Medieval Theatre

By M Habib Jauhari – 61417011

Origins

Medieval Theatre is the time period between the fall of the Western Roman
Empire in the 5th Century A.D and the beiginning of the Renaissance around 15th
Century A.D. It covers all drama produced in Europe over thr 1000 year period.
Medieval Drama covers religions and gives morals to it audience, faced with the
problem of explaining a new religion to a largely illiterate population, Catholic
churches in the Early Middle Ages began staging dramatized versions of
particular biblical events on specific days of the year.

During the Middle Ages, theatre began a new cycle of development that paralleled
the emergence of the theatre from ritual activity in the early Greek period.
Whereas the Greek theatre had grown out of Dionysian worship,
the medieval theatre originated as an expression of the Christian religion. The two
cycles would eventually merge during the Renaissance.

Genres

1. Mystery Play
Mystery Play are one of the earliest form of plays developed in Europe, it
is religious based, so the’re mostly focused on representation of the bible
stories adding a anthiponal song. The plays are represented in Latin church
properti and depict the life of Adam and Eve. The mystery play developed,
in some places, into a series of plays dealing with all the major events in
the Christian calendar, from the Creation to the Day of Judgment. By the
end of the 15th century, the practice of acting these plays in cycles on
festival days was established in several parts of Europe.
2. Miracle Play
The second types is Miracle Plays, these plays deal with the lives of saints
and martyrs, the play can either be real or fictitious, Miracle plays were
popular in England from the 12th to the 16th century. It is impossible to
 fix the date or authorship of any of the known plays. The earliest of record
is the Ludus de Sancta Katharine, performed at Dunstable about 1100, the
genre evolved from liturgical offices developed during the 10th and 11th
centuries to enhance calendar festivals. By the 13th century they had
become vernacularized and filled with unecclesiastical elements.
3. Morality Plays
This play is very popular in the15th trhough 16th century, is presented in
personified virtues and dramas depicting the struggle of the soul, it went
from being litrugical to a profession secular drama. They needed public
support in the plays, the protaginist is usually met moral attributes and has
to pick between good and bad. It centres on a hero, such as Mankind,
whose inherent weaknesses are assaulted by such personified diabolic
forces as the Seven Deadly Sins but who may choose redemption and
enlist the aid of such figures as the Four Daughters of God.

The Stage

In medieval times they

performed drama on a stage, the
stage was a small stage above a
wheeled wooden cart, it was
called “Pageant Wagons”. This
new type of stage changed the
number of people who could
view the plays, instead of people
having to travel to the church to
see the play, the stage and the play could now come to them. The wagons often
made cycles through towns or cities and would perform the acts multiple times so
people could view them .The wagons would be dragged through the area and the
actors would perform their roles over and over for the changing audiences. Each
wagon would show a different scene from the bible and would be set up in a
different way to match the play taking place within the wagon.
Technical Things

1. Costume
 They have very varied costumes, for each costume symbolizes what they
are playing, when they act as members of the kingdom they use long robes
to sweep the floor, and for the king or queen they use a crown, while for
the devil they use horned masks, to describe an angel using a church robe
with a wing, and a woman here pictured with a mask that has wide eyes
and an open mouth because women cannot play in drama.

Notable Playwrights

1. Hrosvitha
Hrosvitha a canon and aristocratic
historian in northern Germany, wrote six
plays modeled on the Terence comedy
but used religious subjects in the 10th
century. Terence's comedies have long
been used in monastic schools as
examples of oral Latin but full of smart
prostitutes, enticing and ordinary human
pursuits such as sex, love and marriage. In
order to overtake criticism from the church, Hrosvitha chose his collection
by stating that his moral goal was to save Christians from the guilt they
had to feel when reading classical literature. The solution she stated was to
imitate the "praiseworthy" act of women in Terence's drama and throw
away the "shameless" one. These six plays are known dramas first
composed by female playwrights and Western dramatic works that can be
identified first in the post-Classical era.

2. Jean Bodel

Jean Bodel was perhaps the most versatile

and influential author of his time and
place, late 12th century Arras, which in
now located in northern France. He is
 known for giving us a first definition of genre, his miracle play, the Jeu de
saint Nicolas, is widely considered the first non-liturgical play written in
French, and he was a trendsetter with his scandalous fabliaux, as well,
Despite his impact and diversity of authorial skills, Bodel is not as well
known to the English-speaking world as his importance would suggest he
should be.

3. Adam de la Halle

Adam de la Halle was born in 1237, also

known as Adam le Bossu (Adam the
Hunchback) was a French-born trouvère,
poet and musician, Adam wrote his Jeu
de Robin et Marion, the most famous of
his works, it became the forerunners of
the comic opera. His other play, Le jeu
Adan or Le jeu de la Feuillee (1262), is
a satirical drama in which he introduces himself, his father and the citizens
of Arras with their peculiarities. His works include a congé, or satirical
farewell to the city of Arras, and an unfinished chanson de geste in honour
of Charles of Anjou, Le roi de Sicile, begun in 1282; another short
piece, Le jeu du pelerin, is sometimes attributed to him.

4. Juan del Encina

He was born in 1468

near Salamanca, probably at Encina de San
Silvestre, he was a composer, poet, and
playwright, often called the founder, along
with Gil Vicente, of Spanish drama. While
working for the Duke of Alba, Encina was the program director, along
 with Lucas Fernandez. Here Encina wrote pastoral eclogues, the
foundation of Spanish secular drama.

5. Nicholas Udall

Udall was born in Hampshire and educated at Wincheste

College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was an English
playwright, cleric, and schoolmaster,
His most famous work, the
play Ralph Roister Doister which was
once regarded as the first comedy to
be written in the English language,
was probably presented to Queen
Mary as an entertainment around
1553. He is the author of a Latin
textbook, Flowers for Latin Speaking (1533), which utilizes material from
his comedy as well as works by the Roman poet Terence.

REFERENCES

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Cassmus. (2006). Medieval theatre. Retrieved, April 19, 2019, from

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Ward, Adolphus William. (1911). Hrosvitha. Retrieved, April 19, 2019, from
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