Five fairly short plays comprise the scenes that show us Jesus’ rising from the dead. Dramatically, they are all anti-climactic after the cross and the harrowing of Hell. The Resurrection is not shown by a sudden appearance; it is discussed among Pilate and the priests, with evidence from the guards. When Jesus appears to Mary by the tomb, it is the shortest play of all, fewer than 150 lines. (Average length seems to be 400 lines.) Jesus’ appearance to the disciples who are walking to Emmaus is only slightly longer, as is the play in which he appears to the disciples gathered together with “Doubting Thomas.”
I wonder if it caused production problems when some plays were two or even three times as long as the shortest ones. Each wagon could not move on until the previous show had completed and packed up. What happened if a segment of the line-up consisted of shorter, more efficient plays and producers, so that a gap developed in the middle while the next section had long plays?
The Pageant Master at York was in charge of all coordination problems for the entire event. It was a big job. Every year, he had to supervise the money that flowed into and out of the production, keeping scrupulous records. Below the level of Pageant Master, each production had a supervising director. As the plays grew larger and more sophisticated, we see them starting to hire specialists outside the guild.
For example, in 1483, the Ostlers in York contracted with a group of four men to produce “The Coronation of the Virgin” for the next eight years. In Coventry, where the production was similar to York’s but smaller, the Smiths hired a member of the Skinners’ Guild to be their play director for the next twelve years. He was only in charge of the acting; others would set up the staging and costumes. A few of these semi-pro directors are on record as working for several guilds at once, perhaps doing different tasks. Eventually, in the 1500s, we find men from London being hired to organize and direct local plays in other regions.