Medieval Theatre
History of Theatre
900-1500 AD
Modern Perspective
 International in scope and religious in
nature
 Began as a springtime religious
observance
 Celebrated common mythos- the Old and
New Testaments of the Bible
The York Cycle
 Actors would get in
costume and hop on
wagons
 Crowds were gather
in the streets to
watch them pass
 The wagons would
often have two levels
to portray heaven
and hell
The Procession
 The wagons paraded through town, stopping
before the homes of dignitaries
 Each wagon is responsible for the telling of a
biblical tale
 This took place every year on Corpus Christi
Day
 Began with “The Creation and Fall of Lucifer
 Ended with “The Judgment Day”
Corpus Christi Day
 A feast day that celebrates The Last
Supper
 Primarily came about from a nun named
Juliana of Liege
 actual date of Corpus Christi changes
each year
Conditions of Performance
 It was a religious theatre, therefore its
bookings, costumes, dialogue and
staging came from the Church calendar
Background
 After the fall of Rome, and before the
renaissance, the time is called Middle
Ages.
 A very active time as cathedrals were
built, the crusades occurred, and
kingdoms were divided and conquered
 The foundations for modern languages
were laid during this time
Background continued
 The Church was extremely opposed to
any other type of theatre due to the
mimes. They still did exist though.
 The Church developed its own dramatic
ceremonies to combat the appeal of
pagan rights
 Pagans believed in multiple gods. (i.e..
The Ancient Greeks)
Religious and Civic
Purposes
 The Church felt dramatized episodes made
moral lessons more graphic and easier to
understand.
 The Church calendar provided several holidays
to develop theatre
 Drama remained inside the Church Walls for
200 years
 The first ever play was called Quen Quaeritis
Quem Quaritis
 3 women looking to
dress the corpse of
Christ
 Find out from an
angel that Christ has
risen
 Shows grief turning
into joy
Management
 Some major changes began to take
place by 1400
 Short religious plays were put together to
make longer plays
 Were staged during Spring and Summer
 Everyday language replaced Latin
 Regular people replaced clergy as the
actors and producers
Festival Theatre
 The church still had to approve
 Between 1350-1500 Medieval theatre
flourished
 Clergy began to reduce its participation
 Towns began to finance and produce the
festivals
 Producers oversaw everything, they got choirs,
nobles loaned costumes, meals were prepared
and lodging was provided. Laborers built the
staging. Basically the whole community helped
Playwriting
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Anonymous
Clergy wrote the four-line playlets
Later the dialogue was expanded
As it became more elaborate, more
playwrights were recruited
 This opened the door for professional
playwrights
Acting and Rehearsing
 Rehearsals took place
over months
 Held between dawn and
beginning of the work
day
 Actors were fined for
lateness, not knowing
lines or being drunk
 Multiple playlets were
rehearsed at the same
time
Actors
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Some received fees
At first it was to reimburse the actors
Late 1600’s began to see professional actors
Very few women performed in medieval plays
Only exceptions were for female Saints
There were two reasons: male hierarchy and
trained choir boys had better projection
Visual Elements
Staging
 Were performed on fixed or movable stages
 The fixed stage was usually against buildings
on one side of town square, or in an
amphitheatre
 The movable stages were wagons
 Usually broken into three parts from left to right
Hell, Earth, and Heaven
 Nothing was depicted in its entirety. Very little
illusion of a real place.
Special Effects
 Producers gave great attention to
“secrets”
 Examples included Hell issuing fire,
smoke and cries of the damned,
trapdoors, pulleys and ropes.
 Due to this we began to see
semiprofessionals begin to develop for
scenery and special effects
Costumes and Props
 Two types of garments: ecclesiastical robes
and everyday clothes
 Accessories such as wings were added
 Props were used to identify characters i.e.
sword, mirror, snakes etc..)
 Heaven reps dressed to awe
 Hell reps dressed to scar
 Common humans dressed according to rank
 Great detail went into designing the devil
Music
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Music was prevalent in medieval theatre
Heavenly scenes featured beautiful choruses
Trumpets’ announced god
Vocal and Instrumental music bridged
intermission.
 Singing was down by choirboys and actors
 Instruments were played by professionals
Popular
Entertainments
Mummings
 Masquerade balls
 Related to drama due to disguise, processions
and need for a spokesperson
 In time it included music, song, dance, scenery,
and texts.
 Usually a mumming play would end with the
collection of money to pay for refreshments
and local charities
Street Pageants
 When dignitaries would come to town
they would set up stages all along the
street
 Clerks and children would then address
them with songs and speeches
 This provided a sense of civic pride
The Audience
 Spectators came from surrounding towns and
countryside – all classes came
 Posters were put up on city gates and
invitations were sent out to neighboring towns
 A trumpeter rode through town announcing the
events
 Work was forbidden during performance time
 Most were free, however in some of Europe
there was a fee