Medieval Theatre

As the Western Roman Empire fell throughout the 4th and 5th centuries, theatre continued to evolve and change as elements like the chorus fell out of favour for other aspects such as dialogue, along with song, dance and musical accompaniment. It is also worth noting that Medieval Theatre is a broad term as it spans over centuries taking form in many different ways in many different cultures throughout Europe.

One very notable and consistent aspect of theatre in this time period was its association and relationship with the church. Early on in Medieval Theatre, the church found that theatre was separate from its Christian message and could not be viewed as 'innocent entertainment'. Because of this, the church banned theatre on multiple occasions. This lead to official performances of theatre dying out during this period, as theatres were not permitted to operate. However, this did not result in theatre dying out completely as the church may have hoped. Firstly, there was travelling shows who would often depict stories to the common people on wagons or pop-up stages outdoors. However these performers would develop a negative reputation especially among church-goers due to being seen as criminals or 'vagabonds'. 

However ironically, the church also used dramatised versions of certain Biblical events to teach and preach them to a mainly illiterate population. Symbolic actions and objects (such as the alters, vestments, and censers) were used and worked into the performances, which were often carried out by priests or members of the church. These resembled many aspects of theatre as we know it today such as facial expressions, body language, silence, tone of voice, pace as well as many other theatrical aspects.

EXERCISE 1:

For our first exercise looking into Medieval Theatre, we got into small groups and started to dramatise chosen Bible stories as would have been done in early church performances. This first iteration was very close to the source material and utilised certain areas of the church as would have been done in churches at the similar time. However this was not all we did with it.

EXERCISE 2:

We then were asked to elevate and make these stories much more 'dramatised' and enjoyable for an audience. This was to represent how over time in the medieval period, theatre started to separate again from the church and their core ideals as the stories became flandarised and altered. Our chosen story was that of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, so firstly we recapped the story and then set out to perform it. However for this performance, we over-exaggerated characters, used lots of dialogue and specifically made sexual innuendos that clearly showed the diversion from the initial church intention. And so what was once a cautionary tale and an explanation for how we are here (Very similar to that of Greek plays), was transformed into an entertaining piece of theatre for the masses, which then resulted in it being banned numerous times.

In Medieval Theatre, There were two (technically three) types of plays that would be performed: Mystery and Miracle plays. Mystery plays focused on the stories of the Bible, whereas Miracle plays were based around the stories of Saints. However, there was also a third type of play which was a combination and development of the previous two called Morality plays. These plays were acts of allegorical drama having personified abstract qualities as the main characters and presenting a lesson (or moral) about good conduct and character. This style of play was also notable for introducing more sophisticated techniques of play-writing. This included things such as longer monologues, narration, as well as breaking out of the plot.

One of the most famous examples of a morality play is that of Everyman; which has survived since the 15th century and has seen many adaptations in its lifetime, most notably Carol Ann Duffy's version, which was performed at the National Theatre in 2015.

EVERYMAN

ANONYMOUS - 1530

As stated previously, Everyman was then much later adapted by Scottish poet and playwright Carol Ann Duffy for a modern audience with a more modern context and dialect. Despite this, the adaptation still heavily focuses on the core message of the original on being a good person to get your ultimate reward, albeit with less religious ties. This then raises the question: Does this version of the play support Christianity? Or like many modern views does it mock it? Duffy was born into and raised in a Roman Catholic family, but is now both an atheist and a lesbian so it could very well come from a place of mockery and/or insight of what Christianity means to us as mortals. Or, in a more interesting aspect, does this play not focus at all on Christianity? Could it instead take a moralist view-point and, instead of relying upon a figure to be a decent person, what truly matters is being good and committing 'good deeds' for the sake of goodness? Carol Ann Duffy leaves these questions unanswered, maybe because we are all responsible to find our own answers and to lead a truly 'good' life, whether judged or not.