This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
A performance work entry records a specific, named theatrical or ritual performance tradition built around religious subject matter, a cycle of plays, a ritual dance drama or a passion play, distinct from a single one time event in being a documented, repeatable performance tradition with its own text, staging convention and performing community. Lawrence Clopper's edition of the surviving records of the Chester mystery plays shows how much of what is known about a performance tradition's actual staging comes from civic and guild records rather than from the performed text alone.
An entry records a performance work's documented origin, who staged it and under what civic or religious sponsorship, and how its text and staging have changed across its documented history, since a performance tradition very often survives in multiple, differing versions across different periods and places rather than one fixed, original script.
Where a performance work has drawn controversy, over its content, its casting or its continued staging, an entry records that documented controversy as part of the work's own history, distinct from and alongside its religious content and its stated devotional or communal purpose.