Medieval Theatre

morality plays

Allegorical Medieval drama that featured ordinary humans in struggles between good and evil., allegorical plays in the late Middle Ages in Europe that taught moral lessons about how to conduct one's life

liturgical drama

Early medieval church drama, written in latin and dealing with biblical stories.

secrets

In medieval theatre, special effects.

stationary staging

In the Middle Ages, a form of staging popular on the European continent. A series of small scenic mansions were set up side by side, usually in conjunction with a large platform stage, so that all the plays of a cycle could be presented in one location.

pageant wagons

Movable wagons carrying the set (mansion) and playing area for the cycle plays of the Middle Ages., Medieval Theater; 4 to 6 wheels, 2 stories high, machinery used for special effects, tiring house for changing costumes, only traveled during spring, way to show off commercial skills ( building, carpentry, etc.)

episodic drama

Moves from locale to locale, comic and serious elements, multiple plot lines, frequent changes in time and place, two stories that reverberate and reinforce each other

quem quaritis

Oldest existing theatre trope., means "whom do you seek?" its the play that depicts the three women going to Jesus' tomb and discovering that he is alive.

mansion

Scenic structure used in medieval drama to indicate the locale or scene of the action; areas inside the church used for performing liturgical drama

mystery plays

Short dramas of the Middle Ages based on events of the Old and New Testaments and often organized into historical cycles , the creation; the fall of man; the redemption; the final judgment, Performed by the trade/craft guild Stories from the bible Organized into "cycles" of up to 48 plays that took days to perform Performed on Pageant Wagons

The Second Shepherd's Play

The Second Shepherds' Play is a famous medieval mystery play; the unique manuscript of the Wakefield Cycle. The play is actually two separate stories presented sequentially; the first is a non-biblical story about a thief, Mak, who steals a sheep from three shepherds. He and his wife, Gill, attempt to deceive the shepherds by pretending the sheep is their son. The shepherds are fooled at first. However, they later discover Mak's deception and toss him on a blanket as a punishment. At this point, the storyline switches to the familiar one of the three shepherds being told of the birth of Christ by an angel, and being told to go to Bethlehem, where they offer gifts to the Christ child.

medieval theatre

The church suppressed the theatre, then brought it back to tell stories about the church. They would use outdoor platform stages and they had "mansions" which were little buildings to represent an area. Heaven and hell were always on opposite side and the middle area "platea" is where the action took place. Their trap doors and riggings were called "secrets" some were quite elaborate.

allegory

The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning.

tropes

a chanted or sung phrase incorporated into mass as an embellishment or commentary on religious lesson

passion play

a genre of medieval drama based on the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus

interlude

a short dramatic piece staged between the courses of a banquet

processional staging

audience would assemble in various places and the cycle play would be set up on a wagon which moved from locale to locale, so that the play could be presented seperately for each audience

platea

in the staging of medieval european biblical drama an open place such as the nave of a cathedral used as a neutral unlocalized playing area that could be whatever location the text required at a given moment, Neutral acting area of the stage amonst the mansions

secrets master

person responsible for executing special effects

confraternities

religious guilds or clubs

pageant master

supervised the mounting of plays on wagons

Everyman

the most famous morality play; contains many allegorical characters encountered by everyman as he seeks a companion for his reckoning with God