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Noah's Flood in Stonegate in 1966.

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Photographs : Noah's Flood waggon manoeuvres in Stonegate

Item type: Photographs
Archive reference: YMP/A/6/2
Date/year: 1966
Description: Photograph taken from Eileen White's book 'The York Mystery Play', page 24. Caption reads: 'The pageant waggon of the Fishmongers' and Mariners' Noah's Flood in Stonegate in 1966. The waggon stands near some medieval houses and gives some idea of the size of the waggon in relation to the narrow street. It is probable that, originally, the waggons were placed lengthways down the street and the actors played to the houses opposite.'
Stonegate is one of the oldest streets in York: originally it ran from the southern gate in the Roman fortress wall (under St Helen's Square) to the Roman legion's HQ building or Principia (under the Minster).
In 1966 this play was acted by boys and staff of Archbishop Holgate's School, directed by art teacher Stewart Lack, who played Noah.  He also played Nicodemus in the Museum Gardens production that year.  
Keith Daggett, who taught later at the school (and died in 2015) set up a website in memory of Stewart Lack: 'Wagon Plays in the York Festivals'.  That website included programmes from plays in 1957 (Exodus), 1960 (Christ before the Elders), 1963 (Abraham and Isaak), 1966 (Noah), 1973 (Herod and the Kings), 1976 (Judgement Day), 1980 (the Noah plays) and 1984 (the Harrowing of Hell).
The website was housed at freespace.virgin.net/cade.york/limen/plays/wpintro.html .

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