Transcript Medieval Theatre notes

Medieval Theatre
• Time frame: 5th century- mid 16th century
• Secular theatre died in Western Europe
with the fall of Rome
• Theatrical performances were banned by
the Roman Catholic Church as barbaric
and pagan
• Most Roman theatre had been spectacle
rather than literary drama
Byzantine Theatre
The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium)
with its capitol at Constantinople (today’s
Istanbul) flourished until 1453.
• The Byzantines kept Greek and Roman
theatrical pieces alive and saved
manuscripts and records of Classical
playwrights.
•
Drama in the Early Middle Ages
500-1000 AD
• Small groups of traveling performers –
minstrels, jugglers, acrobats, bards, mimes,
puppeteers -- went from town to town
entertaining.
• They performed in taverns and at festivals for
the commoners and at court for the nobility
• Festivals usually contained both pagan and
Christian elements ( e.g. Halloween and
Christmas celebrations )
Hrotsvit of
Gandersheim
935-1000
• One of the earliest European
playwrights
• Her 6 plays, written in Latin, are
based on Roman comedies by
Terence, but focus on female
characters in situations that test
their devotion to Christian virtues.
• Her intention was to revise the
negative portrayals of women that
she found in his comedies.
Liturgical Drama
• The Roman Catholic Church was responsible
for the rebirth of European theatre in the 10th
–12th century
• All Europe had been converted to Christianity
• The Church needed ways to teach illiterate
parishioners: cathedrals, stained glass
windows, sculpture, painting and drama
Liturgical Drama
• Religious rituals ( the mass, baptism, etc.)
embody theatrical elements.
• Priests began to incorporate such
elements into the gospel lessons of the
mass.
• The first short plays were called tropes
• Written in Latin, these tropes were
performed by the clergy during the mass.
Religious Vernacular Drama
• Vernacular: language spoken by the people
• To reach the commoners, the clergy began to
translate the liturgical plays into vernacular languages
• As the plays became more elaborate, they were
moved from the altar of the church to the church yard.
• As more roles were added, commoners were used as
amateur actors
The 3 M’s of Religious
Vernacular Drama
• Mystery plays: Biblical stories
• Miracle plays: saints’ lives
• Morality plays: allegories
A selection of Medieval Drama
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Performances by itinerant entertainers
Liturgical tropes: gospel dramatizations
Mystery plays: Biblical plays
Miracle plays: saints’ lives
Morality plays: allegories
Interludes and farces: secular plays
Folk plays: pagan and folklore elements
Mystery Plays
• Mystery: from French mystere -- secret. The term
could refer to Biblical truths or to the secrets of the
crafts held by the guilds who were responsible for
producing the plays.
• In England, these Biblical plays were produced in
cycles: a series of plays depicting Biblical history from
the Creation to the Last Judgement. Also known as
Cycle Plays.
• The cycles were usually performed at the religious
festival of Corpus Christi -- in the spring or early
summer.
Mystery Plays performed by Trade Guilds
•
While the plays were written by the clergy and overseen by the
Church, the performances were produced by the guilds of each
town and mostly performed by amateur actors.
• Productions were considered a religious duty, and each guild
invested considerable resources into productions.
• Plays were often assigned to guilds associated with the subject
matter of the play and became a kind of “advertisement”
– The Flood: Shipbuilders or Barrelmakers
– The Nativity: Shepherds
– The Magi: Goldsmiths
English Cycle Plays
•
Each cathedral town had its own cycle:
– York
– Chester
– Wakefield
– N-town
• The cycles were very popular amongst commoners and
nobility: records show that both Henry VIII and
Elizabeth I attended performances.
• The Protestant Reformation brought a halt to the presentation
of cycle plays as they incorporated Roman Catholic theology.
Dramatic Techniques
• English mystery plays incorporate a combination of
high seriousness and low comedy:
– High seriousness: the Biblical stories of the Old
Testament and Jesus’ life and mission
– Low comedy: the plays incorporate almost
slapstick sketches of contemporary medieval daily
life.
• The plays are set in contemporary settings with
recognizable contemporary characters: the truth of
the Biblical stories is timeless -- the divine truths
revealed in the Bible are still true “today.”
Miracle Plays
• Miracle plays were similar to mystery plays in
dramatic techniques
• Dramatized the lives of Roman Catholic
saints
( in order to become a saint, a person had to
perform 3 documented miracles)
• The most popular subjects were the Virgin
Mary (plays usually written in Latin), St.
George (dragon slayer and patron saint of
England) and St. Nicholas ( associated with
Christmas festivities)
Morality Plays
• Theme: how to live a Christian life and be saved.
• Allegory:
– A story told on two levels: the literal and the the symbolic
– Plot: a journey through life or to death
• Emphasis switches from Biblical and saintly
protagonists to the common man: Everyman,
Mankind
• Focus on free will
• First major use of professional acting companies
Staging the Plays
• PROCESSIONAL
– Pageant wagons
– would travel a set route and
perform at several locations:
like a parade or
– would be set up around a town
square and the audience would
travel from one wagon to the
next to see the performances
• STATIONARY
– Mansions or a series of
stages would be set up
around the town square
– Anchored at either end
by Heaven and Hell
– Elaborate special effects
such as floods, flying and
fiery pits were very
popular
Dramatic Techniques
•
Theatre was performed in found spaces: town squares,
taverns, churches, banquet halls -- no specifically designated
theatres
• Theatre was intimate -- audience interacted with performers
• Elaborate special effects
• Characterization was often dependent upon costume and
makeup
Interludes and Farces
• Combined elements of allegory, classical myth, and
courtly entertainment: music, dance, spectacle
• Interludes were short plays performed between
courses at court banquets
• Farces were longer plays ridiculing such human
follies as greed and dishonesty
• As the mysteries, miracle and moralities were
censored by Protestant authorities, secular drama
became more important to all levels of society
Folk Plays
• Often performed at such holidays as Christmas,
New Year and May Day
• Incorporated remnants of pagan rituals
• Mummers, Morris Dancers, etc.
• Robin Hood
• Feast of Fools: Fool companies consisted of . young
men, whose chief business was to play gross
comedies and to execute nonsensical and often
ribald travesties on the Mass. These boisterous
"Feasts" antedate most of the mysteries, and may
have been reverent in their origin