Once upon a time all theatrical performances in Western Europe were religious in impetus and expression. Professional directors and stage managers of the Middle Ages traveled to such towns as Mons and Valenciennes to stage elaborate productions upon specially constructed platforms equipped with trapdoors and other devices to achieve the most spectacular effects. An English king journeyed to York and posted himself and his retinue on a street in order to witness a segment of that city's famous cycle of plays—from Creation to Christ s passion —performed upon a wagon.