All in a day's work...

Yesterday I wrote a letter to Dame Judi Dench:

You may (or may not) know that Dame Judi took part in the earliest modern revivals of the York mystery plays throughout the 1950s. She was an angel in the 1951 Festival of Britain revival and played the Virgin Mary (one of her first professional roles) in 1957.

So on the off-chance that she might reply, I wrote asking what it was like to be part of those early performances, how the play cycle fitted into a post-war society, and how it was viewed by the people of York at the time.

Playing the System

via

One's first conference

Yours truly shall be heading off to Wellington next February for the eleventh biennial conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval And Early Modern Studies (phew, what a mouthful, and even the shorter ANZAMEMS isn't much better). My proposal, on the family, faith and fortune of our old friends the Blackburns, has been accepted (hooray!) and now I shall have to give a fifteen minute presentation at a Real Conference in front of Real Academics (gulp). 

Margaret and Nicholas Blackburn junior, in the Blackburn family window, All Saints North Street, York