An Invitation: Become a Part of Scholarly History as a PLS Patron!
Dear friends of PLS,
I’m writing to share an exciting opportunity to support a remarkable theatrical endeavor that bridges history, scholarship, and the local community: the rebuilding of Poculi Ludique Societas (PLS)’s iconic wagon stages. The wagons are crucial to our upcoming production of the York Corpus Christi Plays, co-sponsored by the Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies, which will take place June 7, 2025 (June 8 in case of rain) at the U of T’s Victoria University’s Burwash Quad, located just southeast of Queen’s Park and Bloor Street in Toronto.
For the first time since 1998, the project will bring to life all 47 biblical plays from the York Register (plus three lost ones, with newly-imagined scripts), rearranged into 35 clusters, and performed in a single day. Academic and theatre groups from across Canada and the US will perform the plays in clusters on replica medieval wagons known as pageants.
This is where you come in. As we have done since 1977, we plan to recreate the historical past by performing the plays on replica medieval pageant wagons, in a single day-long event that promises to provide crucial new insights for early drama scholars while also creating an exciting and fun event for our friends and community.
We need your help to raise $22,000 to mount the production and to help defray the cost of rebuilding some of the wagons we recently lost to a devastating fire.
A Historic Revival
The York Corpus Christi Plays, performed annually in York from approximately 1376 to 1569, were a cornerstone of medieval civic and religious life. These plays, performed on mobile stages at multiple stations throughout the city, were a communal celebration of faith, storytelling, and artistry. After 1569, the plays were suppressed, and it was not until 1977 that PLS, under the leadership of PLS’s former Chair, Alexandra F. Johnston, revived the tradition with a full performance on the University of Toronto campus. This groundbreaking production marked the first time in over 400 years that all 47 plays were performed in their entirety, using replica medieval pageant wagons to recreate the original staging.
Today, PLS continues to be the only modern theatre company that has produced the full Corpus Christi Plays like Chester and York in their entirety since the 16th century. Following the success of the 1977 production, PLS staged an all-day full-scale performance in 1998 of the York plays, further solidifying our reputation for research-based early drama performances.
Now, nearly three decades later, PLS is preparing for our third full-scale production, led by Prof. Matthew Sergi, which will once again unite scholars, performers, and audiences in a unique exploration of medieval drama.
For a number of years, younger scholars have requested that we remount the York Cycle in its entirety so they can continue to build on their performance-based scholarship.
As a mostly donor supported charitable theatre company, we receive academic grants, including this year, with gratitude, a Centennial Grant from the Medieval Academy of America. Our insurance also will cover the basic rebuilding of four of the ten wagons we lost in the fire.
But we need donors like you to help us rebuild so we can continue to deliver the crucial and unique productions scholars rely on to do their research and that our audiences have come to love.
A Critical Need: Rebuilding From the Ashes
Tragically, in 2022, a fire destroyed PLS’s replica medieval wagons and many of our set pieces. Our wagons were not only essential to our productions but were also historically significant, since they were carefully designed to recreate the mobile stages used in the original York performances.
Since they were first built in 1977, we have used the wagons to mount the full Chester Plays (1983 & 2010), the Towneley Plays (1985), the N-Town Plays (1988), and the second York Plays production (1998). The wagons were also used for our 1995 production of the York Nativity Plays, the Towneley Noah’s Ark for the 1997 Toronto Fringe Festival, and the Digby Mary Magdalene (2003). They were last used in 2015 for our Festival of Early Drama.
Their loss has been devastating, both financially and emotionally, as they were central to our ability to accurately recreate the plays we research through our performance practice. Without the wagons, we are no longer able to create innovative and groundbreaking research that provides medieval performance scholars the world over with crucial insights that support their own scholarship.
While our request of you today is urgently needed for our upcoming production of the York Plays 2025, your gift will have a lasting legacy because the wagons will continue to be used for many years in future productions, including a soon-to-be-announced new production in late spring 2026.
The 2025 Production
York Plays 2025 will be a monumental collaboration involving 18 performance-as-research groups from across North America. Each group will bring its own interpretation to the plays, using Christina M. Fitzgerald’s updated editions of the York Register. Where the manuscript is incomplete, groups will creatively fill in the gaps, adhering closely to the spirit of the original text while making it accessible to modern audiences. The production will feature three stations, with each play performed at every station, to create a dynamic and immersive experience for audiences.
“This event is not just a performance; it is a living experiment in historical reconstruction and community engagement. It will challenge participants and spectators alike to reconsider how medieval drama was experienced and what it can teach us about storytelling, faith, and collective celebration.”
~Prof. Matt Sergi, York Plays 2025 General Manager
Why Your Support Matters
Producing the York Corpus Christi Plays is a massive undertaking. The production will require significant resources for stage construction, costumes, props, and logistical coordination. Your donation will directly support:
- Rebuilding replica medieval pageant wagons to recreate the mobile stages used in the original performances.
- Costumes and props that bring medieval and early modern stories to life with historical accuracy and artistic flair.
- Logistical coordination to manage the complex scheduling and movement of performers and wagons across multiple stations.
- Scholarly research and documentation to ensure that this production contributes meaningfully to our understanding of medieval drama.
Join Us in Making History
By supporting this production, you are not only helping to revive a centuries-old tradition but also contributing to a vibrant scholarly and artistic community. Your generosity will enable us to rebuild our wagons, restore our ability to authentically stage these plays for many years to come, and to continue to create unforgettable experiences for scholars and audiences that honor the past while engaging with the present.
We invite you to be part of this extraordinary event.
To make a donation, please visit our website or contact us at info@plspls.ca.
Every contribution, no matter the size, brings us closer to realizing this ambitious vision.
Donation Levels:
- $20: Friend – Charitable tax receipt.
- $50: Supporter – Charitable receipt and your name listed on our website.
- $100: Patron – As above, your name listed in the programme and on our website, and access to the Off-Day Events associated with York Plays 2025.
- $500: Benefactor – As above and recognition in the programme, on our website, and a video shout-out from Prof. Matt Sergi, thanking you with a mini-lecture on medieval drama, on our social media channels.
- $1,000: Champion – All of the above, plus an invitation to a behind-the-scenes walkthrough of the performance space the evening before the event.
- $5,000: Visionary – All of the above, plus a dedicated plaque on one of the regular wagons.
- $20,000: Mercers’ Wagon Sponsor – All of the above, plus exclusive naming rights to the Mercers’ Wagon and recognition as the lead donor in all promotional materials.
Thank you for considering this request. We hope you will join us in making history.
With gratitude,
Linda Phillips,
PLS Artistic Director
Poculi Ludique Societas – Performance-Led Scholarship
P.S. For more information about the production, including updates on the wagon reconstruction and performance schedule, please visit yorkplays.ca. We look forward to sharing this journey with you!
Poculi Ludique Societas 