HISTORY OF THE THEATRE: THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD

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INTRODUCTION

The theatre during the medieval or middle ages was very fascinating. One interesting thing about that period was that the theatre lived a chequered life. From the collapse of the Roman theatre up until about 10th Century A.D, which marked the first part of the Christian era, the theatre was highly disparaged by the church, which saw it as an act of paganism. But in the later part of the Middle ages, the church embraced and employed the theatre as a means of evangelization. In this unit, we will look at how the theatre fared during this great epoch in human history. We will examine the types of medieval drama, nature of acting, characterization and the contributions of the medieval theatre to the overall development of the world theatre.

3.1 Theatre in the Early Medieval Period

The period between 7th to 10th Century A.D. was often regarded as the early part of the medieval period. During this period, the theatre was chased into obscurity by the leadership of the church. According to Bernard F. Dukore (1974):

Writing before the fall of the Roman Empire, on the eve of the Middle Ages, the harsh, intolerant, fierce Tertullian (as Mathew Arnorld called him) reflected and also had a great influence on church polity. The first Christian work in Latin to deal with the morality of the theatre for Christians, his On the Spectacles, take the position that theatrical spectacles of all types – tragedies, circuses, whatever – are among the sins of the world, offend God, and should be shunned by all good Christians (83).

Tertullian saw drama, in fact, as a form of lust. He concluded that the theatre belonged to the devil. St. Augustine expressed the same opinion. He looked at the theatre as an act of paganism that move people to immorality. In Dukore’s view, Saint Augustine “in decrying the depravities and other poets, applauds Plato for having excluded poets from his ideal state” (83).

Although there were almost a general outcry against the theatre during the early part of the medieval period, and virtually non-existent of public theatrical performances, mimers and jugglers performed in secret and in a guerrilla fashion.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Discuss the fate of the theatre during the early part of the medieval period.

3.2 The Theatre in the Later Part of the Medieval Period

From about 10th Century A.D., the theatre began to shake off the apathy that overwhelmed it for a very long time. Surprisingly, it was the church which greatly persecuted it that turned around and embraced it tenaciously for the purpose of evangelism. It is important to note that the theatre of the middle ages was not a national affair, but a sort of movement that could be traced in every European country.

The Religious Drama

Talking about the original source of the Medieval theatre, Allardyce Nicoll has this to say:

The characteristic drama of the Middle Ages was an independent development, owing absolutely nothing to the earlier tradition. As is well known, its source is to be sought for in a far different place, in the very heart of the Catholic Church. Finding its basis in the symbolic nature of the service of the Mass, this new drama developed out of a desire on the part of the clergy to place the salient facts of Christ’s life more realistically before the congregation (1970:49).

The Mass or the Liturgy is essentially the celebration of the most critical moments in the life of Jesus Christ. It is the enactment of certain activities and speech of Jesus by the priests before the congregation. The Liturgy contains symbolic and mimetic actions, and it is from this dramatic potential of the Mass that the great liturgical drama of the medieval period developed. Christmas and Easter which are the greatest Christian festivals formed the basis for the earliest liturgical drama.

The oldest Easter drama is called the Quem quaeritis in Latin. This drama developed from the encounter between the Angel and the three Marys who had gone to the tomb of Jesus to anoint it on the resurrection morning. The quem quaeritis consists of “a piece of four-lined dialogue in which a couple of priests, arraying themselves as angels, are confronted by two other priests whose robes show that they are women” (Nicoll, 49). The four-lined dialogue is as follows:

Angels: Whom are you looking for in the tomb, O Christian

women?

Women: Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified O heavenly ones.

Angels: He is not here; he has risen as he foretold. Go and announce that he has risen from the tomb.

Again, it is natural that after the dramatization of the Easter events, Christmas and other Christian feasts would be dramatized. The Christmas drama developed from the encounter between the angels of God and the shepherds who were watching the flock during the night Christ was born. Describing the early sequence of Christmas drama, Adardyce Nicoll opines:

The shepherds see the star which heralds the birth of Christ, and come to lay their lustic gifts on his cradle. Later three Kings arrive with their more precious presents; and still later Herod rants and raves when he hears that a King of Kings has been born into the world (50).

The religious drama that began from the simple enactment of the mass or liturgy later developed into a more elaborate form known as the mystery play, and later, the morality play.

The Mystery Play

The mystery play can be defined as a dramatic rendering of the implication of the Holy Scripture. The life of Christ and that of the saints, as well as the genesis and fall of man formed the materials for the composition of the mystery play(s). In the mystery plays, Biblical stories were presented in a picturesque manner before the audience or the congregation.

The texts of mystery plays ran in cycle and so did their performances. And this is the reason the mystery plays are often referred to as the cycle plays. Specific plays that examined the miracles performed by Jesus Christ himself and those performed by his apostles and the Saints were known as the miracle plays.

By 14th Century, the production of the mystery plays became an event for the whole city in France and England. Public holidays were granted for the people throughout the period the performance lasted. Also, “the feast of Corpus Christ, which was first celebrated in 1311 A.D. gave a further impetus to the movement, as the feast was celebrated by a procession and consequently became the central occasion for the performance of these pieces, all of which were religious in character” (Vargas, 78). In England, the Chester, York and Wakefield mystery plays survived. Examples of the plays include:

The Second Shepherd Play, Abraham and Isaac, and The Woman taken in for adultery, etc.

The Morality Play

The morality play was the last type of dramatic form developed during the medieval period. The morality play was, in the main, a dramatization of the struggle between vice and virtue for the soul of man. Luis Vargas opines that:

The moralities were plays which dealt in personification of human characteristics, vices or virtues. It was a convenient and effective way of telling a tale on the boards and pointing a moral (79).

The morality plays held all manners of vices to scorn, but they extolled and glorified all forms of virtue. Although the moralities had religious undertone, they aimed at cultivating right attitude to life than propagating faith. Often in the morality play, man is misled by his evil human nature, to live ungodly life, but he usually repents and turns unto the path of righteousness. The major goal of the morality play is to reconcile man to his creator. The characters of the moralities are no longer scriptural, but mainly abstract qualities whose purpose is to heighten the intellectual appeal of the drama.

The most popular of all the surviving morality plays is Everyman. In this play whose author is unknown, God sends his messenger, Death to summon Everyman to come and render account of his stewardship on earth. Everyman tries to get some of his earthly friends and companions to accompany him on the journey, but they refused. In the end, he is deserted. Only Good-deeds accepts to go with him. But on earth, Everyman’s store of good-deeds is so weak and insignificant. Finally, the feeble good-deeds leads Everyman to confession and after penance, Everyman finds himself in a state of Grace. Under the state of Grace, Good-deeds accompanies him to the grave.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Distinguish between Mystery and Morality plays.

Drama outside the Church

By the later part of the 12th Century, the dramatization of the mass and the miracles appeared to be submerging the essence of church services and Christian festivals. “Then came doubt in the minds of the ecclesiastical authorities, for the thing which they had called into being was becoming too great’’ (Nicoll, 50). People no longer paid attention to the didactic element or dramatized message, but went to the church to enjoy the entertainment aspect of the drama. Not so long, the church authorities pushed drama out of the church. But “the drama however, had been born and had grown into a lusty and lovable child; it could not die now, and the role of guardian was assumed by the laity”(50). When the laity took over the drama, they widened its scope by introducing circular matters. This was followed by mounting criticism from the church authorities. Finally, the ecclesiastical authorities followed up their criticism with series of prohibitive edicts. However, according to Oscar Brockett:

The trend toward secular concern was gradual but continuous. It was a time of transition and change during which medieval ideas and practices coexisted with others that would give rise to the Renaissance (91).

Vargas suggested that these might well have been the time when the descendants of the ancient mimes, the minstrels and wandering tumblers, were called upon to add their professional skill in order to season and spice the theatrical dish.

A major development in the theatre outside the church was the introduction of vernacular. Inside the church, Latin which was the language of the service, and a language in common use by scholars was equally employed in dramatic productions. But once the drama was taken out of the church, vernacular languages were caused to replace Latin in order to make the theatre truly the people’s affair. Oscar Brockett expressed the view that the change from Latin to vernacular, led to the substitution of spoken for chanted dialogues and facilitated the transition from clerical to non clerical actors, as well as indicated a major step toward national, and away from international drama, which Latin had encouraged (93).

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3

Why was drama taken out of the church?

Actors and Acting

Acting was banned during the early part of the Middle Ages. However, acting by this time was sustained by mimers, tumblers and jugglers who performed in a guerrilla fashion.

Nonetheless, when the need to dramatize church services encouraged the ecclesiastical authorities to embrace the theatre, priests were employed as actors. At this point, acting was stylized and dialogues chanted in Latin. When the theatre was driven outside the church, it grew elaborately, and a considerable number of actors were needed to produce plays, which now ran in cycles. Brockett records that “For the Acts of the Apostles, presented in Bourges, the 494 roles were distributed among 300 actors”. He, however, notes “most plays of this scope date from the 16th Century and seem to mark a considerable increase in numbers of roles over earlier works (97). This indicates that role doubling then was a common practice.

Actors were drawn from the local people, especially from the traders, members of guilds and working class people. In France and England, actors were paid certain salaries which appeared to increase as time went by. In England, actors appeared to be only men. In France, there are records of women participating in production prior to 1550. Allardyce Nicoll recorded that “one young amateur actress at Metz in 1468 spoke no fewer than 2300 lines as Saint Cathrine – winning as her reward the hand of a gentleman in marriage”(65). Though some scholars described medieval acting as crude, Allardyce Nicoll expressed the view that air of seriousness pervaded it. Violent actions were demanded by the audience. For example, Herod had to rant on the pageant and on the street. The effect of Christ’s crucifixion could not be complete unless the actor himself suffered (66). There was great attempt to achieve realism on stage. But according to Oscar Brockett:

Attempts to be realistic occasionally exposed

performers to considerable danger. At Metz (France)

in 1437, the actor playing Judas almost died while being hanged; at Seurre (France) in 1496, Satan’s costume caught fire. Actors in Hell scenes were often injured by cannons and other devices used to create noise, fire and smoke (98).

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 4

Discuss the nature of acting during the medieval period.

3.5 Other Forms of Theatrical Activities

Apart from the great liturgical and cycle plays, other forms of theatrical activities existed to enliven and cheer the spirits of both the courtiers and the common folk, and these forms appeared to have influenced greatly the great Renaissance drama that followed.

Tournaments, Pageant and Mumming

Tournaments began in the early part of the Middle Ages as a means of training the knights. According to Brockett, “During thirteenth century, because a number of contestants had been killed, reforms in the conduct of tournaments were introduced, and by 1300 dramatic elements had begun to creep in (114). In this courtly combat and form of entertainment, religious symbolisms were given secular twist.

The pageant referred to brilliant and royal entry of kings and their retinue in colourful costumes and in a spectacular processional form. The pageant could be a herald for warfare, or an avenue for entertainment, and means of paying royalty to ruling or visiting kings. It was usually accompanied by music and fanfare.

Mummings and disguising were performed at courts when tournaments were over, during weddings and other occasions of merriment. In gay occasions, as well as in dull weathers, young men dressed in extravagant and spectacular costumes to enliven the banqueting halls of the kings and the noble men.

When plays were produced or staged within the church, ecclesiastical authorities sponsored and organized productions. However, when the church drove the theatre outside, and the theatre got severed with the church, plays which had already meant much to the people were taken over by trade guilds. According to Vargas, in England where the trade guilds took over the task of training the actors and financing productions, the great cycles of plays – centered around towns such as York, Wakefield, Chester and Coventry.

In France, the same arrangement obtained. Plays were organized and financed by a group known as Confrerie de la Passion established in Paris by Charles VI on 4th December, 1402. Allardyce Nicoll, posits that “It is with the establishment of this company at the Hospital de la Trinite that we first meet in Europe with a permanent dramatic troupe settled at a definite theatre” (65). Apart from financing productions, craft guilds also maintained close contact with the Churches. Each had a chaplain and a Patron Saint. They equally helped in charity work, as well as in sponsoring capital intensive church activities.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 5

Who sponsored play productions during the medieval period?

3.6 Contributions of the Medieval Theatre

The Medieval theatre contributed the following towards the overall development of the theatre:

. Evolution of stag lighting

. Development of simultaneous staging

. Development of machinery for scenic effects.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 6

What is simultaneous staging?

3.7 Factors that Led to the Death of the Medieval Theatre

Many factors were responsible for the collapse of the medieval theatre. They include the following:

Interest in Secular Affairs

By the end of the 15th Century, wealthy Italian businessmen and patrons of the theatre showed great enthusiasm and flair for plays based on the classical Greek and Roman theatrical models. This new interest in plays with secular subject-matters impaired the writing and production of religious drama.

Wrangling Within the Church

During the greater part of the Middle Ages, the Pope was at the helm of both religious and secular life worldwide. However, Oscar G. Brockett observes that:

As nations began to take shape, Princes sought ways of gaining control over religious affairs within their territories…. By the fifteenth century, therefore, the church had been greatly weakened and many of its practices, perhaps most notoriously the selling of

indulgences (or spiritual pardons), had led to demands for reform.

Martin Luther in Germany and Henry VIII of England were notable figures, who challenged the supremacy of the Pope and certain catholic doctrines. In 1534, Henry VIII abandoned the Church of Rome and founded the Anglican Order. This led to bitter wars of which drama was occasionally employed as means of warfare. By 1548, France banned the production of religious drama in its territory. England and Spain did likewise in 1588 and 1765 respectively.

The Evolution of the University

By 12th Century, universities began to spring up in European countries. These universities began to challenge orthodox and certain religious beliefs. Special attention was paid to man and his potentials as well as the natural environment and phenomena. This new spirit of scholarship drew many people away from religious matters, leading to the decline of religious drama.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 7

Discuss one factor that helped to bring about the end of religious drama of the medieval period.

4.0 CONCLUSION

We have explained that the drama of the medieval period, which lasted for about 600 years, developed from the liturgy. This great drama utilized Latin which was the language of services in the church, as well as language of scholarship. This gave medieval theatre an international character. We equally maintained that the liturgical drama was born out of the need of the ecclesiastical authorities to make biblical messages very clear and graphical to the masses.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit, we explored the origin and nature of medieval theatre. We also examined the scope and types of medieval drama, as well as the nature of acting and the factors that brought medieval theatre to an end.

6.0  ASSIGNMENT

Trace the source of medieval drama.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Dukore, F. Bernard (1974). ED. Dramatic Theory and Criticism: From Greeks to Grotowski. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Nicoll, Allardyce (1970). The Development of the Theatre. London: George G. Harap.

Brockett, G. Oscar (1999). History of the Theatre. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Vargas, Luis (1960). The Teach Yourself Guidebook to Drama. London: The English Universities Press Ltd.

Molinari, Ceasare (1975). Theatre through the Ages. London: Cassel.

Macgowan, Kenneth and William Melnits (1955). The Living Stage: A History of the World Theatre. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.