Medieval Drama

trope

"call and response"

Aristotle's production values (how are these carried out in medieval drama)

...

Review "The Creation and Fall of Lucifer," "The Resurrection," "Harrowing of Hell and the Last Judgement," "Dulcitius."

...

Why did theater disappear?

1) COnstantine 2) Christianity 3)Disintegration of Roman civilization 4) Led to Dark ages

Transition from Liturgical Drama

1200-1350 Plays done inside and/or outside of churches Pageant wagons introduced Church under pressure for non-Latin Bibles Transubstantiation now recognized by church

When was everyman published?

1508

Fall of Rome

476 CE Went into Dark Ages where things just got worse Very temporary feeling Wooden buildings instead of stone

Hrosvitha (person)

935-973 AD Name means "strong voice" (Old Saxon) First playwright post-Antiquity; wrote plays in Latin Was abbess, then nun We know of 6 plays

Talk about the rebirth of drama in the dark ages. Answer how, where, when, why.

?In the medieval period, drama was reborn mostly due to the rising power of the church, which filled in much of the gap left by the Roman Empire. The church wanted to communicate the salvation message to commoners, but church services were still conducted in Latin, a language the people did not speak, so the church began to use drama to teach biblical stories.

Explain the role of drama in the dark ages.

?drama all but ceased in the wake of the dissolution of the Roman Empire. Europe went back to what it was before Roman rule- small towns and villages waging war on each other. The focus was on survival, not on art.

Mystery Plays

A medieval drama based on scriptural events especially in the life of Jesus.

Miracle Plays

A medieval drama portraying events in the lives of saints and martyrs...especially where miracles are performed

The Second Shepherd's Play

A secular play about a clever scoundrel named Mak who steeps a sheep, hides it in a crib, and passes it off as his son

Audience of Cycle Plays

All social classes Could go into the thousands In France, shows might last up to forty days

Morality Plays

Allegorical Character are representation of a greater concept (Mother=motherhood) About trials, tribulations Not tied to feast days, location Ex: Everyman, Mankind, Castle of Perseverance

Morality plays

Allegories (with characters named things like "charity," "hope," "greed," or "truth," depicted biblical principles while not being Bible stories

Actors in Cycle Plays

Amateurs, all men Compensated for expenses, not acting Could be fined for mistakes Could play more than one role

Everyman

An allegorical (a play with strong symbolism) Mortality play in which Everyman is summoned to meet Death, appear before God, and seek salvation. Other characters include Five Wits, Fellowship, Kindred, Discretion, Beauty, Strength, Knowledge, and Good Deeds.

Mystery/Cycle Plays

Anonymous authors (glory to God not author) Four surviving cycles of various lengths Many towns had smaller events (one or two plays)

Liturgical Drama-- Growth of subject matter

As subject matter expands, comic elements introduced Comedy comes in making fun of villains, moral faults

Basic LIturgy of Church

Basic Liturgy of the Church: 1. Greeting:2. Opening Hymn 3. Corporate Confession of Sin 4. Prayer of the Day.5. Reading of God's Word 6. Sermon 7.Collective Prayers 8.Offering 9.Eucharist 10. Hymn 11. Final Blessing

Basic Liturgy of Church

Basic Liturgy of the Church: 1. Greeting:2. Opening Hymn 3. Corporate Confession of Sin 4. Prayer of the Day.5. Reading of God's Word 6. Sermon 7.Collective Prayers 8.Offering 9.Eucharist 10. Hymn 11. Final Blessing

Feast of Corpus Christi

Begins in early 1300s Celebrates transubstantiation Invited lay (non clergy) participation Funded by commoners Spoken in vernacular languages

Funding of Cycle Plays

Came from trade guilds, religious guilds, church May or may not have been an admission fee, depends on location

Anachronistic Elements of Vernacular Religious Drama

Chronologically out of place Not dressing to period Not much of a sense of history Ex: talking about the crucifixion before Jesus was born

Liturgical Drama--Costumes

Church garments Symbolic touches (Mary has blue, et cetera)

Oberammergau

City in Germany Has been performing passion play on a regular basis since 1634 Promised to perform if God would spare city from plague Some take parts as anti-Semitic, has been revised many times

How was church architecture used for the benefit of illiterate people

Communion rail was around the altar. Outside the other wall of the altar was the graveyard. When we come up for communion, they were facing all the people who had died and come before them. They were in community with them because those who die are alive in Christ in heaven. We believe we are in communion with them through Christ. The real presence of Christ is there. Even the church architecture supports that.

English Mystery Plays

Covered from creation to judgment

French Mystery Plays

Covered from creation to resurrection

Why the medieval church was suspicious of drama and had previously banned it

Drama was banned in early medieval times because of its association with violence and brutality of tragedies. Church didn't like them as entertainment. What you watch or listen to affects you for better or worse. So if you watch bad things, you will become bad. So medieval mindset was just ban all of it.

Ludus

Entertainment, based around Ludi Romani

Eucharist - Transubstantiation

Eucharist - transubstantiation. It is the belief that Jesus actually is present in the wine and the bread.

Eucharist - Transubstantiation

Eucharist - transubstantiation. It is the belief that Jesus actually is present in the wine and the bread. HE SAYS It becomes a resacrifice of Christ at each Mass. What Catholics believe

Second Shepherd's Play

Farce Part of Towneley (Westfield) cycle

Quem Quaeritis

First liturgical drama

Morris dances

Folk dance that is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells may also be wielded by the dancers.

Women in Cycle Plays

In Chester, the play Assumption of the Virgin was "the responsibility of the wives of the town" This indicates women may have funded, acted in, or otherwise participated in this play Don't know for sure

The Secrets Master

In charge of special effects Effects grew in number, complexity Flying machines (similar possibly to machina, who knows) Made effigies "Smell-o-vision" (ex: burning flesh) Water effects Animals Not much is known about how they did all these

How is the liturgical focus of medieval church different than modern evangelical church.

Liturgical focus of medieval church places the most emphasis on the eucharist. The sermon was important but the celebration of eucharist was the most important part of the Mass. In modern evangelical church, the focus and most important part of the service is the sermon.

LIturgy

Liturgy is way in which worship is conducted to guide people into worship and adoration of God.

Liturgy

Liturgy is way in which worship is conducted to guide people into worship and adoration of God.

Eucharist - Real presence

Lutherans believe in the real presence of Christ. They don't believe they "become" Christ but that eating in the eucharist. That the spirit of Christ is encountered in the meal.

Reformation

Made religious drama very controversial In 1572 religious drama was banned in England Thought Catholics would overthrow the Protestant Queen

What type of play is Everyman?

Morality

What were the three types of plays?

Morality: teach a moral lesson Miracle: saints Mystery: Christ's passion

Where were mystery plays performed

Mystery plays were performed in the liturgy of the church service. Usually came after the sermon.

Fixed Stages

Number of mansions varied Center mansions (scenes) could be replaced each day Heaven and Hell always stayed there Heaven to the east, Hell to the west

Church and Theatre--General

Opposed theatre; felt it was dirty, full of lies, pokes fun at church Most art was tied to church from this period Popular theatre, theatricals unrecorded from this time

Liturgical Drama-- General

Peak--925-1200 AD Part of church service Call and response, may have developed out of music ornamentation Trope--Quem Quaeritis, used in most of Central Europe by 930 AD As liturgical drama grew, so did churches; Gothic cathedrals began to come about Dialogue in Latin, sung or chanted

Where were Morality plays performed

Performed outside the church. Similar to Carnival floats. Actors on wagon pulled through streets. They were not biblical stories. Characters would look medieval. Kind of like sermons but out in the public. Performed on feast days during celebrations.

Folk Festivals

Popular, seasonal, tied to pagan rituals Feast of Fools--winter, extreme backwards day to release frustrations Mumming--Stovetide (Fat Tuesday), New Years Sword-dances--mock ritual sacrifice May Games-- May pole, May Day Also rejection of winter and fertility rites

Pageant Master

Professional Brought in to oversee everything Producer, director, sometimes stage manager Got the big bucks Worked with Secrets Master

Pageant Wagons in Spain

Pulled up to fixed stage "autos sacramentales" Helped crowd control

Allegory (what is it and what type of drama is it related to?)

Related to morality plays, representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning using concrete or material forms

Corpus Chrisit

Religious Festival where cylce plays were born

Sacrament

Sacrament is a religious act and the means by which we receive God's grace. There are 7 sacraments.

Production of Cycles

Staged on/near feast days Church would approve/disapprove scripts Not annual events; every 3, 5, 10 years based on funding

Effigies

Stuffed figures of people Used when someone needed to be burned, stabbed, et cetera

Ordo/Officium

Subset of church service

Traits of Vernacular Religious Drama

Teach church doctrine, moral values, punishment of sin Some effort to entertain with verse, music, spectacle Episodic Driving force is God's plan Minimal characterization Mix of serious, comic elements

What killed Medieval Drama?

The Renaissance Supplanted medieval thought Did not happen everwhere Began in Italy with the discovery of Greek and Roman texts

-What happens to Aristotle's 3 unities in medieval drama-

There is definitely a unity of plot because these dramas are written about biblical stories, so they tend to follow very simple plotlines, however the fact that a Hell Mouth exists is an example of a different set, also much of Biblical stories take place over a period of many years...

Purpose of medieval drama, both morality and miracle plays.

They were acting out God's mysteries in the world. Mystery plays were performed in the liturgy of the church service. Mystery plays helped the people to understand the bible stories, helped people to worhsip and adore God. Morality plays were allegories that instruct us on how to live.

Purpose of medieval drama, both morality and mystery plays.

They were acting out God's mysteries in the world. Mystery plays were performed in the liturgy of the church service. Mystery plays helped the people to understand the bible stories, helped people to worhsip and adore God. Morality plays were allegories that instruct us on how to live.

Costumes of Cycle Plays

Typically contemporary dress Special costumes for special characters (God, angels, devils, saints, et cetera)

Who wrote everyman?

Unknown

Hrosvitha's Plays

Updated version of Terence's plays, added Christian morals Shakespeare was based on her plays Portrayed strength of women, used Christian martyrs Plays may have been closet dramas Wrote "Dulcitius"

Pageant Wagons

Used in England, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands Two levels: dressing room below, stage on top On four-six wheels Would contain all scenic elements for that play

Liturgical Drama--Subject Matter

Used to teach Bible stories to illiterate people Most important events were Christmas and Easter Featured stories: Resurrection, the Magi, Mary, conversion of Paul, Lazarus Very elaborate, limited dialogue

Secular drama (explain what it is and what motivates its development)

Was completely out of church control and had to do with what was happening to people at the time

Why did theater reappear during medieval period?

Way to teach bible stories and moral to common folk

Eucharist - Symbolic

What denominations like Baptists believe - Jesus is not present in communion. Taking Communion is symbolic. When Jesus broke bread at the Last Supper, it is symbolic of that.

World Views during Dark Ages

World seen as transitory Stopping place before heaven Creativity simply was not developed because of this

The Vice

a Fool

Passion Play

a play based on the last week in the life of Christ

Mansion

a series of acting stations in a line, including Heaven, Plate's House, Jerusalem and Hell's Mouth

Interludes

a short, humorous piece, suited for two or three, scarcely ever more than four, actors that were tastefully put together for banquets

Masque

a spectacular play glorifying the nobility

Pageant Cart

a two-storied cart that doubled as a stage

Morality Plays

a type of theater that uses allegorical characters to teach the audience moral lessons such as the seven deadly sins that are personified

Secular Pageants

any extravagant dramatic event or colorful celebration that express the shared identity of a community or religious group. EX: coronations and royal weddings; other modern examples are seen in Mardi Gras and other carnival processions.

What is a mansion?

areas where liturgical dramas were performed

Disguisings

collective names for many forms of processions, shows, and other entertainments, such as, among the upper classes, that precursor of the Elizabethan Mask in which a group of persons in disguise, invited or uninvited, attended a formal dancing party

Who produced dramas?

craft guilds

What is a quem quaertis?

earliest trope; "whom seek ye?"; easter

What is a trope

embellishments sung as a part of mass

Know the special place in history for Gorboduc by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton... How does it follow Seneca's formula?

first "real" English tragedy, it was one of the first plays ever written and performed in blank verse, it also took a very different direction from past morality plays as it focused on political dispute,

Guilds

groups of tradesmen (bakers, goldsmiths, etc.) whose common trade was jointly responsible for part of a story from the Bible

-Pageant wagon/cart and its parts and function-

machine loft: like Greek mekane, pageant cart: had actual stage in it, scaffold cart: 2nd cart that follows the pageant cart, -pageant cloth-: served as curtain on stage, tiring house: where you put on your "attire" behind stage, hell mouth: was some kind of cave-like opening that depicted hell that actors could climb into and out of

Quem Quaritis?

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

Trade Guilds

medieval unions

liturgical dramas. what types were there? talk about each type

miracle: lives of the saints, mystery: about "mysteries" of God- creation, salvation, and the Holy Spirit, Saints Plays: about people from that time period who live godly lives and usually who died for their faith

What is a pageant wagon?

mobile stages where liturgical dramas were performed

Plateau

neutral playing area

Mummings

pantomimes of a story, no words, just gestures

Pageant-house

place where sets/props/costumes and other theatrical supplies are stored

Miracle and Mystery Plays

plays based on the saints' lives and Bible stories

-Types of staging-

processional staging: carts could be in a long line starting from first scene to last, Roman ampitheatre: carts are arranged in a circle around town center and you could go from one to the next

Mansion/Station

scenic facade used to locate action of the play

Morality Play

similar in theme to Miracle and Mystery, yet more concerned with the principles taught by Christianity rather than stories from the Bible

Mansions... what are the two forms?

stationary and mobile (side rooms built onto early churches in which scenes from dramas would be performed or depicted.

Cycle

the combined stories produced by the guilds

Hell-Mouth

the entrance to Hell envisaged as the gaping mouth of a huge monster

What inspired liturgical dramas?

tropes

Mummings

type of folk play that combines music, dance, and sword fighting

Liturgical Play

type of play acted within or near the church and relating stories from the Bible and of the saints

Folk Plays

were often dances but eventually mumming and disguising plays were characters were for the common people EX: Robin Hood, Maid Marian, and the Green Dragon

Trope

were sung or chanted as dialogue

Pageant Wagons

wheeled vehicles used in the staging of cycle plays