The Notre Dame Medieval Mystery Cycle
This performance is free and open to all.
Grab your picnic blanket, call your family and friends, and celebrate the Easter Season with The Notre Dame Medieval Mystery Cycle, an afternoon of medieval mystery plays performed by students and other members of the Notre Dame community.
Mystery plays were a popular form of publicly-staged drama in the Middle Ages, involving town guilds and other groups across Europe acting out cycles of Biblical narratives, from Creation to Last Judgement and everything in between. These plays were wonderfully dramatic, deeply contemplative, and at times very funny with witty dialogue and physical comedy, making them entertaining and meaningful to people of all ages and backgrounds.
With guidance from Ashley Castelino, Public Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow at the Notre Dame Medieval Institute, groups of actors from Notre Dame will interpret and adapt a different medieval mystery play in their own way, creating a cycle of stories each unique in its language, staging, tone, and style.
Learn more about the Notre Dame Medieval Mystery Cycle
About the Venue
Library Lawn is located in front of the Hesburgh Library (main library) just off Library Lane. With iconic views of both Notre Dame Stadium and The Word of Life mural, Library Lawn serves as a front porch to campus to gather, relax, and study. This is a grass lawn and may have uneven surfaces, but wheelchair accessible pathways are located throughout. Please contact the Ask Us Desk at (574) 631-6258 with any questions.
Visitors pay to park in designated Notre Dame lots during weekday business hours (Monday–Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) using the ParkMobile app. ParkMobile allows payments using their app, their website (ParkMobile.io), by texting “PARK” to 77223, by Google Pay, or, if you don’t have a smartphone, by calling 1-877-727-5007.
After 4:00 p.m. on weekdays, all weekends except home football games, and during holiday closures observed by the University, there is no charge for parking. Designated accessible parking is available for visitors with valid disability parking permits. For more information on parking and navigating campus, see Notre Dame’s visit page.
Funding & Support
This performance is made possible with funding from Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute.
The Notre Dame Medieval Mystery Cycle is a partner program of the 2027 Notre Dame Arts Biennial and is supported with funding from the Notre Dame Arts Initiative.
Photo courtesy of the Medieval Institute.
Originally published at artsbiennial.nd.edu.