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Two Moral and Edifying Tavern Plays

When: Wednesday 08 July, 18.30-19.30
Where: Beech Grove Plaza
Open to: All Welcome (IMC Delegates and the Public)
Price: Free
How to Book: No Booking Required, Free of Charge

The Lords of Misrule performing on Beech Grove Plaza
Lords of Misrule performing outside the University of Leeds Student Union
The Lords of Misrule performing on Beech Grove Plaza

Performed by The Lords of Misrule

The Lords of Misrule present for your pleasure a pair of plays from medieval France: Courtois d’Arras, by Adam de la Halle, follows the unfortunate misadventures of Courtois as he ventures out from his father’s farm to discover new fortunes. This is followed by Farce nouvelle et fort joyeuse du Pect (The Farce of the Fart), depicting a legal battle over the passage of wind between a married couple, overseen by a very passionate lawyer.

The Lords of Misrule are an amateur dramatic society first established nearly 50 years ago at the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of York. Over the years, we have performed a range of medieval and early modern drama, sometimes in modernised form and sometimes in the original language. We always aim to bring out the spirit of the plays, never oversimplifying them, but always making them accessible to a wide audience. In our 2025/26 cycle, we have performed Gawain and the Green Knight and Robin Hood. We regularly take part in the York Mystery Plays, most recently in summer 2026, where we are performing the 'The Creation and Fall of Man' play on the wagons for the second time since the mystery plays were revived in the 20th century. Recently, we have championed adaptations of medieval texts into drama, from Middle English romance to Irish táins to Italian cantiches.