Medieval theatre

Tropes

Trope (Gr.) - a short text, spoken or sung, used as as
an ornament of the church liturgy
Quaem Queritis? (Lat. Who are you looking for?) -
recorded by bishop Ethelwold of Winchester in a book
of rules for the Benedictines Regularis Concordia (965
– 975)
the dialogue between the angel and the three Marys
on Easter morning

Liturgical drama

very few examples extant in England – 6 stanza of

Caiaphas

(early 14

th

c.) for the Palm Sunday, and so-

called The Shrewsbury Fragments (bits of plays about
Christmas, Resurrection and the journey to Emaus)

Inside and outside

Liturgical drama inside the churches and mystery
plays outside them coexisted until the Reformation.
Different purpose – liturgical drama was used as an
ornament for church services,
mystery plays as Biblia pauperum for educational
purposes

Mystery plays

the preaching activity of the Franciscans (est. 1210)
and the Dominicans (est. 1215)
the establishment of the Feast of Corpus Christi in
1311
devotio moderna – establishing personal, emotional
relationship with God

Great Mystery Cycles

York (the longest)
Chester
Wakefield (a.k.a. Towneley, after the name of the
manuscript owners)
N-town (earlier attributed to Coventry, probably an
anthology)
staged by guilds

Pageant Wagons

York Pageant

Wakefield Cycle

at least 5 plays by the same anonymous author (called
the Wakefield Master)

Non-cyclical plays

Especially popular in East Anglia

Non-cyclical plays

Miracles (saints’ lives) – Mary Magdalene
Morality plays – The Castle of Perseverance, Mankind,
Everyman
staged by professional groups led by “property
players”

Place -and-scaffold

Theatre-in-the-round

Morality plays

Psychomachia – the fight for man’s soul
the figures of Vice/Devil – often comical and very
popular
also staged in big halls – no separate stage helps to
involve the audience