introduction to theater middle ages

7/23/2019 Introduction to Theater Middle Ages

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Introduction to TheaterDarla Jones, Instructor



The Middle Ages



Middle Ages

• Theater of the Middle Ages – profoundly religious

• Parallels with Greek theater

• Began as a springtie religious o!ser"ance – #aster

• $ituali%ed resurrection of Jesus

• Pu!lic and counal – attracted ass audience

• &ele!rated, illustrated stories of the Bi!le



Middle Ages

• Medie"al Ties fro '() AD till the *+th century

• ecular theatre died in -estern #urope with the fal

• .o culture, no ad"anceents

• Tie period is known as /Dark Ages0

• .ot well docuented due to lack of sur"i"ing recor

te1ts



Middle Ages

• At the !eginning of the Middle Ages, the $oan &athol!anned theatrical perforances as !ar!aric and pagan

• There were any church edicts against secular perfor

instrels, 4ugglers, acro!ats, !ards, ies, puppeteer

/uers0

• all groups of tra"eling perforers went fro town t

entertaining

• The only entertainent for the tie

• Precursors of &oedia dell5Arte in 6rance and Italy a5



Middle Ages

•Much political turoil – no relia!le political structure

•The &atholic church was the only sta!le leadership8go

•The church e1erted increasing influence

•In the 'th &entury, the Bishop of $oe, claied to !e successor to t7 Peter, the original Pope

•#sta!lished supreacy in church atters and secular •



Draa in the *9th century

• &atholic &hurch who shut down classical theatre also to

the re!irth of the theatre in the *9th century

• :ad little choice; &ouldn<t stop the pagan rites – too po

• Many aspects of pagan rites found their way into &hrist

cereonies7



:rots"itha of Gandershei

• #arliest3known woan poet in Gerany• cholars consider her the first draatist, o

playwright, since ancient ties

• pellings of her nae include :roswitha,:ros"it, :roswitha, $oswitha, and :rots"it

• -rote stories a!out &hristianity and its

saints7




!7 =>+ – d7 *999

?ower a1ony – Gandershei

Gerany




• Di"ided her own works into three anuscri• Book of Legends• Book of Drama

• Epics • The legends and plays still e1ist, !ut the tw

included in Epics are lost7




• ery few details are known a!out :ros"itha• Assued that :ros"itha was of no!le a1on• he was a nun, or canoness

• Benedictine onastery of Gandershei in odern3day GeranyC7

• Gandershei was founded in +E as a ona

the no!ility




• Most of :ros"itha<s writings recounted the

artyrs• Praised those who led ascetic li"es3 forgoin

suptuous eals, aterial possessions, anpleasure in the pursuit of spiritual goals7




• :er si1 plays are considered the first know

&hristian draas@• Three portray artyrdos under $oan e

• Two, the reha!ilitation of harlots !y asceti• Fne, the repentance and con"ersion of a yo

$oan an in lo"e with a arried &hristia



Types of Medie"al Draa

• ?iturgical tropes@ gospel draati%ations

• Mystery plays@ Bi!lical plays

• Miracle plays@ saints5 li"es

• Morality plays@ allegories

• Interludes and farces@ secular plays

• 6olk plays@ pagan and folklore eleents



?iturgical Draa

• =E+3=(+ AD

• The content was fro the church liturgy and it w

perfored !y clergy during the church ser"ices7

• These contained soe theatrical eleents and tshort plays were called tropes7

• The draas were written in ?atin7



?iturgical Draa

• #arliest sur"i"ing draa fro the iddle ages@

• A four3line draati%ation of the resurrection, with dire

perforance

• &oes fro an #aster trope; sung !y a choir at first

• &ele!rates in responsi"e chanting, the "isit of the three

the to! of the crucified &hrist

• They are et !y an angel who tells the that &hrist ha

their grief turns to 4oy7



?iturgical Draa

• Hue Huaeritis

-ho seek ye in the to!, F &hristians

Jesus of .a%areth, the crucified, F hea"enly !eings,

:e is not here, he is risen as he foretold;

Go and announce that he is risen fro the to!7



$eligious ernacular Draa

• ernacular@ e"eryday speech

• &atholic clergy switched fro ?atin to the

languages of the asses – language was

considered to ha"e !ecoe /"ulgar0• As these plays !ecae ore ela!orate, they we

perfored outside the church



$eligious ernacular Plays

• Perfored in cycles – soeties as any as '9

days of perforances

• Aied to reinforce &hurch doctrine

• Melodraatic• Good3rewarded; e"il3punished

• God and his plan were the dri"ing forces



Mystery Play

• tories taken fro the Bi!le

• Dealt with the ysteries of the Di"ine

• #ach play had four or fi"e different scenes or ac

• Priests and onks were the actors



Mystery Play

• #ach scene or act was perfored at a different plain town

• People o"ed fro one stage to the ne1t to watchthe play

• The play usually ended outside the church so thatthe people would go to church and hear a seronafter watching the play

• Cycles were usually performed at the religious festivof Corpus Christi -- in the spring or early summer



Mystery Plays

•&raft guilds were responsi!le for producing the plays

•Productions were considered a religious duty, and each gu

considera!le resources into productions7

•Plays were often assigned to guilds associated with the su!

of the play and !ecae a kind of /ad"ertiseent0

•The 6lood@ ship !uilders or !arrel akers

• The ?ast upper@ !akers

• The Magi@ goldsiths



Mystery Plays

• tationary stage

• Mansions set up in row, side !y side

• :ea"en is /stage right0

• :ell is /stage left0• Platfors co"ered with cotton the gloriesC heangels

• /:ellouth0 3 a fire3!reathing onsterrepresenting hell



Miracle Plays

• Miracle plays were siilar to ystery plays in dr

techniKues

• Most popular su!4ects were

• the irgin Mary plays usually written in ?atin• t7 George dragon slayer and patron saint of

#nglandC

• t7 .icholas associated with &hristas festi"



Miracle Play

• The Miracle play was a!out the life or actions ofusually a!out the actions that ade that person

• Draati%ed the li"es of &atholic saints

• In order to !ecoe a saint, a person had to perfdocuented iracles, hence, t7 George L t7 .



Morality Plays

• Thee@ how to li"e a &hristian life and !e sa"ed

• Allegory@• A story told on two le"els@ the literal and thesy!olic

• Plot@ a 4ourney through life or to death• #phasis switches fro Bi!lical and saintly proto the coon an@ #"eryan, Mankind

• 6ocus on free will

• 6irst a4or use of professional acting copanie



Draatic TechniKues

• #nglish ystery plays incorporate a co!ination of high serious

coedy@

• :igh seriousness@ the Bi!lical stories of the Fld Testaent and

and ission

• ?ow coedy@ the plays incorporate alost slapstick sketches oconteporary edie"al daily life7

• The plays are set in conteporary settings with recogni%a!le con

characters@ the truth of the Bi!lical stories is tieless 33 the di"i

re"ealed in the Bi!le are still true /today0



Draatic TechniKues

• Theatre was perfored in found spaces@ town sKuare

churches, !anKuet halls 33 no specifically designated

• Theatre was intiate 33 audience interacted with pe

• #la!orate special effects

• &haracteri%ation was often dependent upon costue

akeup

• In 6rance e"en woen were allowed to perfor



#nglish &ycle Plays

• #ach cathedral town had its own cycle• ork

• &hester

• -akefield

• .3town, also known as &o"entry

• The cycles were "ery popular aongst cooners

no!ility@ records show that !oth :enry III and #li%

attended perforances



#nglish &ycle Plays

• The Protestant $eforation !rought a halt to

presentation of cycle plays as they incorporat

&atholic theology

• &ycles were perfored e"ery E3*9 years• oe !ecae huge spectacles

• /The Acts of the Apostles0 perfored at Bour

in *+>) lasted '9 days and in"ol"ed o"er >99



Staging

• Mansions 3 sall scenic structures for indicatingIn ore cople1 plays, there were any ansio

• Plateau – open acting space, ad4acent to the a

• The church structure usually ser"ed as the anschoir loft, for instance, could ser"e as hea"en; t

ight !e the to! of &hristC



Staging

• Machinery was also used@ to fly &hrist up to heaangels coe down, etc7

• &ostues were pro!a!ly ordinary church "este



taging

• Processional

• Pageant wagons would tra"el a set route and pese"eral locations like a parade

• -ould ha"e !een set up around a town sKuare

• Audience would tra"el fro one wagon to the nethe perforances



taging the Plays

• tationary

• Mansions or a series of stages would !e set up

around the town sKuare

• Anchored at either end !y :ea"en and :ell

• #la!orate special effects such as floods, flyin

and fiery pits were "ery popular



Pageant -agons

• The ter pageant is used to refer to the stage, thplay itself, and the spectacle7

• Platfor on wheels

• Pulled !y en• all enough to fit down narrow streets

• May ha"e had second platfor, pulled !ehind



Interludes and 6arces

• &o!ined eleents of allegory, classical yth, courtly entertainent@ usic, dance, spectacle

• Interludes were short plays perfored !etween court !anKuets7

• 6arces were longer plays ridiculing such huan greed and dishonesty #"eryanC

• As the ysteries, iracle and oralities were cProtestant authorities, secular draa !ecae iportant to all le"els of society



Decline of Medieval Theatre

• Increased interest in classical learning – affecteand playwriting

• ocial structure was changing – destroyed feuda

corporate nature of counities



Decline of Medieval Theatre

• Dissension within the church led to prohi!ition oplays in #urope Hueen #li%a!eth, the &ouncil of

*+'+3*+)> – religious plays outlawedC

• By late *)th century, draa of edie"al period

force7

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