{"id":3273,"date":"2017-05-24T00:10:11","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T00:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=3273"},"modified":"2020-04-23T18:29:13","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T18:29:13","slug":"know-the-basics-the-medieval-plays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/know-the-basics-the-medieval-plays\/","title":{"rendered":"Know the Basics: The Medieval Plays"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-header-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><h3>Know the Basics: The Medieval Plays<\/h3>\n<font size=\"2\" color=\"grey\"><span style=\"border:1px solid ;-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;-moz-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);-webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\" class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-glow imageframe-1 hover-type-none author-image\"><a class=\"fusion-no-lightbox\" href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\" target=\"_self\"> <img src=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/authorimage.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-responsive\" style=\"-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;\"\/><\/a><\/span><p>Written by Ashleigh Gardner<\/p>\n<p>May 22, 2017<\/p>\n<\/font><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-body-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Medieval period was an influential time in the history of theatre. While these\u00a0productions weren\u2019t as grand as your high school musical, they brought people together in droves. Get thee to a library (or <span style=\"color: #ba9bc9;\"><a style=\"color: #ba9bc9;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Project Gutenberg<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>) to check out these plays before you get into Shakespeare.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">The plays of Hrotsvitha (10th century)<\/h4>\n<br><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JNp9S2pP4qM?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hrotsvitha (pronounced \u201crose-VIT-a\u201d) was a 10th century German secular canoness, dramatist, and poet and is considered the first person since antiquity to compose drama in the Latin-speaking\/writing West. Her plays <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gallicanus<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (how Emperor Constantine\u2019s daughter tricks her suitor to convert to Christianity) and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dulcitius<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (a man becoming so enamored of women that he gets a little delusional and makes out with some pots and pans in the kitchen) are some of the earliest examples of Medieval drama and comedy.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-body-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><i>Oro Virtutum<\/i> by Hildegard of Bingen (1155 A.D.)<\/h4>\n<br><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c7XFPv-iplI?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hildegard was a canoness, poet, dramatist, and scientist. Arguably the oldest surviving morality play and an early example of liturgical drama, her play <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oro Virtutum <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is the struggle for the human Soul between Virtues and the Devil. A happy Soul enters and is greeted by Virtues, and while she is eager to skip life and get into heaven, the Virtues tell her she must live first. The Soul is then seduced by the Devil. After the Virtues present their case to the Soul, she returns to them. The girl and the Virtues bind the Devil and present him to God. In 1998, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twin Peaks <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eraserhead <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">director David Lynch teamed up with violinist Jocelyn Montgomery and created an album based on Hildegard\u2019s verse in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oro Virtutum <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">called <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lux Vivens<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Listen to the music above.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-body-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><i>Jeu de Robin et Marion <\/i>by Adam de la Halle (1282\/1283 A.D.)<\/h4>\n<br><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zNNm-wnfZ-U?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The story is a dramatization of a type of medieval French song called a pastourelle, a song that usually depicts a knight approaching a shepherdess with desires of romance. Though the title looks like it might be the story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, it\u2019s not <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">exactly<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that, and there is no proof that the stories are connected. The story goes that Marion, a shepherdess, is approached by a persistent knight who proposes marriage to her. The action takes place around Marion, her lover Robin, and their friends as Marion continuously rejects the knight\u2019s advances.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-body-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><h4><i>The Interlude of the Student and the Girl <\/i>(1300 A.D.)<\/h4>\n<div class=\"imageframe-align-center\"><span style=\"border:1px solid ;\" class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-2 hover-type-none\"> <img src=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/interlude.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-responsive\"\/><\/span><\/div><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this comedy, a young student tries to woo a girl he\u2019s fallen in love with. After the girl\u2019s parents leave the house, the student sneaks in and declares his love for her and tries to convince her to marry him. She heartily rejects him, and so the student attempts to enlist the help of Mother Eloise, an old woman close to the girl\u2019s family. The student offers Eloise money if she will talk to the girl and convince her to marry the student. Eloise, too, rejects the student and proclaims that she is above such deceitful actions.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-body-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><i>Everyman <\/i>(late 15th century)<\/h4>\n<br><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/u85F9BAShDg?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the most famous morality plays of the Middle Ages, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyman <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is taught in theatre classes all over the world. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyman <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is an allegorical story about Everyman, a character who represents all mankind. Over the course of the play, Everyman encounters different characters who tempt, insult, and shun him \u2014 all except Good Deeds. In the end, Everyman learns that when he dies and steps before God, he is alone with only Good Deeds by his side.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-body-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">Liturgical plays (12th century &#8211; 1550 A.D.)<\/h4>\n<br><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q_IE4izf_6c?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Economic changes during the High Middle Ages resulted in the creation of guilds for workers with specialized trades. Trade guilds began to perform religious plays, and each guild would be responsible for one of the stories from the Bible. For example, the Baker\u2019s Guild would perform The Last Supper and the Barbers would perform the Baptism of Jesus. Mystery plays were performed in large cycles of stories with 24 plays, 32 plays, and 48 plays depending on the area of the country that staged them. These plays were staged on pageant wagon stages with wheels that were easily moved from town to town. Actors in England during this time were exclusively male, but other countries allowed female performers. The Morality plays of this time stemmed from the Mystery plays, as did small dramas like Nativity (birth of Jesus), Passion plays (crucifixion of Jesus), and Easter dramas (resurrection of Jesus).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, the Protestant Reformation caused theatre to take a hit. The Protestant church criticized pageant plays for their allegiance to Catholic dogma and shut down many of them. The Council of Trent, a Catholic council, also banned pageant plays because the Catholic church was tired of Protestant influence in the way pageant plays were performed. Fortunately, theatre made a comeback when wealthy educated people began to call for Greek and Roman plays to be staged. This led the way for the creation of commedia dell&#8217;arte and was the start of Renaissance theatre.<\/span><\/p>\n<br>\r\n<br><h3 class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"s1\">Interested in theatre history? Check out our other features below!<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/25-plays-all-high-school-seniors-should-read-before-they-graduate\/\"><span class=\"s3\">25 Plays all High School Seniors Should Read (Before They Graduate)<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/10-contemporary-lgbt-playwrights-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">10 Contemporary LGBT Playwrights You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/10-contemporary-native-american-playwrights-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">10 Contemporary Native American Playwrights You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/10-contemporary-playwrights-of-color-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">10 Contemporary Playwrights of Color You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/10-asian-american-playwrights-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">10 Asian American Playwrights You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/10-twentieth-century-latinx-hispanic-and-chicanoa-playwrights-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">10\u00a0Latinx, Hispanic, and Chicano\/a Playwrights You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/10-eighteenth-century-female-playwrights-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">10 Eighteenth-Century Female Playwrights You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/10-nineteenth-century-female-playwrights-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">10 Nineteenth-Century Female Playwrights You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/7-classic-russian-playwrights-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">10 Classic Russian Playwrights You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/12-elizabethan-and-jacobean-playwrights-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">12 Elizabethan and Jacobean Playwrights You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/7-greek-and-roman-playwrights-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">7 Greek and Roman Playwrights You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/13-classic-american-playwrights-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">13 Classic American Playwrights You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li3\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span class=\"s4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/early-20th-century-broadway-composers-and-lyricists-you-should-know\/\"><span class=\"s3\">Early 20th Century Broadway Composers and Lyricists You Should Know<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><hr \/>\n<h5 class=\"p1\"><em><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Ashleigh Gardner<\/strong>\u00a0received her AA in Theatre\/Drama\/Dramatic Arts\u00a0from Valencia College and\u00a0her\u00a0Bachelors\u00a0Degree in English Literature and\u00a0Masters Degree in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies from\u00a0the University of Central Florida. She is a playwright, an actor, and PerformerStuff.com\u2019s Editor.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/h5>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [...]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[470,259,260,263,272,913,453],"tags":[6,308,17,128,252],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3273"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}