ABSTRACT
The Alderley Mummers’ play was performed almost exclusively at Alderley Park, Cheshire, the family seat of the Stanley family. The play is reputed to have been revived circa 1820 by Samuel and William Barber, tenant farmers on the Alderley Park Estate and subsequently performed annually by four generations of the Barber family. This case study looks at the history of the play over a period of 200 years covering the whole time that the Barber family performed the play, reflecting on the master/tenant relationship of the two families and charting the mixed fortunes of the play under the first six Lord Stanley’s of Alderley. In addition, the case study includes a comment on some of the revival sides that have appeared since Helm first published the text in 1955, plus the continued support and involvement by members of the Barber family.
