Late Roman Theater

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Late Roman Theater

• The early Christians were the most violently
  opposed to theater in ancient Rome
• St. Genesius was an actor/martyr
• After the fall of Rome the only theater was in
  the form of jugglers, acrobats, dancers, animal
  trainers, mimes and musicians.

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Medieval Theater

• By the 6th century the Mass was the most
  important service in the church.
• Priests used pictures, statues, and pantomime to
  teach illiterate parishioners important aspects
  of the faith

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Medieval Theater

• Tropes were specialized pieces of music sung
  antiphonally by the choir and acted out.
• Eventually mini-plays for each important part of
  the Christian year were developed and presented
  on feast days.

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Medieval Theater

• Originally priests were actors.
• As more actors were added and the stories became
  more complex, priests became directors and
  eventually turned over the plays to the laity.
• Eventually the plays move out of the church into
  the churchyard, then into the towns

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Medieval Theater

• Two main types of drama cycle plays (plays based
  on Bible stories) and non-cycle plays (saint
  plays, moralities, folk plays)
• Each town of significance had their own cycle of
  plays

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Medieval Theater

• After 1264 when Pope Urban IV decreed the
  celebration of Corpus Christi day (2 months after
  Easter), it became customary to give the whole
  cycle of plays from the Creation to the Last
  Judgement on this day.

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Medieval Theater

• Miracle plays (saint plays) used non-Biblical
  materials
• Plays about St. Nicolas and the Virgin Mary were
  the most popular
• Morality plays were allegories such as Everyman.

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Medieval Theater

• No permanent theaters were built during this
  period
• At first cycle plays were performed on fixed
  platforms called mansions

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Mansions

• Often arranged in a rectangle
• Actors moved from one to another
• Curtained with silk and velvet

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Pageant Wagons

• Each wagon had 2 decksupper for acting and lower
  for dressing room
• Wagons moved from station to station

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Pageant Wagons

• 1,000 saw the play at each stations and each town
  would have 4-16 stations
• Wagons were sponsored by guilds
• Sets became very complicated with machinery to
  lower clouds, have trees and flowers spring from
  the earth, and water for the flood piped over the
  rooftops.

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Pageant Wagons
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Pageant Wagons
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Medieval Costuming

• Costuming was symbolic and stylized
• No attempt at historical accuracy
• Symbolism was used gloveshigh rank (worn by
  God and angels)
  Satan wore a horrible mask, hairy coat,
  and carried a club

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Medieval Actors

• Actors were amateurs
• Since guilds sponsored the wagons, they also
  provided the actors often to relate to their
  guild such as the boatmakers sponsoring Noahs
  ark, the bakers sponsoring the Last Supper, etc.

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Medieval Actor Skills

• Endurance (crucifixion/hanging of Judas)
• Number of lines (prompter on stage)
• Declamatory style of delivery

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