Medieval Theatre

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Medieval Theatre
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Medieval Theatre

• Time frame 5th c- mid 16th c
• 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

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Roman Literary Drama

• 2nd c. bc - 4th c. ce
• Origins in Greek drama and Roman festivals
• Tragedy Seneca
• ComedyTerence and Plautus

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Roman Spectacle

• Gladiatorial combats
• Naval battles in a flooded Coliseum
• Real-life theatricals
• Decadent, violent and immoral
• All theatrical events were banned by the Church
  when Rome became Christianized

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Byzantine Theatre

• The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) with its
  capitol at Constantinople (todays Istanbul)
  flourished until 1453.
• The Byzantines kept Greek and Roman theatrical
  pieces alive and saved manuscripts and records of
  Classical playwrights.

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Drama in the Early Middle Ages500-1000

• 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 )

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Hrotsvit of Gandersheim935-1000

• aka Roswitha, Hrotswitha, Hrotsvita
• Canoness at the convent of Gandersheim in
  Germany
• 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.

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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

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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.

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Quem Quaeritis TropeWhom do you seek?

• Easter gospel lesson the 3 Marys come to the
  tomb of Christ seeking to annoint his body and
  are greeted by an angel
• Text in Latin from the Regularis Concordia of
  Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, ca. 967-75.

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Quem Quaeritis Trope

• When the third lesson of the matins is chanted,
  let four brethren monks dress themselves of
  whom let one, wearing an alb, enter as if to take
  part in the service and let him without being
  observed approach the place of the sepulcher,
  where, holding a palm in his hand, let him sit
  quietly. Set and costumes
• While the third responsory is being sung, let the
  remaining three brethren follow, all of them
  wearing copes and carrying censors filled with
  incense. Then slowly, in the manner of seeking
  something, let them move toward the place of the
  sepulcher. These things are to be performed in
  imitation of the Angel seated in the tomb, and of
  the women coming with spices to anoint the body
  of Jesus. When therefore the seated angel shall
  see the three women, as if straying about and
  looking for something, approach him, let him
  begin to sing in a dulcet voice of medium pitch
  Stage directions

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• Whom seek ye in the sepulcher, O followers of
  Christ? When he has sung this to the end, let
  the three respond in unison
• Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, O celestial
  one.
• To whom that one He is not here he is risen,
  just as he foretold. Go, announce that he is
  risen from the dead.
• At the word of this command, let the three turn
  to the choir, and say
• Alleluia! The Lord is risen today, The strong
  lion, the Christ, the Son of God. Give thanks to
  God, eia! hurrah! Dialogue
• This said, let the Angel, again seating himself,
  as if recalling them, sing the anthem
• Venite, et Videte locum-- Music Come, and see
  the place where the Lord was lad. Alleluia!
  Alleluia!

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And saying this, let him rise, and let him lift
the veil and show them the place bare of the
cross, but only the cloths lying there with which
the cross was wrapped. Seeing this, let the women
set down the censers they carried into the
sepulcher, and let them pick up the cloth and
spread it out before the eyes of the clergy and,
as if making known that the Lord had risen and
was not now wrapped in this linen, Stage
directions let them sing this anthem Surrexit
Dominus de Sepulchro--The Lord is risen from the
sepulcher, Who for us hung on the cross.
MusicAnd let them place the cloth upon the
altar. The anthem being ended, let the Prior,
rejoicing with them at the triumph of our king,
in that having conquered death, he arose, begin
the hymn Te, Deum, laudamus--We Praise thee, O
God.
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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

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The 3 Ms of Religious Vernacular Drama

• Mystery plays Biblical stories
• Miracle plays saints lives
• Morality plays allegories

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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.

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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

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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.

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Modern Productions
Chester Mystery Plays York Mystery Plays The
Lichfield Mysteries
B.J. Elvgren. Quilt depicting scenes from
Chesters 14th century dramas set against modern
city landmarks Chester Cathedral
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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.

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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)

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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
  

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Types of Medieval Drama

• 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