YORK company HIDden Theatre are to revive last autumn's production of the medieval comedy Mankind with a second run at Upstage Centre, 41 Monkgate, York, from April 14 to 16.

"The audience reception was beyond my expectations," says Laura Elizabeth Rice, HIDden's artistic director. "I’m especially pleased with the comments from those who don’t know medieval drama and who had come along warily, and were surprised by how accessible and engaging it is.

"That's exactly why we do this: to share the past in ways that surprise and delight. Any time someone says they learned something new – especially if that something is how interesting historic drama is – I feel like we’ve had a success."

Mankind is the story of an industrious but poor farmer’s temptation away from his work in the fields and his virtuous life by a group of worldly Vices and Demons.

Led by Mischief and the demon Titivillus, they are intent on getting him hooked on the pleasures of the modern world – bawdy merriment, jokes, debauchery and violence – at the expense of his higher nature. Will he be saved by the loyal, forgiving friendship of Mercy, or will he give in to the fashionable whims offered him by the likes of New-Guise and Nought?

"The most lively of late-medieval morality plays, Mankind is a comic lesson in human frailty and forgiveness," says Laura, who has re-cast her production. "Our show brings Mankind into the modern era, reflecting on the ‘vices’ of today – reliance on technology, a desire to be trendy, and ambivalence toward mortality – and our ongoing search for personal balance."

The role of Mischief will go to Kate Thomas, who studies Anglo-Saxon literature and liturgy. "He’s kind of evil, really! It’s a welcome change," she says, discussing the challenges of her role. "It’s fun trying to figure out how to play him, because it’s not always clear.

"I’m doing it as a sort of seductive, sophisticated, feminine figure; a femme fatale almost. Being a death figure helps it make sense, it really works in some of the more sinister moments, but it doesn’t always go so easily with bits where I get frightened or intimidated or I’m mucking around, but it adds some layers to the scarier bits. I can intimidate the Vices with how I kill people; they’re not on that level."

Mischief is a chance to be evil in a more complicated way, suggests Kate. "This is a very enigmatic character, it’s not just 'I’ll go around killing people'. In some ways because it’s not realistic drama, that makes it more difficult to interpret," she says.

"I mean, it’s not Iago [in Shakespeare's Othello], who’s enigmatic, but clearly wants to hurt people, but he’s still a person, he has motivations, whereas with Mischief there’s the question of whether or not this even is a human being.

"It’s almost cartoonish; not in a silly way, but it’s a type, it’s not subtle. But it’s not simplistic or unmotivated, it’s just that the motive is a bit beyond human, whereas the Vices aren’t evil in the same way."

Performances will start at 7.30pm plus a 2.30pm matinee on April 16. The April 15 show will be followed by a talk and discussion led by director Laura Elizabeth Rice.

Tickets can be booked at hiddentheatre.com. Please note, Mankind may not be suitable for young audiences.

Charles Hutchinson