Dunstable
Plays
The Earliest
Play in England
Places > Dunstable > Literature and Writing
Dunstable
is cited as being the place of the earliest performance of a play in England.
The play was performed at a date sometime before 1119 at a school in the town
(position now unknown).
The play was noted because at some point the costumes used by the actors were destroyed in a fire. They had been borrowed from St. Albans Abbey and as such were recorded as lost. The play was a miracle play about the story of St. Katherine who had the unfortunate distinction of being martyred on a wheel.
Sources:
The Earliest Play in England, by Bedfordshire Libraries, 2005.
Page last updated: 24th January 2014