Mummers plays have had a traditional place in Christmas festivities for centuries.  They tell of the struggle between light and darkness, as Autumn turns to Winter, then Spring.  They plays have been passed on by word of mouth, so they are altered, ill-remembered and often almost incomprehensible.  No Abingdon play is remembered so the Abingdon mummers perform the Sunningwell Play passed on in 1948.  The mummers dress in the traditional disguise of costumes covered in strips of paper.  Father Christmas (First Man) introduces a bumptious King George (Persian King) who is challenged and slain by the Bold Slasher (The French Officer).  The Magical Doctor revives him and in the subsequent fight Slasher is defeated, only to be brought back to life by Mrs Finney, the ever reviving Phoenix (Mother Earth).  A verse of ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’ and a collection for a charitable cause leads to us departing to perform elsewhere.  The performance takes about 15 minutes and the charity for 2022 is the Abingdon Foodbank.

Performances will take place as follows:

7pm – The Punchbowl

7.30pm – The Broad Face

8.15pm – The King’s Head and Bell

9pm – The Tipsy Mercer

9.30pm – The Grapes

10pm – The Brewery Tap