THE lights had barely dimmed on the final performance of the Mystery Plays when the stepped stage that had transformed the Minster was being struck.

After a month of playing to sell-out audiences, God's own theatre - which rarely draws such a packed house these days - was returning to normal. And I was left with the feeling of having been granted a glimpse of heaven.

Afterwards I spoke to God - well, John M. Hall, who had the honour of playing Him - and said how moved I'd been. He told me the entire cast felt that way; that they'd all been spiritually enhanced by the experience of performing in the awesome space of York Minster.

As the Dean of York, the Very Reverend Raymond Furnell, standing shoulder to shoulder with Lucifer (Rory Mulvihill), said at the end, it's a memory those of us lucky enough to have seen the Millennium Mystery Plays will carry with us forever. He rightly praised the team 'behind the scenes', without whose dedication the plays would have been the poorer, and I can vouch for the unstinting hard work that's been put in by the many uncredited helpers.

As to the cast of local amateurs, I can only say it was one of the most polished and professional productions I've ever seen. Under Gregory Doran's fluid direction and inspired by Robert Jones's genius design, the mysteries became flesh and the Minster, perhaps not since medieval times, became the very heart of York people once more.

Kate Lock,

Bishopthorpe Road, York.

...TWO weeks ago the Friends of York Mystery Plays and Festival put on a production of Herod And The Magi, one of the York Mystery Plays, in Barley Hall, York, as a part of the Early Music Festival.

When I undertook to direct the play, I was aware that we would be well and truly overshadowed by Millennium production in the Minster. So I was delighted with the help I received from the Evening Press in publishing my appeals for actors and publicity.

In particular I'd like to thank Charles Hutchinson, firstly for coming to my rescue with two articles helping me to find a cast, and then with the article in the superb Mystery Plays supplement.

To put the icing on the cake there was also a splendid piece with a picture of my angel "hovering" over Barley Hall giving us superb publicity the week before our run. As a result, we played to full houses and, despite the problems experienced earlier in the production, have received a good deal of acclaim for our work, for which I feel, thanks are due in no small measure to the Evening Press.

Ray Alexander,

New Earswick,

York.