0:00:02 > 0:00:05I bid you all warmly welcome to the ancient and beautiful
0:00:05 > 0:00:12city of Chester, home of the world-famous Chester Mystery Plays.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16This is the cathedral city of Chester,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20which has been steeped in Christianity for nearly 2,000 years.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23It's also the home of the ancient Mystery Plays, which,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26as you can hear, is being announced by the town crier.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30Every five years, the stories of the Bible are re-enacted
0:00:30 > 0:00:34in a huge community production with scores of volunteers,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37both on and off the stage.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Thousands have seen it over the past couple of weeks
0:00:40 > 0:00:43and we are going to get a taste today on Songs Of Praise
0:00:43 > 0:00:47as we celebrate the greatest story ever told.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52I'm going behind the scenes during the final rehearsals,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54meeting the man who plays God
0:00:54 > 0:00:58and the playwright bringing the age-old stories to life,
0:00:58 > 0:01:03and, of course, we've timeless hymns telling the story of salvation.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Chester is one of Britain's oldest cities.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20In fact, there was a Roman settlement here
0:01:20 > 0:01:22only 70 years after the birth of Christ.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28These city walls were built after the Normans' arrival,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32around 1000 AD, and then, in the 15th century,
0:01:32 > 0:01:37an ancient tradition began, which has been going strong ever since.
0:01:39 > 0:01:40The Chester Mystery Plays
0:01:40 > 0:01:44predate the first English translation of the Bible.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48It's the story of mankind and man's redemption,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51from the creation right the way through to the last judgement.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55In the past, the plays have been performed entirely outdoors.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59This year they're moving indoors to Chester Cathedral.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01There is just something very beautiful
0:02:01 > 0:02:04about being in the nave of the cathedral.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09It's almost a real genuine community that you are a part of.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14You become aware of hundreds of years of devotion, really,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17on stage, and to be part of that is extraordinary.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22At their heart, they still remain plays by the people for the people,
0:02:22 > 0:02:24a coming together of the whole community,
0:02:24 > 0:02:26and that is what our first hymn is all about.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29It was actually recorded here at the cathedral
0:02:29 > 0:02:33with congregations and school choirs gathered together
0:02:33 > 0:02:35to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50In 1951, the Chester Mystery Plays
0:04:50 > 0:04:53were updated for the Festival of Britain.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Since then, they have been performed every five years,
0:04:56 > 0:04:58continuing an ancient tradition
0:04:58 > 0:05:01where local guilds or community groups
0:05:01 > 0:05:03perform the great stories of the Bible.
0:05:03 > 0:05:10For 2013, they have been adapted by writer Stephanie Dale.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13I'll go hence and trace my path...
0:05:13 > 0:05:17I think the most important decision that we made very early on
0:05:17 > 0:05:19was that we wanted to work
0:05:19 > 0:05:21with the local community as much as we could
0:05:21 > 0:05:25and what was important to us was to find a way
0:05:25 > 0:05:28of updating the guilds, the people who would
0:05:28 > 0:05:33put on the plays now - the teachers, the commuters, the tourists,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36the gay community, the homeless community.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38So, for example, creation,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40the most logical thing to do with creation
0:05:40 > 0:05:42was to give it to the teachers
0:05:42 > 0:05:46and so the teachers' guild is now performing creation,
0:05:46 > 0:05:48which is a lesson to year four.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51At my bidding, may it be light!
0:05:51 > 0:05:53Light is good, I see in sight.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59Did you ever worry about it being a little bit irreverent?
0:05:59 > 0:06:04I think we have tried extremely hard to look at each individual play
0:06:04 > 0:06:07and look at the tone of it.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10THEY SING
0:06:10 > 0:06:14I didn't want to create a piece of museum theatre that people think,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16"What has this got to do with me now?"
0:06:16 > 0:06:21I wanted it to feel very sort of 2013 and we are in Chester.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Equally, I've been very careful, so, for example,
0:06:24 > 0:06:28plays such as the Passion, I've left very much alone.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32The Paschal lamb must be as the Lord doth command.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36- The Paschal lamb is made ready. - It was made hours before.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38It's a drama, it's a play,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41but underpinning it is that spiritual tone.
0:06:41 > 0:06:42How does that affect you?
0:06:42 > 0:06:44I think it's been very, very moving
0:06:44 > 0:06:47and particularly when we have been coming into the cathedral
0:06:47 > 0:06:51and I think it is extraordinary to think that we are actually
0:06:51 > 0:06:55in the space where the monks would have translated these plays
0:06:55 > 0:06:58from Latin into English hundreds of years ago.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03You do find yourself thinking, "What would they make
0:07:03 > 0:07:08"of where we are now and how we are, you know, retelling these stories."
0:07:12 > 0:07:15And as a writer, do you think this is the greatest story ever told?
0:07:15 > 0:07:17I think it has to be, doesn't it?
0:07:17 > 0:07:22Because there are just... Each play, the play is about love,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25about jealousy, about hate, about revenge
0:07:25 > 0:07:29and I think, whether you have religious belief or not,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32I think, how can these stories fail but to move you?
0:10:04 > 0:10:0940 days and 40 nights it shall rain...
0:10:09 > 0:10:12For the actors involved in the Chester Mystery Plays,
0:10:12 > 0:10:17it's a chance to tell the stories of age-old biblical characters
0:10:17 > 0:10:19in a historic and holy place.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21The building itself and the sort of
0:10:21 > 0:10:24hundreds of years of spirituality in the place,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26come to be part of the production as well.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28In a funny kind of way,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31the building becomes a character in the play as well.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33I hear the angel and Lucifer.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Actor Nick Fry is a member of the cathedral congregation
0:10:37 > 0:10:41and has perhaps the most challenging part of all.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44The kind of premise of the play is God's workshop
0:10:44 > 0:10:47and so it's creating the world and then sort of setting it off.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50- What are you doing in there? - I'm playing God.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53- SHE LAUGHS - Yes, I know.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57I... I create the world and it's wonderful, the power!
0:10:57 > 0:10:59I mean, that's quite daunting.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02You can't get anything more daunting than playing God, can you?
0:11:02 > 0:11:04No, especially in a cathedral.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09The scary bit is trying to come up with a character
0:11:09 > 0:11:13because it's quite easy to be a bit distant and sort of just be,
0:11:13 > 0:11:15you know, the man in the clouds sort of shouting at people.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19Adam! Man! Also I say to thee...
0:11:19 > 0:11:21What characteristics are you giving him?
0:11:21 > 0:11:25As an actor, what you do is look for humanity,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29so when God sort of expels Adam from Eden,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32you kind of ask, well, how did God feel about that?
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Was he disappointed, happy, sad?
0:11:35 > 0:11:37And that's what you look for,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40those sort of human characteristics you try and latch on to.
0:11:40 > 0:11:41So has this experience
0:11:41 > 0:11:45brought you to an understanding of God's humanity?
0:11:45 > 0:11:46Absolutely, yes.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50As a person of faith, that reveals something to you
0:11:50 > 0:11:54that perhaps you hadn't expected to discover.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58That sense of seeing God as a person, not just as a concept
0:11:58 > 0:12:01or as an abstract being, but as an actual person, is quite interesting
0:12:01 > 0:12:05and it's something, actually, I hadn't expected to have happen.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10It is for your sins I behight to make reckoning of the right.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14'When you think of approaching the divine in terms of humanity,
0:12:14 > 0:12:19'of course you think of Jesus, and perhaps God is not necessarily
0:12:19 > 0:12:24'seen as that human a figure, but when you start thinking about it,'
0:12:24 > 0:12:27man was created in God's image, so there must be humanity there
0:12:27 > 0:12:30and when you go and look for that and you find it,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32that's quite revealing, actually.
0:12:35 > 0:12:41# God so loved the world
0:12:41 > 0:12:49# So loved the world
0:12:49 > 0:12:54# God so loved the world
0:12:54 > 0:13:00# So loved the world
0:13:00 > 0:13:09# That he gave his only begotten son
0:13:09 > 0:13:14# That who so believeth
0:13:14 > 0:13:20# Believeth in him
0:13:20 > 0:13:23# Should not perish
0:13:23 > 0:13:32# But have everlasting life
0:13:32 > 0:13:36# Everlasting
0:13:36 > 0:13:45# Everlasting life
0:13:47 > 0:13:55- # God so loved the world - God so loved, God so loved
0:13:55 > 0:14:01# The world, the world
0:14:01 > 0:14:13- # God so loved the world - God so loved, God so loved the world
0:14:13 > 0:14:23# That he gave his only begotten son
0:14:23 > 0:14:33# That who still believeth Believeth in him
0:14:33 > 0:14:37# Should not perish
0:14:37 > 0:14:46# But have everlasting life
0:14:46 > 0:14:50# Everlasting
0:14:50 > 0:15:00# Everlasting life
0:15:00 > 0:15:09- # God so loved the world - Everlasting life
0:15:09 > 0:15:20# God so loved the world. #
0:15:30 > 0:15:34A key ingredient in the Chester Mystery Plays is music.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Local composer Matt Baker has arranged the score
0:15:37 > 0:15:40for musicians of all abilities.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45It's wonderful to be able to work with all the people
0:15:45 > 0:15:47who are performing it.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50There have been people turning up out of the woodwork -
0:15:50 > 0:15:54wonderful singers, brilliant violinists, a didgeridoo player,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56a hurdy-gurdy player, and that's been exciting
0:15:56 > 0:16:00because I've been able to compose for so many different instruments.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03And what about writing what is reputedly
0:16:03 > 0:16:06the greatest story ever told? Is there an added pressure on that?
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Well, yes, because you've got to meet expectations.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12There's the expectations of those people who are coming to witness
0:16:12 > 0:16:15another interpretation of that greatest story,
0:16:15 > 0:16:16but there's also those people
0:16:16 > 0:16:19who perhaps are going to see it for the first time
0:16:19 > 0:16:23and there's the entertainment value, there's wanting to be relevant.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27# Full of Grace God is with thee... #
0:16:27 > 0:16:29Gabriel, for example, when he talks to Mary
0:16:29 > 0:16:31and says that she is going to have a baby,
0:16:31 > 0:16:36it's done to a kind of 1940s Frank Sinatra swing style.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39# ..Bo-o-o-ody! #
0:16:39 > 0:16:43And all the adults get thrown into the mouth of hell
0:16:43 > 0:16:46to the sound of a rock guitar, you know, in a kind of almost
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Bohemian Rhapsody type thing, so it's a real mixture.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52ELECTRIC GUITARS WAIL
0:16:52 > 0:16:54Matt, when you're writing,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57particularly for something that has this spiritual theme,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00how does that affect you?
0:17:00 > 0:17:04Well, it may not necessarily affect me when I'm composing.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06It might be a performance,
0:17:06 > 0:17:10it might be ten performances in and suddenly I'll see it all together,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13I'll see it in the context of the whole story
0:17:13 > 0:17:15and that connection is made
0:17:15 > 0:17:18and I might suddenly become very, very emotional
0:17:18 > 0:17:21and that is from a very deep, spiritual level.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26The passion is being re-enacted in the Chester Mystery Plays,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28right from the Last Supper to the crucifixion
0:17:28 > 0:17:33and in that particular part of the story, I haven't used any singing,
0:17:33 > 0:17:34but just drummers,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38and the drummers create this real pervasive rhythm.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43As soon as the crucifixion happens and we see Mary, mother of Jesus,
0:17:43 > 0:17:47then it becomes a very simple melody.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51HE PLAYS PIANO CHORDS
0:17:51 > 0:17:54As Jesus is being put into the grave.
0:17:54 > 0:18:01# Sister, yet hope I
0:18:01 > 0:18:10# Sister, yet hope I
0:18:10 > 0:18:17# Sister, yet hope I
0:18:17 > 0:18:25# That your son will rise again. #
0:21:37 > 0:21:39This cathedral is the birthplace
0:21:39 > 0:21:42of the first medieval Chester Mystery Plays,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45but they haven't been performed here for over 60 years.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Over the past few weeks, the clergy have seen the nave
0:21:48 > 0:21:52transformed into an auditorium fit for a community production.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54'The Mystery Plays, I think,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57'have been great for engaging the local community.
0:21:57 > 0:21:58'There's people drawn'
0:21:58 > 0:22:01from all around Chester into North Wales into Liverpool
0:22:01 > 0:22:03and from the cathedral's perspective,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07I think it's really good that we are part of that.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11'One of the big things, I think, in faith is how we step aside
0:22:11 > 0:22:15'and let God do something and I think here at the cathedral,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19'everything is very formulaic, very rhythmic, very ordered
0:22:19 > 0:22:22'and I've had to step aside from my order'
0:22:22 > 0:22:24in trying to keep the cathedral running in a very ordered way
0:22:24 > 0:22:28and just allow something new to happen
0:22:28 > 0:22:32and that is both exciting, but it's also challenging.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36- ALL:- Ego sum Alpha et Omega...
0:22:36 > 0:22:39'Hearing all the different bits of rehearsal going on
0:22:39 > 0:22:40'and some of those stories,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43'you just suddenly get the glimpse of something
0:22:43 > 0:22:45'or you hear a sound of a text'
0:22:45 > 0:22:47relating to a particular biblical story
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and you stop and you hear it fresh, it's spoken in a different way,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54and that breathes a whole sort of breath of life
0:22:54 > 0:22:57into the cathedral in a new way and that's been really good for us.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Having finished this weekend, the Chester Mystery Plays
0:24:54 > 0:24:59now move on to Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral in October.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01For the hundreds of local volunteers,
0:25:01 > 0:25:02it's been a long-term commitment
0:25:02 > 0:25:07and a chance to play their part in telling the great story.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10There's a massive range of people involved in the production.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13There's teenagers and such, there's people younger than me,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15five to ten-year-olds,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17who play the parts of the animals in Noah's scene,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20and there's people who are, like, 50 and above.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23It just fills all the community of Chester. It's quite fantastic.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26To see my son here, I kneel before.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30Tugged, bloodied and all too torn.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34One of the parts I'm playing is older Mary in the Passion of Christ,
0:25:34 > 0:25:40the crucifixion, and it's brought it home really, to me,
0:25:40 > 0:25:46more about her personal life and, in fact, what she did go through,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49so it's a good learning curve if you like.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52It's really taken us on another journey.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54- God's son in majesty, come down. - JEERING
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Many of the volunteers like Jeff McLaughlin
0:25:57 > 0:25:59have never performed on stage before.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04I have learned a lot of new skills by being on stage.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07They've helped me to be able to tell the story
0:26:07 > 0:26:13to those people who I meet on an everyday basis in a simple form.
0:26:13 > 0:26:19And...when I contemplate the writing of these plays,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23which is 200 years before Shakespeare was born,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27and they are still being performed every five years in Chester
0:26:27 > 0:26:30and the word of God is being spread around.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32The story is the same story,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36but it is relevant to everyone today as it was 2,000 years ago.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39It is my will.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42And university student Jessica Lane
0:26:42 > 0:26:45also brings her faith to the performances.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47I value the fact that I can spread God's word through drama.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51It's the first time I've ever done something theatrical that is
0:26:51 > 0:26:53also about God and about the Bible.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56I will not go with that animal!
0:26:56 > 0:26:58'Doing the plays has really helped me to see
0:26:58 > 0:27:02'the Bible in a different way, actually doing the shows and seeing
0:27:02 > 0:27:04'how people are reacting to it
0:27:04 > 0:27:07'has changed my perspective on the stories.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12'I've started praying now. Praying through the shows is something'
0:27:12 > 0:27:15that I have started and will continue to do.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28# You knew me at the start
0:27:29 > 0:27:33# You know me at the end
0:27:35 > 0:27:39# Dreams and realities
0:27:41 > 0:27:46# And everything in between
0:27:48 > 0:27:55# Jesus loves me
0:27:55 > 0:27:57# This I know
0:27:57 > 0:28:00# For sure
0:28:02 > 0:28:08# Oh, how he loves me
0:28:09 > 0:28:11# This I know
0:28:11 > 0:28:14# For sure
0:28:24 > 0:28:30# This is the life you made
0:28:30 > 0:28:36# And journeyed with all the way
0:28:38 > 0:28:42# Dreams and realities
0:28:44 > 0:28:49# And everything in between
0:28:51 > 0:28:58# Jesus loves me
0:28:58 > 0:29:04# This I know for sure
0:29:05 > 0:29:12# Oh, how he loves me
0:29:12 > 0:29:17# This I know for sure
0:29:19 > 0:29:25# Oh, how he loves me
0:29:27 > 0:29:30# This I know
0:29:30 > 0:29:34# For sure. #
0:29:44 > 0:29:50'Lord, thank you for the Gospel and the power it has to change lives.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52'Thank you for bringing people together
0:29:52 > 0:29:55'in a spirit of unity, music and song.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00'Thank you for speaking to us all in your still, small voice.'
0:30:02 > 0:30:07And bless us as your story unfolds in our lives day by day.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09Amen.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11APPLAUSE
0:30:11 > 0:30:14Well, the performances may have come to an end,
0:30:14 > 0:30:17but the ancient and timeless story of the Bible
0:30:17 > 0:30:21continues to be told in churches the length and breadth of the country
0:30:21 > 0:30:24and, of course, it's also told in song,
0:30:24 > 0:30:29so we end with a hymn that reminds us of the greatest story ever told.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24Next week over on BBC Two, another chance to join
0:33:24 > 0:33:27Russell Watson in his native city of Salford.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30He'll be meeting people along its 30 miles of waterways
0:33:30 > 0:33:34and introducing hymns from St Peter's Church in Swindon.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing by Red Bee Media Ltd