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Medieval Theatre

Medieval Theatre. 500 A.D. to 1500 A.D. A Dark time that brought Christianity to light. Early Middle Ages (500-900).

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Medieval Theatre

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  1. Medieval Theatre 500 A.D. to 1500 A.D. A Dark time that brought Christianity to light.

  2. Early Middle Ages (500-900) • In the time following the fall of the Roman Empire theatre had little importance. Small bands of performers—storytellers, jesters, tumblers, jugglers-- traveled and performed wherever they could find an audience.

  3. Early Middle Ages (500-900) • Secular theatre died in Western Europe with the fall of Rome • Theatrical performances were banned by the Church as barbaric and pagan • Most Roman theatre had been spectacle rather than literary drama

  4. Roman Literary Drama • Origins in Greek drama and Roman festivals • Playwrights • Tragedy: Seneca • Comedy: Terence and Plautus

  5. Roman Spectacle • Gladiatorial combats • Naval battles in a flooded Coliseum

  6. Liturgical Drama • The Church was responsible for the rebirth of European theatre • The Church needed ways to teach illiterate parishioners: cathedrals, stained glass windows, sculpture, painting and drama

  7. The 3 M’s of Medieval Plays • Mystery plays: Based on Biblical stories • Miracle plays: Based on the lives of the saints • Morality plays: allegories

  8. PLAYS • Passion plays based on the last week in the life of Christ. • Trope -short dramatized scenes added to the Catholic mass. • Cycles– a series of short plays based on religious history • Allegory - a symbolical narrative; the representation of abstract ideas by characters

  9. Staging the Plays • PROCESSIONAL • Pageant wagons • Travel a set route and perform at several locations: like a parade. • STATIONARY • Mansions • A series of stages would be set up around the town square • Anchored at either end by Heaven and Hell • Elaborate special effects such as floods, flying and fiery pits were very popular

  10. Mansions

  11. Mansions

  12. Pageant Wagons • A multi-level cart that doubled as a stage. • The underside was the dressing rooms. • Each guild would create a wagon for their part of the cycle.

  13. Pageant Wagon

  14. Pageant Wagon

  15. Guilds and Cycle Plays • Guilds were groups of tradesmen (bakers, goldsmiths, etc.) whose trade was responsible for part of a story from the Bible which, when combined, made a cycle. • Each guild would compete with the others to see who could produce the most elaborate story.

  16. Cycle

  17. Works Cited • http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/HUA/TT/Globe/slide2.html • http://novaonline.nv.cc.va.us/eli/spd130et/medieval.htm • http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/hwc22/Medieval/York/York98.html

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