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MUMMERS PLAY at RICHMOND CHRISTMAS FAIR 7th December 2025: 11.00 am & 1.00pm

Two performances of The Mummers Play will be staged at The Christmas Fair in Richmond on 7th December.

This traditional midwinter entertainment involves a humorous combat between two sworn enemies, Summer & Winter, the death of Summer and his rebirth by extraordinary means. There are also comic walk-on characters such as Beezlebob and Old Father Time at the end of the main drama. The Richmond Mummers are a new group bringing this seasonal event back to life and hoping to establish The Play as part of the Richmond calendar.

Dating from the 1740s the Mummers Play is a traditional piece of Street Theatre which was once a popular midwinter entertainment in England. This play was adapted from an original by David Lawrence who added a seasonal theme as well as songs, combat and sword Dances. It was first performed in 1990 in North Curry, Somerset (where he was living at the time) and it has played there every year since, on Boxing Day (apart from one year off for Covid!) – becoming a popular part of the community calendar and drawing a considerable audience.

Having moved to Richmond in 2022 David Lawrence has now assembled a body of enthusiastic local players with the intention of putting on two performances at the Christmas Fair in Richmond on 7th December this year, 2025. It is hoped that this will be the first of many annual performances and that it will become established as 'new traditional’ entertainment.

Richmond Amateur Dramatic Society (RADS) have generously granted the Mummers access to their wardrobe archive – which should greatly help with the visual impact of the production.

There will be a collection at the end of both performances with all profits going to SOS (Save Our Swale).