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Historical Context
  Fall of Roman Empire (5th Century) led to the
Medieval Theatre
Middle Ages (10th – 15th Century)
  Political turmoil
  Increasing influence of the Church as stable
“government”
  Little known about theatre
  Banned by law
  “Underground” performances
Medieval Times
Purpose of Theatre
  Secular performances banned by the Church
  Liturgical drama – developed from worship
  Primary means of religious instruction for a largely
illiterate population
  Expressed spiritual ideas in an entertaining way
  Made religion accessible
  Language of worship = Latin
Liturgical Drama
  Portions of performances were sung = tropes
  Mystery plays
  Passages from the Bible sung or narrated
  Specifically Christian drama based on Catholic
teachings, ceremonies
  Miracle plays
  Depict the lives of saints
  Gruesome scenes of torture, individualized
Liturgical Drama
  Morality plays
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Deal with the present
Didactic = meant to educate
Deal with life, death, salvation of a Christian
Dramatize God’s plan for the universe and the
individual
  Often in the form of an allegory (extended metaphor)
using personification of Vice/Virtue
characters, interesting plots, special effects
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Liturgical Drama
  Mystery, miracle, and morality plays all have three
basic things in common:
  Aim to teach or reinforce Church doctrine
  Melodramatic – good rewarded, evil punished
  God and God’s plan were the driving forces, not the
characters
Actors
  First liturgical plays performed by priests and
choirboys
  No women allowed on stage
  As more actors were needed, generally amateurs/
labourers presented scenes connected with their
field of work
  Satan as comic character meant devils had to be
experienced acrobats, singers, dancers to add
comic relief
Audience
  Men, women, children allowed to watch
  Didactic theatre – broad audience desired
  Squished in the pews of a church, later outside
  Actors would solicit money from the audience (pass
the hat)
Costuming
  Costumes were elaborate, often embroided
  Black or red leather for devils
  Leather breeches for men
  Gloves for God
  Men wore a shawl or scarf when playing women
  Masks
  Jewelry – gold haloes, gold masks for God/angels
Stages
Fixed Stage
  Two major kinds: fixed and moveable
  Began with use of the church as the stage space
  Evolved to fixed stages outside, set up in
courtyards, town squares
  Moveable: pageant wagons moved through the
streets while the audience stayed in one place, like
parade floats
  Plays were performed in sequence (each play several
times)
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Moveable Stage
Conventions & Effects
  Plays became more complex once outside the
church
  Heaven on the right, Hell on the left, Earth in the
middle
  Master of Secrets – in charge of the machines
(secrets) = special effects
  Often very intricate machinery
  One stage required 17 people to operate “Hell”
  Trap doors for appearing/disappearing in a raised
wooden platform
Conventions & Effects
Modern Connections?
  Chains used to descend God and angels from
Heaven
  Realistic executions called for with bloody wounds,
severed heads & limbs
  Floods, fires, earthquakes on stage
  Most machinery operated from underneath the
stage
  Overhead machinery sometimes covered with
painted cloths to represent the sky
  Simultaneous display of several locations
Everyman
Everyman
  Allegorical
  Everyman is called before God in death to account
for his life, and tries to persuade a series of
characters (Fellowship, Goods, Good Deeds) to go
with him, to help plead his case and save his soul
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