Rome to Shakespeare in one Day. Get Psyched!

THEA 200

What are we talking about?• Plays (decreasing popularity

through the Roman empire)• Mime

– Women performers– No masks– Talking– Included graphic sex and violence

(simulated and real)

• Plus: Chariot and horse races, gladiators, animal vs. animal, man vs. animal, naumachia (sea battles)

Rise of Christianity in Roman Empire

• Issue of monotheism• Persecution by Roman

authorities– Scorn and mockery

• Final crackdown in early 300’s

• Conversion of Constantine in 312

Fall of Rome (When in Rome, get out…)

• 410 CE - Rome sacked by the Visigoths (German “Barbarians”)

• Catholic church became unifying force in Western Europe– Most “theatre” that we

study is derived from Church sources/authors/events

Hroswitha (aka Hrosvita) c. 950

• Benedictine Nun• Wrote plays based on

Terence’s work– Saw Terence as impure– Praised the sobriety and

chastity of women

• First known post-Roman playwright

• Plays probably not done, but can’t say for sure.

Quem Quaeritis (c. 975)• The Trope: a liturgical

embellishment• This one had stage directions

indicating a couple of things:– Simultaneous: Several locations

visible at once– Emblematic: Hell mouth, revolving

globe– Environmental: Found space

(church), rather than permanent performance space

• Performed in the church, and then outside the church…

And we’re back ...

• 1200: Plays performed outside the church• 1311: First recorded Feast of Corpus Christi• 1375: Religious drama developed

independent of liturgy (service)

Key characteristics of Non- Liturgical drama

• Performed outside the church• In the vernacular (French, Spanish, English,

German) rather than Latin• Performers were not churchmen• Performances tended to be grouped around the

Feast of Corpus Christi• Full range of biblical and religious stories

Non-Liturgical drama? MMM…

• Mystery Plays: Stories from the Bible and life of Christ

• Miracle Plays: Stories from the lives of saints and Christian miracles

• Morality Plays: Allegorical tales about how to get to heaven, live a good life, stay out of trouble, keep from temptation, etc.

Building a Mystery• Cycle plays were collections of individual

plays covering the entire span of biblical history (Creation to Doomsday)

• Individual plays were sponsored/adopted by specific guilds– Noah and the Flood adopted by

shipbuilders, fishers, mariners, etc– Crucifixion: Carpenters– Gifts to the Christ Child: Goldsmiths

• Theatrical spaces throughout the town• Towns had their own plays, which is how

we organize the extant scripts (the Yorktown cycle, the Chester Cycle)

Staging the World• Two key components: Mansion and

Platea– Mansion: A tiny façade or indicative

piece of set that would “set the stage”– Platea: Open space in front of the

Mansion where the action could take place

• Two options: Fixed or Moveable– Fixed: Mansions set up in order – Moveable: Mansions paraded through

the streets on pageant wagons. Each play performed several times at various locations (the play comes to the people).

Mysterious Acting

• Actors could be drawn from anywhere (didn’t have to be a member of the sponsoring guild)

• Most costumes were everyday clothes– Angels: Base costume was

church robes (God would dress a lot like the Pope was dressed, for example)

– Devils: Special costumes, special effects (often the most popular)

• Special effects handled by a ‘Master of Secrets”

What could you see?The production lasted twenty-five days, and on

each we saw strange and Wonderful things…We saw Truth, angels, and others descend from very high up, sometimes by visible and sometimes by invisible means. Lucifer flew out of Hell on a dragon without anyone being able to tell how…Jesus was carried to the top of a wall forty feet high by the Devil…The fig tree, when cursed by Our Lord, dried up and its leaves withered in a minute

Account of Valenciennes, France cycle play c. 1547

Noah and His Sons• Towneley Text (by the

‘Wakefield Master”)• Three parts• First: Noah praying to God,

God speaking to Noah• Second: Noah’s wife berating

him for being a lousy good-for-nothing

• Third: Noah builds the ark (in 25 lines). More wackiness with the wife. Rain. Time on the ark. Waters recede.

• Next play was Abraham and Isaac

Morality Plays• Everyman: the prime example of

the Morality play• Characters were named after traits

or qualities (“Everyman”, “Good Deeds”, “Vice”) rather than people

• In Everyman our hero learns: – “Fellowship”, “Kindred”, and “Cousin”

will not accompany him to the grave. – “Good Deeds” will go along, but first

he must do penance, as advised by “Knowledge”

– Then “Doctor” (a learned man) comes in to explain everything

Everyman… in legos

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM5Zwd427iU

And yet another version… this one is for realz

• http://www.musearts.com/cartoons/pigs/everymanintro.html

Losing my religion• By about 1560, religion and

current politics were forbidden subjects for theatre to present on stage across Western Europe– Protestant split from Catholic

church had made theatre a battle ground for each side

– Morality plays about evils of Catholicism/Protestantism

• Elizabeth I takes the throne in 1558 (held till her death in 1603)

Feast of Fools / Boy Bishop• Inversion of the power of the

church for a day. Reminiscent of earlier pagan festivals.

• Celebrants rang the church bells improperly, sang out of tune, wore strange garments and masks, and used puddings, sausages, and old shoes as censers.

• The Festivities were accompanied by much revelry, some of which passed over into licentiousness. The feast influenced of comedy both religious and secular.

Rise of Professional Secular Theatre• Permanent, commercial theatre

buildings begin to open 1580• No longer “found” environments• Two main types for England

– Public: Open air, Thrust stage, No seating for “groudlings” in “The Pit”. 3 levels of seating around the outside

– Private: Closed (roofed), but open to the public. More expensive than Public theatres

• In each case, scenery was scarce• Stage normally had two stories

(think the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet)