Introduction to English Drama

A lecture presented to Third Year students of

Soran university/First
 Historical Background

● Medieval drama are plays that were religious and performed by priests and members
of the church in a way to teach Bible stories
● Occurred between 5th c- mid 16th c, which was in the Middle Ages.
● Secular theatre died in Western Europe with the fall of Rome.
● Theatrical performances were banned by the Roman Catholic Church and considered
as barbaric and pagan.
● Most Roman theatre had been spectacle rather than literary drama.
 Drama in the Early Middle Ages 500-1000

 Small groups of traveling performers – minstrels, jugglers, acrobats, bards, mimes,

puppeteers -- went from town to town entertaining.

 They performed in taverns and at festivals for the commoners and at court for the
nobility
 Festivals usually contained both pagan and Christian elements ( e.g. Halloween and
Christmas celebrations )
 The Three Types of Medieval Drama

Mystery plays Miracle plays Morality plays

Biblical stories saints’ lives allegories

 Characteristics of Mystery Plays

o stories taken from the Bible.

o Each play had four or five different scenes or acts.
o The priests and monks were the actors.
o To reach the commoners, the clergy began to translate the liturgical plays into
vernacular languages
o As the plays became more elaborate, they were moved from the altar of the church
to the church yard then to the streets and inn yards.
o As more roles were added, commoners were used as amateur actors.
o Each scene or act was preformed at a different place in town
o The play usually ended outside the church so that the people would go to church and
hear a sermon after watching the play.
 Performance of Mystery Plays

 While the plays were written by the clergy and overseen by the Church, the performances were
produced by the guilds .
 Guilds were Organizations of craftsmen or merchants in the Middle Ages that sought to regulate
the price and quality of products such as weaving and ironwork. They were often wealthy and
wielded considerable power
 Plays were often assigned to guilds associated with the subject matter of the play and became a
kind of “advertisement” e.g
 The Flood: Shipbuilders or Barrelmakers

 The Magi: Goldsmiths

 The four guilds were generally known as Chester cycle, York cycle, Wakefield cycle and
Coventry cycle (These cycles took their names after the names of the Towns).

 There where two types of stages: fixed and movable"Pageant."

 Miracle Plays
 Miracle plays were similar to mystery plays in
dramatic techniques
 Dramatized the lives of Roman Catholic saints
,historical and legendary events
 The most popular subjects were
 the Virgin Mary (plays usually written in Latin)

 St. George (dragon slayer and patron saint of England)

 St. Nicholas ( associated with Christmas festivities)

 Morality Plays
 A Morality Play is an allegorical play popular especially in the 15th and 16th centuries .
 The characters: personify abstract qualities or concepts (such as virtues, vices, or death).
 Theme: how to live a Christian life and be saved.
 Plot: a journey through life or to death
 Conflict: dramatization of the battle between the forces of good and evil in the human soul.
 Language: written in the vernacular so as to be more accessible to the common people.
 Emphasis switches from Biblical and saintly protagonists to the common man: Everyman, Mankind, etc.
 Focus on free will
 First major use of professional acting companies
Thanks for Your Attention