The Second Shepherd's Play was not of course performed by shepherds, but by the townspeople - not peasants. Many of the roles, especially the more important ones, would probably have been taken by what today we would think of as the middle classes. Unlike the York and Chester plays, the Wakefield plays don't seem to be associated with the craft guilds but were probably sponsored by a religious organisation or the town's government (and so were dependent on public money, I'm afraid).

Neither is it a folk play, but rather a piece of literature written by a gifted and innovative (but still unidentified) poet.