AN Australian devotee of the York Mystery Plays will be flying over to see The Last Supper, such is her devotion to these special plays.

You wish that devotion were shared by those closer to home, namely the authorities that have allowed the wheels to come off the traditional four-yearly cycle.

No substitute for the real deal, but nevertheless welcome, are the assiduous labours of preservation by the Friends, and director Ray Alexander in particular. He has worked his way through nearly all of the York cycle of plays - 47 in all - and for this summer's production he has even filled in the gaps from the extant version of the Plays, drawing on the Gospel stories to add Foretelling The Second Coming, The Sermon On The Mount, The Lord's Prayer and Jesus At The House Of Simon The Pharisee.

Scholars may wish to quibble at his additions, but the Mystery Plays were street plays, not sacrosanct religious texts set in stone, and Alexander's work makes for a seamless piece of storytelling, taking in a more scenic route to chart the days leading up to Christ's betrayal.

He has an ear for the cadence and rhythm of medieval dialogue, although his poetic turn of phrase is merely functional and he does not seek to match the percussive alliteration of the original language.

In the past, his productions have taken place in churches and gardens and on the street. For the first time, he is using a theatre space, in this case setting The Last Supper in the round in Stagecoach's converted church hall.

The intention was to make the audience feel part of the crowd, in particular in The Sermon On The Mount, but sadly last night the cast outnumbered the on-lookers, who were posted like buoys in the sea at one end of the theatre.

It was too late to change the blocking on stage, and so the face of Richard Kay's quietly strong and composed Jesus was out of view from those present for two of the key scenes. That is the risk in theatre-in-the-round staging, and so no criticism is intended. However, the decision to encircle Laura Murray's adulterous woman with her accusers and the Pharisees and Scribes wrongly sacrificed seeing her expressive face in favour of enhancing the woman's isolation.

Paul Toy contributes not only haunting a cappella singing but a suitably complex Judas Iscariot, whose kiss of betrayal - the kiss of death - is a potent finale, accompanied by Allegri's Miserere.

However, the message is clear from the audience no-show: the Mystery Plays need the full Monty to thrive. Is it too much to ask that the cycle is back on track in 2008?

Box office: 01904 658338.

Updated: 09:35 Tuesday, July 06, 2004