TICKET sales for this summer’s York Mystery Plays have broken through the 10,000 barrier – with bookings coming from as far away as the USA, Canada and Greece.

Organisers say sales have spiked since they announced that professional actors Ferdinand Kingsley and former Coronation Street villain Graeme Hawley will be performing as God/Jesus and the Devil respectively, with more than 1,000 tickets sold in the last week.

They said matinee performances were selling particularly quickly, with some now almost sold out, and weekend evenings were also filling up quickly.

The Plays, which will be staged throughout August in the Museum Gardens, are said by organisers to represent the biggest outdoor theatrical performance in Britain this year.

Rachel Naylor, box office manager for York Theatre Royal, said: “The response in recent weeks has been outstanding.

“I think the naming of the two professional actors has spurred people into buying tickets, but also the recent hot weather may have made people start thinking about the summer and how fantastic it will be to see theatre in the York Museum Gardens. “I would recommend that if you have friends and family visiting on a specific date to book as early as possible to avoid being disappointed.”

• Tickets can be bought in person from the York Theatre Royal Box Office, by phoning on 01904 623568 or by logging on to yorktheatreroyal.co.uk