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Home , Medieval theatre

Medieval Medieval Theatre

th th ❖ Time frame: 5 c- mid 16 c ❖ Secular theatre died in Western 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 Roman Literary Drama

2nd c. bc - 4th c. ce Origins in Greek drama and Roman

festivals

: Seneca

: and Plautus 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 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. What are the Middle Ages known for?

➔Feudalism—medieval system in which serfs labored for landholders who protected them and were responsible to overlords.

➔Castles—Built to protect lands

➔Knights

➔Chivalry—code of behavior for knights which called for them to be brave, fight fairly, keep promises, and treat women of noble birth in a courteous manner What are the Middle Ages known for?

➔Black —the bubonic plague that began in the East and spread through fleas

to all of Europe. 1/3 of the population died.

➔Robin Hood/King Arthur

➔Tournaments/festivals Drama in the

500-1000 ❖ 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 celebrations ) 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 ❖ 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 , 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 Mystery Plays

❖ Mystery: from French mystere -- secret. The term could refer to Biblical truths or to the secrets of the crafts held by the who were responsible for producing the plays. ❖ In , 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 invested considerable resources into productions. ❖ Plays were often assigned to guilds associated with the subject matter of the and became a kind of “advertisement”

❖ The Flood: Shipbuilders or Barrelmakers ❖ The Nativity: Shepherds ❖ The Magi: Goldsmiths Modern

Productions Mystery Plays

York Mystery Plays

The Mysteries

B.J. Elvgren. Quilt: depicting scenes from Chester’s 14th century set against modern city landmarks – Chester Cathedral 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: ,

❖ Focus on free will

❖ First major use of professional companies

Staging the Plays

❖ PROCESSIONAL ❖ STATIONARY ❖ Pageant wagons would ❖ Mansions or a series of ❖ travel a set route and stages would be set up perform at several locations, around the town square like a parade or ❖ Anchored at either end by ❖ would be set up around a Heaven and Hell town square and the ❖ Elaborate special effects audience would travel from such as floods, flying and one wagon to the next to see fiery pits were very popular the performances Dramatic Techniques

❖ Theatre was performed in found spaces: town squares, taverns, churches, banquet halls -- no

specifically designated ❖ Theatre was intimate -- audience interacted with

performers

❖ Elaborate special effects ❖ Characterization was often dependent upon

and makeup Interludes and

❖ Combined elements of allegory, classical myth, and courtly entertainment: , , spectacle ❖ Interludes were short plays performed between courses at court banquets ❖ Farces were longer plays ridiculing such 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 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 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 elements

The Decline of Medieval Theatre:

➔ Increased interest in classical learning – affected staging and playwriting

➔ Social structure was changing – destroyed feudalism and "corporate" nature of communities

➔ Dissension within the church led to prohibition of religious plays in Europe (Queen Elizabeth, the , 1545-1563 – religious plays outlawed.).

By late 16th century, drama of medieval period lost its force. Results of the decline:

Professional actors still needed, but not amateurs. Professional theatre rose, became commercial (no longer a community venture). No longer religious plays – returned to the classics for new ideas for stories.