The Wakefield Shepherds’ Play

Summary: 1961 BBC production for schools of the medieval mystery play The Wakefield Shepherd’s Play (from the Wakefield Cycle) by ‘The Wakefield Master’.
Theatre play: The Wakefield Shepherd’s Play by ‘The Wakefield Master’ [more information]
Play synopsis: 'The biblical portion of the play, a retelling of the Visitation of the Shepherds, comes only after a longer, invented story that mirrors it, in which the shepherds, before visiting the holy baby outside in a manger, must first rescue one of their sheep that has been hidden in a cradle indoors by a comically evil sheep-stealing couple. Once they have discovered and punished the thieves, the storyline switches to the familiar one of the three shepherds being told of the birth of Christ by an angel, and going to Bethlehem to offer the true Child gifts.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Shepherds%27_Play.
Production history: c. 1500.
Date of transmission: Tuesday 28 November 1961
Time: 2.05-2.35pm
Series: Schools
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Ronald Eyre

Playwright

'The Wakefield Master’

Translator

Ronald Eyre

Composer

John Alldis

Designer

Stuart Walker

Cast

Later transmissions: Repeated on Wednesday 29 November 1961 (11.05pm), Tuesday 27 November 1962 (2.05pm) and Wednesday 28 November 1962 (11.05pm).
Play tags: biblical stories; Christianity; mystery play
Programme context tags: schools television programming

Title: The Wakefield Shepherds’ Play (BBC, 1961)
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