Do This: Liturgy as Performance

by Richard D. McCall

Dramatic elements have always been apparent in the historic Christian liturgy. Because the liturgy is a structured action and not merely a verbal narrative, it has historically been both illuminated by and confused with other types of performance, such as theatre and drama. This confusion has been compounded by the fact that much analysis of liturgy has focused on the linguistic and theological aspects of the event and not on its elements of performance.

In Do Liturgy as Performance, Richard D. McCall presents a systematic approach to the liturgy as event rather than text, using tools made available by contemporary performance theory. McCall follows the rise of dramatic interpretation of the early Christian liturgy from its beginnings through such elements as costumes, interpretative text, and gesture. He then examines the development of performance theory, focusing on the work of Victor Turner and Richard Schechner, and asks if it can be applied to the liturgy. Three views of liturgical theology, especially that of Aiden Kavanagh's, which holds that the liturgy as enacted is liturgy properly presented, set the stage for McCall to construct a definition of liturgy as a mode of performance. In chapter 4, McCall brings Aristotle’s categories in the Poetics to bear on liturgical action. In the final chapter he analyzes an actual liturgical the celebration of the Mass at Rome in the early eighth century according to the Gregorian Sacramentary and the actions described in Ordo Romanus I.

Do Liturgy as Performance bridges the work of performance scholarship and liturgical studies in a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary way. The book will interest seminarians and liturgical scholars in a variety of fields, including theology and the arts, early Christian liturgy, Church history, and liturgical theology.

204 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2007

Reviews

[Neil Orts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely a scholarly work, and as I've not been in that world for a few years, some of this went over my head. What did stay with me, however, was well worth the work to get through it. The discussion of the Mystery and Passion plays---and their origins---was a nice refresher from my theater history class, but I greatly appreciated the way McCall talked about memory (anamnesis) and the liturgy and how the performance of liturgy is like and unlike theater (which is hardly at all about memory, if at all). As a volunteer at my church on the worship committee, i appreciate the way McCall stimulated my thought about liturgy. As a performance artist, I find a new way to engage my work, particularly though his discussion of memory. This was a book well worth my time.

[Katrina Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complex but valuable read for the academic conversation.