History of Medieval Drama

History of Drama in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages drama happened in the period between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D. and the beginning of the Renaissance in approximately the 15th century A.D. Middle Ages drama, also known as Medieval theater, covers all drama that were produced in Europe over that thousand year period and refers to a variety of genres, including liturgical drama, mystery plays, morality plays, farces and masques. Beginning with Hrosvitha of Gandersheim in the 10th century, Middle Ages drama was for the most part very religious and moral in its themes, staging and traditions. The most famous examples of medieval plays are the English cycle dramas, the York Mystery Plays, the Chester Mystery Plays, the Wakefield Mystery Plays and the N-Town Plays, as well as the morality play "Everyman".

1.      The Liturgical Drama

In the early Middle Ages, churches began to stage dramatized versions of important biblical events.  The churches were faced with explaining a new religion to a majorly illiterate population, so these dramas visualized what would later be able to be read in the Bible.  These productions also celebrated annual religious events.  These productions evolved into liturgical dramas.  The earliest known liturgical drama is the Easter trope, “Whom do you Seek”, which dates circa 925.  Liturgical drama did not involve actors impersonating characters, but it did involve singing by two groups. 

An important playwright in early Middle Ages was Hrotsvit, a historian and aristocratic canoness from northern Germany in the 10th century.  Hrotsvit, the first recorded female playwright, wrote six plays which she modeled after Terence’s comedies.  Though Terence’s comedies show ordinary human subjects and situations involving marriage, sex and love; Hrostvit put a moral and religious spin on Terence’s plays in order to avoid criticism from the church.

2.      The Mystery Play

By the 12^th century, the earlier liturgical dramas had developed into a more popular form, the mystery play. The term "mystery" in this sense refers to the word "miracle," another name for the play type. The mystery play began as the simple performance of Biblical texts, the various persons in the text each being represented by a person on the stage. The simple performance gradually became more embellished, usually by added lines of dialogue or by dramatic elements included with the words. Mystery plays usually dealt with Gospel events: their main subject was the redemption of man.

As the mystery plays gained popularity, they were forced to move from being performed inside the churches. Commonly, the churchyard or the marketplace was used as the site of the mystery play, and the increased space fostered the play to even greater popularity in medieval Europe. Then, in 1210 A.D., Pope Innocent III outlawed the clergy from performing in any of the mystery plays, a move that forced the plays to be taken over by the common people and directly led to the emergence of the professional actor and the medieval theater guilds.

Plays in the Middle Ages led to the growth of towns and formation of guilds.  This also led to important changes politically and economically, and more significant changes in the Late Middle Ages. The plays, most often Mystery plays, were written in large numbers.  Some examples include the Chester Plays (24), York plays (48 plays), and Wakefield Plays (32).

Chester cycle is the oldest cycle, beginning in the 13^th century and very serious in tone. It is the most faithful to the religious nature of the original stories. The Chester cycle was performed over three days. York play was developed from 1340-1350 and a manuscript first appeared in 1430. Traditionally performed during the feast of Corpus Christi where each wagon would have to travel to 12 designated spots in the area for the performance. Wakefield play, also called Towneley cycle, was developed in the 15^th century. These plays are more comedic and less reverent.

Actors in plays in the late Middle Ages were usually laymen from the town’s local population.  Plays at this time were staged on wheeled platforms which were used to move scenery.  These stages were called pageant wagon stages, and were convenient for location changes. On the other hand, playhouses were not a common occurrence.  Contrary to popular belief, both man and woman performed in plays in some European countries in the Late Middle Ages.  However, in England plays were performed by all-male casts. 

3.      The Morality Play

The separation of the mystery play from the direct influence of the church allowed the actors to develop their own forms of drama. Many of the forms of the mystery play were retained in the next developed form or drama, but the Biblical elements were removed. Instead, the morality play revolved around a central character and his meetings with different personifications of moral attributes. Morality plays were allegorical dramatizations of the free will element of human life. The most widely known morality play and possibly the most famous medieval drama is Everyman. Named after the protagonist of the play, it is obvious that the play is an allegory that encompasses the human experience as it relates to matters of good and evil.

4.      Decline of Middle Ages Drama

A change in interests among popular culture, a change in patronage to the drama, and the establishment of playhouses signified the death of the drama in the Middle Ages.
The interest in religious plays was replaced by a renewed interest in Roman and Greek culture. Changes in the theater were also caused by the support of nobility and monarchs.  When the upper class began to support on-religious professional drama troupes, religious drama as a whole began to decline.  The tastes of the nobility filtered down to the lower classes.

The construction of permanent playhouses was also a contributing factor to the downfall of Middle Ages Drama. Since players no longer had to rely on churches and inns for staging, more creative storytelling and staging options were now available.  Productions now had a more professional quality and thus a wider audience appeal.

5.      Characteristics of Middle Ages Drama

The characteristics of drama in Middle Ages are:

a.       The genres of the Middle Ages drama are liturgical drama, mystery play, and morality play.

b.      Biblical and religious story are the common themes in the Middle Ages drama.

c.       Middle Ages plays were performed in fixed or movable stages. The movable stages were called pageant wagon.

d.      The dramatists in the Middle Ages are anonymous

6.      The Middle Ages Drama “Everyman”

Everyman is a Middle Ages morality play and the dramatist is anonymous. Everyman examines the question of Christian salvation by use of allegorical characters and what Man must do to attain it. The premise of this drama is that the good and evil deeds of one's life will be counted by God after death. The play is the allegorical accounting of the life of Everyman, who represents all mankind. In the course of the action, Everyman tries to convince other characters to accompany him in the hope of improving his account. All the characters are also allegorical, each personifying an abstract idea such as fellowship, material goods, and knowledge.

Everyman tells the story of God is upset with how Man has succumbed to earthly materialistic pursuits. He tells Death to summon Everyman so that he may make an account of the good and evil deeds in his life. Everyman is unwilling to go, seeing as his good deeds are rather slim. Not only that, in order to stand before God, he has to die. When it's clear there is no bribing or delaying Death, he asks if he can look for a companion to go with him. Not surprisingly, those around him (his friends, his family, his wealth) who are good for a meal or a party or a laugh, resoundingly refuse Everyman in his time of need. Everyman realizes that his earthly pursuits mean nothing in the afterlife. He must face the fact that in order to have a companion to stand with him before God he must recognize his sin, confess, and atone. Only then he will receive forgiveness and finally find a companion to stand beside him before God. That is the only companion that the everyman can have in the afterworld, the good he does in life. Even his good qualities, such as Knowledge and Strength are just physical attributes. Everyman cannot take anything with him after death, only his spiritual well being. The play ends with an Angel taking Everyman's spirit up to Heaven.

There are two levels to the story. The first is Everyman's physical journey to find a companion, and to death. The end of the story actually plays out what happens to us as we head toward death. Our faculties desert us: Beauty, Strength, Discretion, Wits, and Knowledge. One by one these attributes leave Everyman before he crawls into the tomb with Good-Deeds only by his side. Secondly, there is his spiritual journey from a frivolous young man to one who is prepared to stand before God. As with all Morality plays Everyman looks at what man must do to save his soul. That is the most important aspect of life - how man treats his soul. The body that he lives in is only on loan from God. Character after character tell Everyman that his vision of life (such as the accumulation of wealth) is completely wrong. Material wealth means nothing and the fact that he focused on earthly pursuits has brought about his own downfall.