A TORCH lit “dance of death”, a werewolf’s song and a 20 foot dragon are set to star in a festival celebrating medieval theatre.

The 12-day festival, which is being held in Durham City, will also feature a performance of the oldest play in Britain and a recently re-discovered Easter play.

Theatrum Mundi runs from July 1 to 12 and aims to showcase the sort of spectacle that people would have enjoyed in medieval and Renaissance times.

It will also include a newly commissioned show celebrating the North East’s theatrical heritage. The Sacred and the Profane features children in skeleton costumes joining a torch-lit “dance of death”, a 20 foot stage dragon and a procession of “Boy Bishops” - a Durham tradition which saw children made Bishop for the day.

The festival is being organised by a research team from Durham University which is investigating the history of drama, music and performance in the North East from Anglo-Saxon times until 1642.

Festival director Professor Barbara Ravelhofer said: “The Sacred and the Profane will be a unique opportunity for people to experience their heritage first hand, in what promises to be a colourful show of Renaissance dance, costume and drama.

“The festival is a great opportunity for people to engage with our research project and to experience sights and sounds that would have been commonplace in medieval times. We are very excited to be staging the festival and would invite anyone interested to come along.”

The festival will also include the first performance in modern times of The Harrowing of Hell, the main section of which has a claim to be the oldest surviving British play.

Probably written on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne about the year 740, it depicts Christ’s descent into hell after his crucifixion to redeem the souls of the departed.

It will be staged alongside Peregrini, a recently discovered Easter play which is the best surviving example of the once-popular genre across all Europe.

Both plays will be performed on July 1 and July 8 at 7.30pm in St Oswald’s Church. Tickets are £5 and are available from Durham World Heritage Site Visitors’ Centre, Owengate, or at the door.

A free performance of The Sacred and the Profane is on Palace Green on Sunday 10 July at 8.30pm.

Other plays being performed include Mankind in Durham Market Place on Friday, July 8 at 12.30pm and the Crucifixion, from the York mystery cycle, which will be staged on a “pageant wagon” on Palace Green on Sunday, July 10 at 6pm. Both events are free.