We all have a role in God's soap operas
Reproduced by courtesy of the Rt Rev Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester, and with permission from The Times, London. First published in The Times, July 12, 1997
to coincide with the 1997 production of Chester Mystery Plays.   The Bible, as we know it, hardly existed before the invention of the printing press in the 16th century. The Church did not evangelise and teach through books and pamphlets but by images, pictures, and stories told in family and community life.

Medieval mystery plays exemplified this approach to education and in the larger centres were mounted on an epic scale, with sophistication and civic pride. The plays followed quite closely the biblical stories of creation and redemption, with an underlying theme of the parallel encounters of human and divine, good and evil.

The initial vision of creation overflowing from the superabundance of God degenerates into a conflict that can be resolved only by God himself as He makes His journey into the far country, to Bethlehem and Calvary.

Stories are a highly adaptable artistic form. The basic story can be retold in fresh ways, to which a contemporary audience can readily relate. Original sin can be expressed by road rage or the lonely bustle of urban life, alongside the traditional picture of the forbidden fruit. The Wise Men - representing the homage of the world at large to the newborn King of the Jews - can assume modern secular guises. The shepherds can be portrayed with latter-day working class overtones.

The new cycle of Chester Mystery Plays brings old and new interpretations together in a creative way in a powerful performance. The woodenness and triviality of so much presentation of the Christian faith is enlivened by the series of sermons-in-stories which the sequential scenes of the mystery plays represent.

Christianity makes a drama out of a crisis, with the Son of God as the chief actor on a human and cosmic stage. When well-scripted and acted, the mystery plays bring the story alive - much as Alec McCowen did in his renowned stage performance of St Mark's Gospel. Just as he insisted upon the Authorised Version, so the best adaptations of the mystery plays retain a recognisable medieval dimension, woven together with modern themes and illustrations.

Radio, television and associated media are taking us back towards the Middle Ages. Illiteracy is rising, and those who can read and write now rarely bother, or need to do so. We are entertained by that form of storytelling known as soap operas. In such a cultural context, mystery plays seem curiously avant-garde, communicating the Christian faith with freshness.

Mystery plays invite the audience to become caught up in the plot as it explores the great issues of life and death. Beauty and enlightenment go hand in hand. They tackle the biggest subject there is, but in terms of day-to-day life. They are about, and encompass, you and me. By cajoling and warning, by educating and amusing, they invite us on to the stage.

  Rt Rev Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester