CoDE wins British Academy grant

Dr Mariana Lopez has been awarded a British Academy Grant for the project ‘The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays’.

The project uses digital audio technologies to recreate York’s 15th and 16th-century soundscapes during the performances of the Mystery Plays allowing for reflection on their impact on the plays. The recreated soundscapes will include elements of the narrative (speech, music, sound effects), sounds resulting from the performance (wagons, audiences) and those that were external (weather conditions, bells).

Modern aural considerations will also be investigated through the collection of oral histories of organisers, performers and audiences, in order to establish parallels between the medieval and modern experiences, allowing us to highlight the value of medieval studies in the modern world.