Last update:
November 16, 2007
Medieval Theatre
Resource: Wilson and Goldfarb, Chapter 11
Objectives for this lesson:
Students will examine:
Medieval History
Liturgical Drama
Drama Outside the
Church
Medieval Staging
Medieval Drama -
Plays
The Decline of Medieval
Theatre
Medieval History
After the fall of Rome the 600’s A.D., came a period known to
us as the "dark ages."
Much political turmoil – no reliable political structure
The Church was the only stable "government"
The church exerted increasing influence. In the 4th
Century, the Bishop of Rome, claiming to be the successor to St. Peter, established
supremacy in church matters and in secular concerns.
Feudalism – the manor was the chief non-church political
entity.
The manor (large estate), headed by a nobleman, had absolute
authority over the serfs, (peasants) who worked the land.
Lords of manors were vassals, or subjects, of a king. The king’s
knights protected the lords and their land.
Serfs (servants) owed allegiance to their lord.
There are many church edicts against mimi, histriones, ioculatores
– terms for secular performers.
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Little is known about the theatre between 600-1000 A.D.
There are references to actors (histriones), jugglers, rope dances
in nomadic tribes, remnants of Roman mimes, popular pagan festivals and rites.
Teutonic minstrels or troubadours ( scops [pronounced "shope]
) became the primary preserver of tribal histories, but the Teutonic tribes
converted to Christianity after the 7th or 8th century,
and the scops were denounced, branded as bad as mimes.
But there was little written drama; none that survives, and almost
no other surviving references to it.
Hrosvitha of Gandersheim,
a nun, wrote religious plays based on Terence's plays, but they were
probably "closet dramas."
Also Christian ceremonies, where the theatre seems to have been
"reborn."
Between 925 and 975, drama becomes re-introduced into the church
services.
Theatre was "reborn" within the very institution that helped to
shut it down.
Perhaps the church had little choice – it couldn't’t stop the
pagan rites – too popular – so many aspects of pagan rites found their way into
Christian ceremonies. (Christmas the birth of Christ, not celebrated in December
till the 4th century, to take advantage of the winter festivals;
Easter supplanted the spring festivals).
In the 12th century, the Crusades helped bring other
cultures to Europe (or, to be more accurate, Europeans took from other cultures
and brought them to Europe).
"Liturgical drama" – within the church liturgy, the service
Other religious dramas extended outside the church, in the vernacular
[native language]
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Earliest extant drama from the middle ages:
a four-line dramatization of the resurrection, with direction
for its performance.
Comes from an Easter trope (interpolation into existing text,
originally lengthened musical passages with words eventually added). – 925 A.D.
Sung by a choir at first
called the "Quem Quaeritis"
"Whom seek ye in the tomb, O Christians?
Jesus of Nazereth, the crucified, O heavenly
beings,
He is not here, he is risen as he foretold;
Go and announce that he is risen from the tomb."
- The Three
Marys (Mary, the mother of Jesus; Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus
of Bethany; and Mary Magdalene) come to the tomb of Jesus, and the angel
asks them who they are looking for.
By 975, it had become a little drama within the service, probably
played by altar boys.
The practice blossomed – many playlets developed dealing with
biblical themes—mostly Easter, Christmas, the 12th Night (Feast of
the Epiphany).
Usually serious, but at the Feast of Fools and the Feast of the
Boy Bishops, much dancing and foolishness and parodies of church practices.
At first, the church had control of the drama outside of the
church, but then it gradually became more controlled by secular groups.
The Guilds (tradesmen or Confraternities) took over in some cities,
and it was common for certain Guilds to retain control over certain plays /
stories, all of which were based in some way on the Bible or religious teachings.
For instance, the Bakers’ Guild would control the play about the
Last Supper, and Shipwrights’ Guild would get plays about Noah, etc.
Municipalities took over in some cities. But the church still
needed to approve the scripts, even when its role diminished.
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Drama inside the Church – Liturgical
Drama
Before 1200, most were still being done inside the church as
part of the liturgy. Most were probably still in Latin, the language of the
Church.
Staging:
There were two main areas for the performances to take place:
Mansions -- small scenic structures
for indicating location (for instance, a throne might equal the palace of Pilate).
In more complex plays, there were many mansions.
Platea – general acting area,
adjacent to the mansion.
The church structure usually served as the mansions (the choir
loft, for instance, could serve as heaven; the altar might be the tomb of Christ).
Machinery was also used: to fly Christ up to heaven, have angels
come down, etc.
Costumes were probably ordinary church vestments.
By 1200, some of these plays were being performed outdoors.
By 1350, plays were in the vernacular, rather than Latin.
Laymen were the actors (male members of the community, unpaid—though
there were some women on stage in France), no longer clerics and priests.
The stories began to range even further than when they were part
of the liturgical services.
The church seemed to support these dramas.
Why did they begin to move outdoors?
Probably because of the expanding needs of the plays.
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Medieval Drama outside of the Church:
With diminishing church control, secularization led to some changes.
Sometimes the plays were very complex – in cycles – that someone
was hired to oversee.
The master copy of the script was called the Register – sometimes
the producing company / guild could monopolize or censor it or ban it --
The Keeper of the Register was an important position and had much
control.
The Master of Secrets – was in charge of the machines (secrets)
– the special effects.
Often very intricate (need 17 people to operate Hell machinery
in Belgium in 1501).
Flying was a major technique.
Quite common – almost all the scenes had Heaven on the right,
Hell on the left, and Earth on the middle.
Therefore, angels, resurrection – had to use flying.
Platforms covered with cotton (the "glories") held angels.
Trap doors – appearances and disappearances (Lot’s wife turning
into salt, etc.)
Fire – the hellmouth – a fire-breathing monster representing
hell.
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Medieval Staging
Two major kinds of stages in the medieval theatre: Fixed
and Moveable
These technical tricks would be more extensive on fixed stages.
The mansion and platea were borrowed from the church services.
Simultaneous display of several locations also borrowed from
liturgical drama-
Simultaneous staging was a distinctive characteristic of medieval
theatre.
Fixed Staging: on the Continent (except Spain and parts of Italy)
(W&G call them "platform stages)
- Mansions set up in available spaces (courtyards, town squares,
etc.), usually arranged in straight lines or rectangles or circles, depending
on the space.
- Heaven and Hell were at opposite ends, if possible.
Moveable: pageant
wagons (or click here)
moved through the streets while the audience stayed in one place – like parade
floats. (W&G call them "wagon stages") (see illustration in text)
(click here
for a picture..)
The term "pageant" is used to refer to the stage, the play itself,
and the spectacle.
Plays performed in sequence – thus each play was performed several
times.
There are few reliable description of pageant wagons.
One claims that the wagons must be over 12 feet tall—it would
seem impossible to fit through the streets (many medieval streets had overhanging
buildings), and would be flimsy. [Archdeacon David Rogers, c. 1600].
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The Medieval
Drama – the plays themselves…
Medieval drama seems naïve if we don’t understand the period.
They have little sense of history – reflecting the limited knowledge
of the people.
Anachronisms were quite common (In The Second Shepherds’
Play, for instance, the stolen lamb becomes the baby Jesus,
and the Shepherds had been using Christian references even before this "baby
Jesus" arrived).
Comic elements appeared in plays that were otherwise quite serious,
and had as their purpose to teach Biblical stories and principles to the people.
The medieval mind looked at the temporal world (Earth) as transitory;
Heaven and Hell were the eternal realities.
The Religious Plays:
Performed in cycles.
Three kinds of religious plays:
-- Mystery plays – about Christ or from
the Old Testament – usually done in cycles (Second Shepherds’ Play
is one of these).
-- Miracle plays – lives of saints, historical
and legendary
-- Morality plays – didactic allegories,
often of common man’s struggle for salvation (Everyman – only
his good deeds accompany him in death).
Characteristics in common:
- aimed to teach or reinforce Church doctrine
- melodramatic: good rewarded, evil punished
- God and his plan were the driving forces, not the characters
To us, these plays seem to be episodic, confusing sequences
of time, and an odd mixture of comic and serious – unnerving.
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Medieval Secular Plays
Latin comedies and tragedies were studied in schools and universities
- Farce – very popular
Particularly in France, where it was well-developed.
Pierre Patelin – 15th century France
– clever knaves outwitting each other.
Moralities – secularized – allegories based on classical gods
and heroes, often with some political content
Mummings and disguisings – given at wealthy homes on holidays
– pantomimes, danced and narrated stories
Interludes and Masques – between courses at a banquet, masques
were allegorical compliments to the guests – with intricate dances and spectacle.
Towns staged pageants—the plays were often put in celebrations in
honor of dignitaries.
Secular plays were most often performed by professional actors
attached to noble houses.
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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 Council of Trent, 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.
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Page last updated :
November 16, 2007