Medieval%20Theatre

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Medieval Theatre
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The dark ages

• The Middle Ages were the period between
  500a.d.-1000a.d.
• The fall of the Roman Empire marked the beginning
  of this era
• Cities were abandoned and life became more
  agriculturally focused
• The Roman Catholic Church controlled religion,
  education, and politics

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Rebirth of Theatre in the Middle Ages

• The church shut down all theatrical activities
  for 200-300 years, but jugglers, minstrels, and
  mimes still traveled from town to town.
• Theatre was (ironically) reborn in the church in
  the form of liturgical dramas
• In a liturgical drama, priests or members of the
  choir would enact small segments of the bible to
  eventually become short drama performances
• In the beginning, the liturgical dramas were
  performed in Latin

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Rebirth of Theatre

• Later on, the liturgical dramas expanded into
  longer plays based on biblical stories and were
  performed in town squares, not in churches
• These later performances were called vernacular
  drama because the were performed in the everyday
  speech of the people

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Medieval Drama

• 3 types of religious plays were popular in the
  Medieval Period
• Mystery (cycle) Plays dramatized biblical events
  from Adam and Eve in the Old Testament through
  the stories of Christ in the New Testament
• Miracle (cycle) Plays dramatized the lives of
  Saints
• Morality Plays used religious characters and
  themes to teach a moral lesson

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The Plays

• Virtually all of the plays were short equivalent
  to one act plays today
• Mystery and Miracle plays were often strung
  together to form a series known as a cycle
• Often times, the story was taken out of the
  Biblical era and placed in present day. Also, the
  character were given conventional new names.
• The plays mixed comedy and drama

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Pageant Wagon
Master of Secrets In charge of the machines
(secrets) special effects
Special effects included Hellmouth (fire
breathing monster representing hell, Trap doors,
flying
Many scenes had Heaven on the right, Hell on the
left and Earth in the middle
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Medieval Theatre Production

• The plays took place across Europe including
  Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and
  England
• Large stages were set up in the town square.
  These set ups were called mansions
• Another convention was the use of pageant wagons
  which were rolling wagons that contained scenery
  and costuming including a backstage area and
  stage space.

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Medieval Theatre Production

• The stage accommodated any change in scenery by
  standing as a universal set or unidentified
  space.
• This freedom of movement based on imagination was
  later developed and perfected by Renaissance
  Theatre in Spain and England

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The Performers

• The performers were usually local trade workers
  called Craft guilds.
• These lay people (silversmiths, leather workers,
  carpenters, etc) rehearsed extensively and
  provided their own costumes props
• The productions could be quite lengthy, some
  lasted as long as 25 days.

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The decline of the Middle Ages

• Decline of religious theatre occurred due to the
  weakening of the church as a source of political
  power
• The Protestant Reformation was largely
  responsible for the decline of religious material
  and for the movement toward secular, or
  non-religious, theatre
• Social structure was changing, Feudalism was in
  decline
• Increased interest in classical learning
• The Renaissance is born!

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Results of Decline

• Professional actors still needed, not amateurs
• Professional theatre rose, became a commercial
  venture (no longer a community endeavor)
• No longer religious plays-return to classics
  (greek and roman) for new ideas and stories