This blog documents the process and production of a Chester Cycle play, as performed by Dorothy Kim and her students. They performed the AntiChrist play, which features both the AntiChrist’s attempt to gain followers and his subsequent defeat by the St. Michael. In order to get a better understanding of our take on this play, please peruse the script, videos, and pictures within our blog! After weeks of rehearsals and costuming, the cast traveled to Toronto in order to perform their play at the Chester Cycle 2010 Symposium.

The Chester 2010 Symposium examined the Chester Cycle in both its original and contemporary context. During the reign of Elizabeth I, the citizens of Chester performed a set of ancient Biblical plays each year at Whitsuntide. From the fall of Lucifer to the Last Judgment, these plays were all performed upon wagons that rolled through the city streets during a three day celebration. Although the plays were banned in 1572 because they were thought to be a “peril and danger to her majesty,” the 2010 Symposium once again revived these plays for all to enjoy.