Medieval Theatre

1. Medieval Theatre

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Pageant Wagon

8. 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.

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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 • The Renaissance is born!