Having recently completed a December that included 3 (no, 4) mummer's plays for wildly different groups, I feel I may speak on the subject. The classic mummer's play is St. George and the Dragon. John Langstaff once upon a time published a script which may still be available at the Revels, Inc., website (will I ever learn how to do the HTML stuff and connect you?) It's a traditional one but short on slapstick. Anyone can write a mummer's play; the main ingredients are a Presenter (often called Room, for he/she runs in yelling "Make room! Make room! Good people all, pray give us room to rhyme!" or some such); a maiden fair (one of 98's performances had, er, Monica Lewinsky. The actor playing the part also had a beard!); the Hero (who must be sacrificed in order to rise again) and the Dragon/Monster/whatever it is that kills him (sword dances are good; Tony Barrand and John Roberts use a stuffed bunny toy). Sometimes Father Christmas shows up (tho not on Shrove Tues! Once I was in a mummers play where Mother Nature showed up instead!)If a quack doctor is thrown in, all sorts of potential is added for jokes, bawdy and otherwise. There can also be a Fool who eventually brings the Hero back to life when the Doctor can't; then the Doctor represents the worldly powers and the Fool is the wise fool/shaman type who has the real magic. Or however you want to interpret it. One group I "mum" with raises the hero with a group song sung by all including the audience (Lord of the Dance, Rise Up Jock, Julian of Norwich all have been used in my experience). Although mummer's plays are traditionally done during the 12 days of Christmas, there's lots of potential for a Shrove Tuesday one- at least around here, we need lots of reminders that spring will come back some day!
Cuilionn, mumming can be fun and I wish you the best. Please let us know how it went! I'd be happy to exchange a few scripts with anyone interested- most of the ones I have on disk are pretty tame, tho.
All the best- Allison