Hrafn Rìkharðsson as Guy Fawkes and Andrea Mitchell as Margaret Clitherow in the Hallowed Guild of Phantom Players’ Remember Remember at York Mansion House
THE spirits of former York residents Guy Fawkes and Margaret Clitherow will rise to share their stories in Remember, Remember, a new play written for York Ghost Week 2026.
Staged by the Hallowed Guild of Phantom Players at York Mansion House, St Helen’s Square, York, from October 29 to 31 at 7.30pm, this premiere is a collaboration between actor/playwright Andrea Mitchell and performer/musician/historical re-enactor Hrafn Rìkharðsson and Celtic folk musician/theatre-maker Olivia Graham.
Mitchell and Rìkharðsson developed the script together using archive material while Graham provides the haunting soundtrack to the two-act drama.
Margaret was crushed to death on Ouse Bridge in 1586 after her trial conviction for having hidden Catholic priests in her home on Shambles in York. Gunpowder Plot protagonist Guy Fawkes was born in York and attended St Peter’s School.
As the sainted “Pearl of York” Margaret Clitherow relives the tragic day of her death, she is joined by the spirit of one believed to have been present at her execution in his youth: Guy Fawkes
The play explores the possibility that witnessing her death – her body being compressed by stones – was a key event in radicalising him against the Protestant English state, inciting one of the most explosive (pardon the pun) episodes on the stage of English history?
Haunting period folk music, played on traditional instruments, will flow hypnotically through historically informed storytelling in this atmospheric two-hour performance created exclusively for York Ghost Week 2026.
Andrea says: “We’re thrilled to be telling the stories of these two well-known York residents, whose lives overlapped in 16th century York, in the two acts of the play.
“We’ve researched a wealth of archive material to develop the script together and were very grateful to be able carry out some of our research in the Bar Convent library.”
The pair also used genealogy websites, Spanish archives and letters written at the time, as well as books, including a 1926 publication written about the life of Margaret Clitherow by Lady Lindsey Smith for her husband, in defence of Catholicism.
Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre special collections manager Dr Hannah Thomas says: “We were delighted to help Andrea with her research into the life of Margaret Clitherow, a subject which continues to fascinate and inspire so many.
“The convent has a critical role to play in telling the story of Tudor York, particularly through our fascinating living heritage exhibition, supported by a wealth of information in our archives and library facilities, and we are delighted that the team have been able to use this material to bring Margaret’s story to life.”
Remember, Remember, York Mansion House State Room, York, October 29 to 31, 7.30pm. Tickets: £25 including an interval drink. Box office: mansionhouseyork.com/whatson.
