Mystery and Miracle plays

Mystery plays

The plot and characters were drawn from the books of the bible, it was the major form of medieval drama
The best examples are the cycle plays of england. The york cycles contained 48 short plays and took around 14 hours to perform

The stories come from the old testament and the new testament

The wakefield cycle or The Passion Play dramatises the last week of christ's life - from his triumphal entry on palm sunday through his ascension into heaven

The mystery plays represented biblical subjects, developed from plays performed in Latin by churchmen on the premises of churches and portrayed subjects such as the Creation, Adam and Eve, the murder of Abel and the Last Judgement


Miracle plays


Built its plot around the lives and the works of the saints

They were usually performed on the saint's feast day

Some of the scripts were biblical, others were not

A miracle play presents a real or false account of the life, miracles, or martyrdom of a saint.

The genre evolved from liturgical offices developed during the 10th and 11th centuries to enhance calendar festivals.

By the 13th century they had become vernacularized and filled with non ecclesiastical elements.

They had parted from church services and were performed at public festivals.

Almost all surviving miracle plays concern either the Virgin Mary or St. Nicholas, the 4th-century bishop of Myra in Asia Minor.

Both Mary and Nicholas had active cults during the Middle Ages, and belief in the healing powers of saintly relics was widespread. In this climate, miracle plays flourished.
Explanation of St. George and the dragon


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rakugo sit down theatre

Image
Task 1: Info from the video: This theatre art form was born 400 years ago to spread a message to the people A fan and handkerchief are the only two items needed to perform Rakugo Performed sitting down A lone storyteller  (rakugoka)  sits on the stage, called the  kōza , and using only a paper fan and a hand towel as props, recounts, without rising from his seat, a long and complicated comical story.  The story is narrated as a conversation among two or more characters.  The performer switches from one character to another, changing his voice, facial expression,  mannerisms , and accent to fit the person who is speaking.  The monologue typically lasts for 30 minutes and ends with a surprise punch line, a narrative stunt known as  ochi  (fall) or  sage  (lowering). Task 2: Explain origins in our own words (audio recording transcript) It is a form of Japanese verbal entertainment. It became a form of popular entertainment during 1603-1867, when it was often performed in vau
Read more

Punch and Judy

Image
Video summary:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2ANMKeroi4&t=1006s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4iWoCJ_t24&t=384s 2 main characters are Judy and Ms. Punch  Came from Italy around 1662 Humorous violence in the show (slapstick comedy) Puts something in his mouth to change the voice of the Puppet  Unique voice (Mr. punch) Slapstick puppetry Crocodile puppet always features Police man features as well  Judy has a baby  Little box, its mobile --> performance space   The performance was first found in the seaside Punch normally wear red and white stripes, red face and red clown nose  Red and white style on the box immediately suggests Punch and Judy  Aimed at children although it is for families because of some adult targeted jokes Song to get audience involved 'That's the way to do it", classic opening line, always said in Punch and Judy performances Audience interaction, breaking the 4th wall  Lots of arguing between Punch and Judy  Arg
Read more

Pina Bausch

Image
Biography Philippina "Pina" Bausch was born on the 27th of July in 1940, and died on 30th June 2009. She was a German performer of modern dance, choreographer, dance teacher and ballet director. She had a unique style, a cobination of movement, sound, and noteworthy stage sets as well as elaborate collaborations with performers during the development of Tanztheater, which all led to her becoming a leading influence in the modern dance field during the 1970s and onwards. She developed the company  Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch (de)  which performs around the world. At a young age she learned to observe people, as well as the prime factors that drive them, as she helped her parents run their restaurant. Her early childhood's atmosphere seemed to impact her later pieces; music is heard, people come and go, and talk of their longing for hapiness. Although her early experiences of the war can also be seen in the pieces, in sudden outbursts of panic, and fear of an unk
Read more