Producer of next year's Mystery Plays tells of her plans for the production

NICOLA Corp bounds through the door at Church House, hand outstretched, face beaming. She is in her second week in post as the producer of next June’s York Minster Mystery Plays 2016, the first to be staged there since Gregory Doran’s Millennium Mystery Plays.

“I’m really delighted to be here,” says Nicola, settling into a seat in the Minster as she surveys the 800-year-old gothic cathedral where 28,000 attended the sold-out performances in 2000, staged by a cast of 200 community actors and one professional, North Easterner Ray Stevenson, as Jesus.

Ray Stevenson as Jesus in the Crucifixion scene of the Millennium Mystery Plays at York Minster in 2000

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to produce this kind of spectacle in this kind of space; if the chance comes knocking, you hear it,” she says.

There is not a moment to waste – this interview had to be conducted briskly on Tuesday morning before another commitment called Nicola away – as she sets to overseeing the planning and logistical arrangements needed to bring the Mystery Plays to the stage.

“I’m used to producing big events for unusual or unexpected places,” she says. Indeed she is, having devised, managed and delivered complex projects for the BBC and outside broadcasts for Capital Radio, among others, in her 25 years in London before returning to her native Yorkshire in 2007 to continue her media production career.

“I now live in Skyreholme, in the Dales near Skipton, and I grew up near Hull, within the diocese, so right from being small I’ve come to York Minster, whether it was through school or just because I wanted to,” she says. To be able to use this space, to be able to mount something as spectacular as this, as momentous as this, to complement what the Minster already does, I am chuffed to be doing it. It’s going to be a landmark event in a landmark place.

“Whether you are of faith or no faith, we want to make these plays relevant to those who come here regularly or those who would never normally think of coming.

“This event is a great calling card for the Minster as well as for the liturgy. What better way to rekindle your love for the Minster or to fall in love with this place?”

York Minster

Nicola is a “woman of faith”. “It’s a very personal thing, but I am a woman of faith, not attached to a church up here, though I was to one in Wimbledon, and I will go to a church in Skipton on certain dates that are personal to me,” she says.

Hers is the first appointment to be announced fort next summer’s plays. Negotiations are underway for the next set of key posts, such as the scriptwriter, artistic director and musical director and these will be announced shortly.

“Not too much is in place already, but that’s fine because we have a body of people here who are not only highly qualified to do what they do, but are also experienced, talented, and they have endless goodwill,” says Nicola. “All we are doing is harnessing that goodwill so that we can create something very special.

“We’re not blessed with a huge amount of time, but it’s Parkinson’s Law: it’s do-able and we will achieve something spectacular. We know what we have to do; we know when we have to do it by and we’re doing it.

“We have a lot to announce over the coming weeks: our creative team; the production dates; the lead actor, keeping with the tradition of a professional as Jesus; the ticket prices. We’re acutely aware of the need to make sure that we model our ticketing structure to be fair and transparent, and I’ll explain all that when we announce it.”

She did confirm, however, there would not be a reduced price for York residents. “If we’re making it fair in the eyes of God in this building, it would be hypocritical to give preferential treatment to one group of people, when people come from all over to watch the Mystery Plays,” she reasons.

Nicola also confirmed sponsorship is being sought from diverse sources but the finance is not yet in place for a production that, if it were to match the Millennium Mystery Plays and the 2012 production in the Museum Gardens, would cost north of £1 million to mount. She declined to say what budget was being set, but did outline a strategy that would combine sponsorship with a fund-raising campaign and ticket sales.

“At the moment, our priority is to make sure we will put on a proficient, spectacular production that is affordable to be staged and affordable for people to see it, so our business model factors all that in and we will have a balance that reflects that. The first stage is to put the foundations of the production in place and then the structure.”

As for the production itself, the call for auditions will be made in the autumn. When the plays open, Nicola will be seeing the York Mystery Plays for the first time in her life.

“I know plenty about them and there’s something nice in not coming to this production with preconceptions,” she says.

“Each production has its own values, character and charisma, and we’ll all be bringing new eyes, new ideas, new possibilities to the Plays. It’s useful not to have baggage.

“You want people’s expertise but it’s good to have a new creative interpretation.”