Theatre In The Middle Ages

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Theatre In The Middle Ages
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The Fall of Rome

• Rome was attacked by invaders.
• Rome was no longer able to protect the people of
  Europe
• Life in Europe was very unstable for many years
• Eventually the catholic church and a system
  called feudalism filled the void and brought some
  order to the chaos

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Feudalism

• A political system that developed during the
  middle ages
• Lords were granted fiefs (or pieces of land) by
  the Monarch
• The serfs farmed the land for the Lords in
  exchange for protection and enough of the harvest
  on which to live.
• Knights were used by Lords and Monarchs to
  provide the protection needed.

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The Roman Catholic church

• With the absence of a government, the Church
  filled the void.
• Bishops, members of the hierarchy of the church,
  were of the same social status of Lords/nobles of
  the feudal system
• Priests and other clergy were well educated and
  many sought to become part of the clergy during
  this time period
• Most people who were not a part of the Church
  were illiterate during this time period
• No single entity was as powerful as the Roman
  Catholic Church during this time period

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Theatre?

• For about 400 years theatre basically consisted
  of simple entertainments such as singing and
  storytelling
• The Church was still very much opposed to secular
  theatre
• However, the rebirth of theatre can be attributed
  directly to the Church.

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Religious Theatre

• Since the congregation couldnt read, the Church
  used tableaux and pantomime and eventually added
  dialogue to get the stories of the bible across
  to the parishioners
• TROPES were verbal (spoken or sung) additions to
  the liturgical text. The oldest surviving example
  is called Quem Quearitis or whom Do you Seek?
  The dialogue is taken directly from the new
  testament.
• Liturgical Drama can be classified as Mystery
  plays, miracle plays or Morality plays

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Mystery Plays

• Plot Characters taken from books of the bible
• It was, initially, the most prominent form of
  liturgical drama
• The best examples are the cycle plays of England.
• Cycle plays are a series of short plays performed
  over a longer period of time.
• An example of a Mystery play is The Passion Play

Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden of Eden
in a modern production of a mystery play.
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Miracle Plays

• Plot is built around the lives and works of the
  saints
• Usually performed on the saints feast day
• Some scripts were biblical, others were not
• Example the four St. Nicholas plays presented on
  St. Nicholas Day, in Latin, on December 6th.

St. Nicholas
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Morality Plays

• Dramas based on the spiritual trials of the
  average person
• The plays were allegories about moral temptations
• The action of the drama was the battle of good
  and evil to possess a persons soul.
• Best example Everyman

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Staging the Plays

• Inside the church, the audience moved from one
  mansion to the next to see each scene.
• A mansion is a scenic façade that marks the
  location of the scene
• Eventually the plays became too large and had to
  be staged outside the church.

Example of Medieval Mansions
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Staging the Plays (cont.)

• Pageant wagons were also used to stage
  liturgical dramas. They are similar to parade
  floats
• The Trade Guilds provided the money
  personnel, the church provided the scripts and
  direction
• Costumes consisted of liturgical garments for
  saints, clergy etc. modern clothing for every
  day people fanciful costumes for devils and
  demons.