Medieval Theatre

Medieval Theatre Theatre History

Medieval Theatre  Often called – The Dark Ages  Not really a correct title  start: Rome’s fall 476 AD  end: 15th Century  400 years no organized theatre

- jugglers - traveling minstrels  Catholic Church had total control of drama and art for a 1000 years

Medieval Theatre  The first theatre started in the church:

called- tropes

- drama scenes performed during the mass - common people were illiterate - started as tableaus still scenes from the Bible done at Christmas and Easter

Medieval Theatre  The next style of church drama was the pantomime

 Then dialogue was added to the church dramas

- at first spoken in Latin - then spoken in native language

Medieval Theatre- Mansions  New style: Mansions or Stations  Theatre moved outside of the church to the

courtyard  Crowds moved from station to station  Plays performed: Mystery- Bible stories of Christ Miracle-Stories of the Saints Morality- Stories of Right and Wrong

Mystery Play  Acted out the stories

of Christ’s life  Still performed today in parts of England and Germany

Morality Play  teaching right and

wrong  telling people how to have a good life  Famous Morality Play:

Everyman

Note: we will be reading this

Miracle Plays  The lives of saints in the

church  still acted today in England

Medieval Theatre  10th Century

 Hell’s Mouth

 playwright:

 considered to be

Hrosvitha -wrote comedies -moved outside of church -too much action for inside  staging in courtyard  special effects used

terrifying  showed tortured souls  featured realistic screams

Medieval Theatre  shows an outdoor

play with Hell’s Mouth and demons to scare the viewers into being better people

Feast of Fools  Church festivals were run 

 



by younger priest Other stories done by trade guilds bakers- feeding 5000 Noah’s ark- ship builders removed from church some of characters were too much like older priest poked fun at superiors

Pageant Wagons- Cycle Plays  double-decker wagons

that traveled from town to town  resembled parade floats  still done in York Wakefield Chester Coventry  Each new scene on different wagon

Pictures of Pageant Wagons

Passion Plays  Depict the life of

 Performed:

Christ  first started as a promise to God to have town spared from the Black Plagues of the Dark Ages

 in Germany  in Spearfish, SD

Major Changes the Dark Ages brought to Theatre  viewers closer to the

stage  acting and dialogue both became important  mixed comic and serious scenes in the same play  more theatre for the common man