Dunstable
Plays
The Earliest Play in England

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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:

• Dunstable in detail by Nigel C. Benson (1986, The Book Castle)

The Earliest Play in England, by Bedfordshire Libraries, 2005.

Page last updated: 24th January 2014