It is based largely on the
Wakefield cycle of plays (but incorporating some scenes from the
York,
Chester and
Coventry canons) and adapted by poet
Tony Harrison, working with the original cast, into three parts:
Nativity,
The Passion and
Doomsday. Directed by
Bill Bryden, it was first performed on Easter Saturday 1977 on the terrace of the National Theatre building on the South Bank, London. It then went into the repertoire in the Cottesloe Theatre (part of the South Bank complex) until 20 April 1985 when the Cottesloe went 'dark'. Later in 1985 it transferred out of the National (produced by
Iain Mackintosh and
Richard Pilbrow) with a slightly different cast (
Barrie Rutter played Herod and Pontius Pilate, and
Barry Foster was Lucifer/Judas/Satan) to the
Lyceum Theatre—then in use as a ballroom and as a promenade production. Harrison's concept was to present the original stories as
plays within plays, using as his characters the naïve but pious craftsmen and guild members, to some extent modernised to represent the trades of today—God, for example, created the world with the help of a real fork-lift truck— acting out the parts of the story that their mediaeval counterparts would have done. At the start of each performance actors dressed as tradesmen welcomed the audience. The performance was a promenade one, with the audience mingling with the actors and making up the crowd at such scenes as the last judgement.
The Evening Standard reported: "An extraordinary experience... no wonder the end of it all saw an explosion of communal joyousness with everybody, actors, musicians, and audience alike, cheering and clapping and singing and dancing." == Cast ==