Players of the Coopers’ Pageant from the Chester Plays in 1572 and 1575

The impression given by some civic documents of the period is that they were drawn mainly from the craftsmen of guilds which presented the individual pageants and, in spite of being paid for performance, may be regarded as amateurs. More enlightening is the Chester Coopers’ account for the 1572 performance of their Trial and Flagellation pageant from the Chester plays. The Coopers’ accounts for 1572 and 1575 record payment to him for ‘ryedyng of the Ryegenalle’. The presentation of a pageant was clearly still a matter of some pride, and the Coopers sought excellence and a sense of continuity by engaging players like Hugh Gyllam and Thomas Marser. In post-Reformation Chester the problem would have been slightly different as the plays were performed over three days; until 1575 on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Whitsun week.