Mysteries 2003 Richard Hayhow Director of Open Theatre Company People

The Mysteries 2003 is a large-scale collaboration and exchange of skills between Macnas and the Belgrade Theatre. Both the Belgrade and Macnas have developed strong and diverse community practices within their work. Both companies have worked in different ways with the power of large scale and outdoor work. Each has an experienced and accomplished team of artists and makers well-versed in the means of creating theatre. Within this, the tradition of the Mysteries Cycles sits very comfortably - the production is built around the medieval notion of the community coming together to share skills and celebrate in the creation of a piece of theatre.

Traditionally also the Mystery plays were written and performed to pass on an understanding of the Old and New Testaments in a way that had meaning for those who lived in those times. We have taken this notion as our starting-point too – that we have to interpret the same stories for a modern-day audience.

In developing the storyboard for the play we focused on the humanity of character Jesus, as a man who in many ways was like all of us. He journeys through life, like all of us and has certain things to face and deal with, accept and see through. So the play starts with Jesus on the cross, his mind in turmoil and before he dies he reviews his whole life to satisfy himself that it was a life well lived, that he had achieved something. Within this, key questions for us have been 'when would Jesus have been told that' or 'at what stage did he realise who he was?', ‘what convinced him that he had to die?’

Methods of story-telling developed from the medieval mysteries allow us to revisit a familiar world from a challenging perspective, and to try to give a more universal meaning to the piece within a multicultural world.

We have a cast in each city, and crews and producers, two directors, two assistant directors, two costume houses, two construction shops... it's a bit like Noah's Ark. And a collaboration on all these levels across a few hundred miles of water and land. It's been a bit of a logistical monster. Why take it on? Theatre is about taking risks. When you've tried one thing you throw yourself the challenge of another, yet bigger and more demanding!

In many ways the project has also been about much more than the piece of theatre. There are 45,000 people of Irish descent in Coventry. And there are many of them with direct links to the west and Galway in particular. Some of the community cast from Coventry is performing in Galway as well and vice-versa. It’s about forging new links between the cities or reviving them. It’s opening the door to a new tradition that may continue for many years.

Richard Hayhow & Mikel Murfi
Directors

Since 1990, Richard has been principally responsible for setting up and managing the conferences, festivals, training programmes and other projects undertaken by the company.
Richard Hayhow works freelance as a director of community plays, which have included:
Woodbine Willie,	Worcester 1985
A Bucketful of Daisies	Lincoln 1987
The Jade-Fair	Banbury 1988
Come Hell or High Water	Bridlington 1995;
Running Red	Woking 1996
The Visitor	Hereford 1998
The Odd Boy	Alvechurch 1998

Richard Hayhow is currently working with Shaskeen Theatre Company on Craic on the Road, an Irish community play for Coventry. Richard has contributed in various ways to the development of these projects; as director, co-writer, co-organiser and consultant.

Richard has also undertaken a study of five plays and written The Creative Drive which explores the role of the community actor.

Richard also has extensive experience of working with learning disabled actors. This has included devising and directing with companies such as Other Voices Theatre Company, Fountain Theatre Company and currently The Shysters. Richard Hayhow directed The Shysters first production Scary Antics and is now working on their second piece Fallen Angels which will tour nationally in the autumn of 2000.

Richard Hayhow is leading the two-year West Midlands Arts funded project to promote the development of performing arts work with learning disabled people in the region.