Medieval Mysteries, Moralities and Interludes

by Vincent Foster Hopper

Hopper, Vincent F. And Gerald B. Lahey, Eds., Medieval Mysteries, Moralities And Interludes

Genres: Plays

299 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

Reviews

[Jon Catherwood-Ginn · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the time of the original performance of the Second Shepherd’s Play, specific guilds commonly performed Biblical stories in town-wide mystery cycles. Frequently, those guilds specialized in performing stories most closely associated with their trades (i.e. boat-builders performed “Jonah & the Whale,” etc.). To me, this seems like a perfect example of theatre with a focus on community engagement – how can we get back to this? Does this—or something similar to this (be it liturgical or secular)—still occur anywhere in the world? Since mounting one production--let alone a series in a cycle--is a major undertaking, it’s remarkable that so many non-performers would participate. I suppose it helps that, at that time, Biblical stories were widely regarded as ultra important; even if people did display resistance and/or anxiety at the prospect of performing for their fellow citizens, the import of their plays’ content surely outweighed their lingering sense of stage-fright and compelled them to perform. While, these days, you see touches of this kind of community involvement (i.e. community theatre, the San Francisco mayor’s performance in the revival of The Laramie Project), it’s rare (if not non-existent) to see the entirety of a town involved in one theatrical festival – how could we create this kind of festival today? What would it take to bring a village, town, or city together to perform something—anything—together?

The Second Shepherd’s Play is also remarkable in that it is one of the first major dramatic works to emerge after an enormous gulf in (recorded) dramatic activity. In the Western canon, there is little to no evidence for a “formal” theatre scene from the end of ancient Roman theatre to development of the Quem Quaeritis ritual in the medieval period (3rd century BC – 10th century AD). Granted, all manner of performers roamed the countryside in loose bands during this gap in theatrical activity. However, the theatre as a centralized community event was largely dead during this enormous stretch of centuries. One counter-argument: the “theatre” in Byzantium (I should look into this…).

Despite this lengthy drought of drama, the Second Shepherd’s Play is highly reminiscent of Roman comedy in several ways:

1. Mak fulfills the “mischievous slave” archetype
2. Comically fiery relationship between the central married couple
3. Characters frequently engage the audience directly (i.e. Mak and Wife appeal to the audience for sympathy to their “side” of the argument)
4. Comic commentary on other contemporary plays (i.e. nod to John Horne in the First Shepherd’s Play).

While the first half of the Second Shepherd’s Play is highly memorable for its farcical nature, most forget the drastic thematic shift in the second half of the play into a traditional illustration of the Nativity story. How did this play back then? More importantly, why did the Wakefield Master choose to sandwich such polar dramatic styles together (particularly in such a short play)?

[Jesse Bullington · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tight collection of several unabridged, early passion plays and such titualar materials, with a thorough 50-odd page introduction. Stage directions are present, and by the look of it "The Castle of Perservance" would be an amazing play to see even today--ripe for revival, that. The sheer planning involved in the staging of it is amazing, with the audience sitting in five different raised areas inside a moat, with five stages for different action to take place on.

[Martin Bihl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious in parts, but fascinating in others as a way to see how the theatre developed in europe.