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Bell Ringer – 9/16. None Today Mrs. B is presenting at a conference and will be back tomorrow. We’ll finish the notes from Friday. Drama. Theate r. Wandering Entertainers Mimists, jugglers, acrobats, wrestlers, and storytellers How?
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Bell Ringer – 9/16 • None Today • Mrs. B is presenting at a conference and will be back tomorrow. We’ll finish the notes from Friday
Theater • Wandering Entertainers • Mimists, jugglers, acrobats, wrestlers, and storytellers • How? • Acting out the story silently or the reading of a play/script • NOT a formal presentation of “theater”
Theater Examples • Fire Dancers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1BrlXxuSEE • Jugglers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60xJuyJLKng • Storytelling/Reenacting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evb5U0uiUS0
Theater • Liturgical drama began as an elaboration of the Roman Catholic Mass, probably in France first • Tropes: elaborations of the Catholic Mass, took place on ceremonial occassions • Easter, the dramatic highlight of the Church year • Theatre was adopted by the Church and became an instrument of God in an age of faith and demons • Mystery Plays: Bible Stories • Miracle Plays: Lives of the Saints • Morality Plays: Didactic Allegories • Characters such as Lust, Pride, and Hatred
Drama – Mystery Plays • Included written dialogue • Included Scenery, Costumes, and Gestures written into the Latin instructions • Example: “Paradise shall be situated in a rather prominent place, and is to be hung all around with draperies and silk curtains.” • Example: The Creation of Adam & Eve • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9xG7pt_LGE&feature=related
Church Drama • At first, only priests performed the roles • Soon after, laymen are allowed to act in liturgical drama • Female roles were still mostly portrayed by boys
Church Drama • Comic characters appeared, even in the Easter trope. • The most popular comic character of all was the Devil
Church Drama - Hellmouth • Hellmouth: the mouth of hell into which sinners were cast • Descriptions of devils amid smoke and fire, pulling sinners into the mouth of hell, often the jaws of a dragon-like monster are common • Audiences demanded more and more realism and complexity in the depiction of hellmouth
Church Drama - Hellmouth • Some Hellmouths were so complicated that they took 17 people to operate • Some plays were clearly intended to be frightening • Most, even vividly depicted, seemed to have been comic in their intentions rather than fearsome • Plays of this period are humorous and compassionate
Church Drama – Wagon Stage • In England, France, and the Netherlands, another stage style developed – the wagon stage • Rather than move the audience or set up all the locations in different places on the mansion stage, theatre was brought to the audience on wagons • Similar to the floats of a modern parade
Church Drama – Wagon Stage • Each wagon carried the set for a specific part of the play cycle • Very elaborate – two stories tall and curtained for entrances and exits like modern theater • Some cases, a flat wagon was combined with an elaborate background wagon to provide a playing area • Narrow wagons needed to navigate narrow streets
Church Drama – Wagon Stage • At intersections, wagons were coupled and crowds gathered to watch a segment of a play • When the segment finished, the wagon moved on and was replaced by another wagon, creating the setting for another short play in the cycle
Dance • Church writings condemned dancing to the 11th century and beyond • St. Augustine said it was better to dig ditches on the Sabbath than to dance a “round dance” • Dancing continued, however, because it gave people pleasure
Dance • Dances were not planned, they were largely spontaneous • No audience – for fun, not performance • Dancing was a response to a chaotic and frightening world • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBv5My9CGLc
Dance – Courtly Tradition • Performed to instrumental accompaniment • Spontaneous and expressive, but increasingly they conformed to specific rules • Performances depended on the guiding hand of the dancing master – like a square-dance caller • Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiE17pvisBg