THE Guilds of York will be the driving force behind the York Mystery Plays for the first time since the Middle Ages in this summer's York Wagon Plays production.

In another return to their past, the Plays will be restored to the Yorkshire Museum Gardens, where they were last staged in 1988, with the gardens being used as one of five stations in the pageant production.

Directed by Mike Tyler and organised in association with the York Early Music Festival, the Plays will be presented by the Guilds in the city streets on July 7 and 14 from midday to 6.30pm, and please note, the 2002 performances are separate to the four-yearly cycle of Mystery Plays to be staged next in 2004.

In July, ten plays will be performed by ten groups on wagons drawn from station to station through the streets of York, recreating the story of God's creation of the world, the birth, death and resurrection of Christ and the Last Judgement.

Each play can be heard five different times at the performance stations throughout the city: Dean's Park; the South Transept outside York Minster; College Green; King's Square; and finally, the Yorkshire Museum Gardens.

The Guild of Building will present The Plasterers' Play, from Creation To Day Five, in tandem with York College; St Luke's Church will perform The Fishers and Mariners' Play, the story of Noah and The Flood; the Merchant Taylors Guild will sponsor All Saints' School's performance of The Hosiers' Play, Moses and Pharaoh; the Lords Of Misrule, from the University of York, will "bring forth" The Chandlers' Play, Angels and Shepherds.

Heslington Church will present The Barbers' Play, Baptism of Christ; the Guild of Cordwainers' choice is The Capmakers' Play, Woman Taken In Adultery/The Raising Of Lazarus; the Guild of Freemen and Yorkshire Shakespeare Project, The Cutlers' Play, Conspiracy Against Jesus.

The Butchers' Guild will sponsor the Friends of York Mystery Plays in The Butchers' Play, Death of Christ; the Guild of Scriveners will "bring forth" The Scriveners' Play, The Incredulity of Thomas; and The Last Judgement will be in the hands of the York Settlement Players, sponsored by the Merchant Adventurers, in The Mercers' Play.

Access to the York Wagon Plays' production will be free. Limited paid-for seating will be available in covered stands in Dean's Park and the Museum Gardens at £7 and tickets can be booked after April 9 at the York Early Music Festival box office at the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, tel 01904 658338.

Updated: 08:51 Friday, March 29, 2002