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Medieval Theatre
The “dark ages”
 The Middle Ages were the period between
500a.d.-1000a.d.
The fall of the Roman Empire marked the
beginning of this era
Cities were abandoned and life became more
agriculturally focused
The Roman Catholic Church controlled
religion, education, and politics
Rebirth of Theatre in the
Middle Ages
The church shut down all theatrical activities
for 200-300 years, but jugglers, minstrels,
and mimes still traveled from town to town.
Theatre was (ironically) reborn in the church
in the form of liturgical dramas
In a liturgical drama, priests or members of
the choir would enact small segments of the
bible to eventually become short drama
performances
In the beginning, the liturgical dramas
were performed in Latin
Rebirth of Theatre
Later on, the liturgical dramas
expanded into longer plays based on
biblical stories and were performed in
town squares, not in churches
These later performances were called
vernacular drama because the were
performed in the everyday speech of
the people
Medieval Drama
3 types of religious plays were popular in the
Medieval Period
 Mystery (cycle) Plays: dramatized biblical
events from Adam and Eve in the Old
Testament through the stories of Christ in the
New Testament
 Miracle (cycle) Plays: dramatized the lives
of Saints
 Morality Plays: used religious characters
and themes to teach a moral lesson
The Plays
 Virtually all of the plays were short; equivalent to one
act plays today
 Mystery and Miracle plays were often strung together
to form a series known as a cycle
 Often times, the story was taken out of the Biblical
era and placed in present day. Also, the character
were given conventional new names.
 The plays mixed comedy and drama
Pageant Wagon
Medieval Theatre Production
The plays took place across Europe including
Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and
England
Large stages were set up in the town square.
These set ups were called mansions
Another convention was the use of pageant
wagons which were rolling wagons that
contained scenery and costuming including a
backstage area and stage space.
Medieval Theatre Production
The stage accommodated any change
in scenery by standing as a universal
set or unidentified space.
This freedom of movement based on
imagination was later developed and
perfected by Renaissance Theatre in
Spain and England
The Performers
The performers were usually local trade
workers called Craft guilds.
These lay people (silversmiths, leather
workers, carpenters, etc) rehearsed
extensively and provided their own
costumes & props
The productions could be quite lengthy,
some lasted as long as 25 days.
The decline of the Middle Ages
Decline of religious theatre occurred
due to the weakening of the church as
a source of political power
The Protestant Reformation was largely
responsible for the decline of religious
material and for the movement toward
secular, or non-religious, theatre
The Renaissance is born!