Medieval theatre

Drama-> General Influence -> Its origin and influences -> Stages of development of Drama -> Miracle Plays -> Cycles of Drama -> Morality Plays -> Interludes

There has been a lot of talk about 'alternative facts' in media recently... but alternative facts are nothing new. Alternative facts in the form of forged letters supposedly written by Mary Stuart is what made…

Medieval Theatre Time frame: 5th c- mid 16th c Secular theatre died in Western Europe with the fall of Rome Theatrical performances were banned by the Roman Catholic Church as barbaric and pagan Most Roman theatre had been spectacle rather than literary drama

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The miracle play was one of three principal dramatic forms which flourished during the middle ages. Less adventurous in subject matter and characterisation than the mystery, the miracle play was concerned with enacting events and miracles in the life of a saint or a martyr. The mouth of Hell, as staged in a miracle play, […]

Staging in the Medieval Age Medieval theatre refers to theatrical performance in the period between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D. and the beginning of the Renaissance…

pageant wagons (or click here) moved through the streets while the audience stayed in one place – like parade floats. (W&G call them "wagon stages") (see illustration in text) (click here for a picture..) The term "pageant" is used to refer to the stage, the play itself, and the spectacle. Plays performed in sequence – thus each play was performed several times. There are few reliable description of pageant wagons. One claims that the wagons must be over 12 feet tall—it would seem impossible…

Music had been used to accompany poems during the medieval era. The Elizabethans taste for the Theatre was soon enhanced by the accompaniment of music. It was only a short step to combine the accustomed music with its accompanying verse with the exciting pageantry of the Elizabethan theatre. The importance of music to the Elizabethans was reflected in the plays of William Shakespeare who makes more than five hundred references to music in his plays and poems!