It is no surprise that York's Mystery Plays are unlikely to be given a full staging next year ('Mystery plays blow for York', June 13).

I agree with Rory Mulvihill that they must take place in at least 2005. I understand the problems of cost/staging etc and suggest that in 2005 a full-scale production takes place in the Central Hall of the University of York.

It would not be on the same scale as the Millennium Plays in the Minster - but considerably more ambitious than pageant waggons. There is already a strong link between the city and the university - which would strengthened.

Then, in 2010, the plays could be staged again in the Minster.

A five-yearly cycle could be introduced, alternating between the Minster and University Central Hall, with the pageant waggons being used at other times.

If the Plays are only staged every ten years it would mean whole generations of local children would miss taking part in them. This does not seem to have been considered.

Rev Dr John Roden,

The Vicarage,

Appleton Roebuck, York.

...I WAS horrified to read about the York Mystery Plays - what is the matter with this city council of ours?

I remember seeing them when Simon Ward played Jesus. It poured down all night but only about six people left because of the rain; we were mesmerised, Simon got a standing ovation and said we should have had one too for those of us who stayed.

It was truly an unforgettable experience.

Why do we not have Mystery Plays in the Museum Gardens any more?

Why, for heaven's sake, are they

aiming to only stage them once every ten years?

What is the matter with them?

Have they not the wit to realise that this is one of York's wonders, this is what tourists come to see? I remember coming here as a girl from school in Leeds. What do residents want - or doesn't that count?

For heaven's sake, think again, and do not cancel the Plays.

Once every four years is not too much to ask. I hope lots of people write or phone in to complain.

H Agar,

Dringthorpe Road, York.

....I have seen three of the four-yearly Mystery Plays and enjoyed them immensely. If there is a financial reason for them to be rescheduled, it seems quite a jump from four-yearly to ten-yearly.

Why were the problems not aired just after the Millennium production, rather than now, when, presumably, it is too late to rescue next year's production? Perhaps the Plays should be run by a consortia of rail companies because they seem to share a similar lack of responsibility to their customers, and foresight.

Martin Cooper.

Bollans Court, York.

Updated: 10:43 Tuesday, June 17, 2003