YORK'S Mystery Plays came to the Shambles Market last night.

Familiar scenes from the Bible - from Adam and Eve to the Crucifixion - were played out amongst the stalls to an audience of 100 people.

Yorkshire born actor Mick Liversidge took on the role of Satan in the Wagon Play performances, acting as narrator, guiding the audience and linking each of the five plays being performed.

The actor, who has an extensive repertoire of roles in TV and film dramas, including Coronation Street, Channels 4’s It’s a Sin, The Queen and I on Netflix and the film version of Downton Abbey,

said that as a huge fan of outdoor theatre, he was absolutely delighted to have been offered the role.

" I’ve appeared in many local plays both in the City and around Yorkshire, so it’s a pleasure to be involved in such a great community event," he said.

A second Shambles Market performance takes place this evening,beginning at 7.30pm, and is a ticket only event.

The plays will be performed again across the city centre and at Kings Manor on Sunday.

The plays are performed on the backs of decorated pageant wagons, in line with a tradition going back to medieval times.

Hundreds of people are involved in the community production, which is organised in a four-yearly cycle by the Guilds of York.

Originally a set of 48 plays, the plays illustrate the Christian history of the world from the Creation to the Last Judgement.

After several centuries lying dormant, they were resurrected in the 20th century with performances in the Museum Gardens, performed by massive casts drawn from York’s community, and the Guilds revived the wagon plays in 1998.

They were last performed in 2018, with last year's event having to be postponed because of the pandemic.

Roger Lee, chairman of York Festival Trust, has said previously that with arts and culture being amongst the last areas of our lives allowed to return post-Covid, he was delighted the Plays were returning to the city and supporting the rebirth of live performing arts.

He said past productions had met with great popular, academic and critical acclaim, and the guilds hoped to build on this success with the 2022 production.

Artistic director Tom Straszewski said that after two years of uncertainty for the arts, this was an opportunity for York’s communities to come together to celebrate the city’s heritage through drama, spectacle and pageantry.

“This will be a huge boost for people’s well-being and a festival to attract York residents and visitors alike to the city," he added.