo’s La PIeta remains with me afterwards.

Thomas Frere is her acting partner and is closer to the musical jongleurs Dario Fo is emulating here. He maintains a cheeky insouciance at the beginning of the piece, changing to despair as the landowner who loses everything and is driven to suicide. He answers an appeal from someone (who turns out to be Christ) for water and food, which causes him to re-evaluate his situation and shows him that there is another way of living. 

In his role as a soldier on calvary, hardened to the suffering of others, Frere is given another more subtle role to play as he gives the grieving madonna practical advice. In Mistero Buffo, Paul Birch has achieved a play which progresses boldly through comedy towards the final goal of telling the truth. Thee simplicity of the staging and presentation (created by Ollie Birch) acts as the perfect frame for such a play.

Overall, I was particularly impressed by the strength of this production and the honesty of the message which deserves to be told.

Mistero Buffo will be performed at Friargate Theatre until 4 July 2026.