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Morality Play
It is the late-14th century, a time beset by war and plague. Nicholas Barber, a young cleric, abandons his post in the church and joins a troupe of travelling performers. The players re-enact the murder of a young boy, but as they rehearse they discover the truth has yet to be revealed.
206 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Barry Unsworth
56 books187 followersBarry Unsworth was an English writer known for his historical fiction. He published 17 novels, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, winning once for the 1992 novel Sacred Hunger.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 490 reviews
January 30, 2025
The Black Death gripped Europe in the years 1348-1350, wiping out nearly half the population in cities and frequently every man, woman and child in villages and towns. People could be healthy in the morning, feverish at noon, covered in boils, spitting blood and writhing in agony in the evening and meet their death that very night.
Not even close to understanding the true biological cause of this blackest of plagues and perceiving the ugly, stinking buboes popping up on family and neighbors as the wrath of God, inhabitants of Europe lived in a collective psychological paralysis.
The aftermath of the great pestilence left the surviving population in chaos: fields lay waste since there were fewer peasants to farm, murdering brigands terrorized the countryside and the traditional protectors of the oppressed, nobles, knights, monks and priests, frequently became the oppressors.
Not surprisingly, disease and the fear of disease did not go away; rather, more fears piled up: fear of being the victim of such things as famine, torture, rape or hacked to death by bandits or soldiers. All very real, ongoing possibilities. In a word, not a happy, feel-good time to be alive.
Thus, taking place a dozen years after the Black Death hit England, we have the backdrop of Barry Unsworth’s gripping novel of a band of traveling players, including a renegade priest turned player (the story’s narrator) entering a town and, half-starved, resorting to playing out the town’s current event: the murder of a twelve year old boy by the name of Thomas Wells.
Unsworth’s tale has the intrigue, suspense and pace of a hard-boiled detective novel, a storyline simply too good to give away any of the details. Since Mr. Unsworth did his homework on the historical facts and fine points of the fourteenth century, I will focus on several colorful scenes the author includes in his portrayal of these turbulent times.
Decked out in their costumes and ready to take the stage, the band of actors has to deal with some medieval competition. We read, “While we were preparing to put on our play a band of jongleurs came to the inn to the sound of drums and bagpipes, and began at once to set out their pitch against the wall of the yard, opposite the entrance – the best place. Jongleurs traveled in groups and entertain people wherever they can, in great halls, at tournaments and archery contests, at fairs and marketplaces. In this they resemble players, but unlike us they have no leader and there is no general meaning to what they do, they can combine together or break away.” Darn, life is tough for a poor, starving acting troupe; if it isn’t abuse and scorn from the innkeeper and town officials, it’s another band of entertainers invading your space.
Sitting around a fire at night, the head player, Martin by name, recounts how small traveling groups of players such as theirs are being squeezed out not only by jongleurs but by all the big, powerful, wealthy acting guilds who stay in one place and perform an entire cycle of elaborate plays. Rather than playing a set piece like The Play of Adam, Martin comes up with a new idea; he tells the group they should play the murder of Thomas Wells.
Such a unique approach provokes much discussion and debate but the troupe senses all the townspeople will show up for such a play and pay handsomely. From this point, the tension and drama of the novel builds chapter by chapter.
Throughout the story there is telling detail of the way the fourteenth century players acted their parts, which adds real spice to the reading of this novel. For example, here is a description of one of the players, Straw by name, “But there was in Straw an instinct for playing, or rather a meeting of instinct and knowledge, a natural impulse of the body. I do not know what to call it, but is something that can neither be taught nor learned. For the part of the temptress he had devised a strange and frightening way of bending the body stiffly sideways with the head held for a moment in inquiry and hands just above the waist, palms outward and fingers stiffly splayed in a gesture of his own invention. So for a moment, while he made the pause to see the effects of his tempting, he was frozen in wicked inquiry. Then he broke again into sinuous motion, gesturing the delights that awaited Thomas Wells.”
On a road some way from the town, the priest/player/narrator relays what he sees when he looks down the road: “The snow made a mist and at one moment there was nothing but this mist and at one moment there was nothing but this mist and at the next there were dark shapes in it, advancing slowly up the hill, two riders and with them a great black beast whose head rose high as theirs and it had red eyes and above its head there moved with it a shape of red, dark red in the white of snow, and I knew this for the flame of the Beast’s breath and I knew what Beast it was and what manner of riders there were and I crossed myself and groaned aloud in my fear, seeing that the Beast had come and my soul was unprepared.”
Turns out, this is only a knight and his squire and horse traveling to a joust. But the tenor of the times is in the projection -- in his fear, the priest sees the fourth horseman of the apocalypse. I can’t imagine a more powerful and compelling story of what it was like to actually live in the wake of the Black Death.
British author Barry Unsworth, 1930 - 2012
May 28, 2018
It was a death that began it all and another death that led us on....
A grand historical book, shortlisted for the Man Booker prize, about a band of poor travelers, performing plays in the times of the Middle Ages, stumbling into a crime scene that will place them in unforeseen circumstances....
Enjoyed it immensely, last two days I breathlessly read through it.
Great book indeed. Beautiful read. The top of historical reads.
Recommended.
A grand historical book, shortlisted for the Man Booker prize, about a band of poor travelers, performing plays in the times of the Middle Ages, stumbling into a crime scene that will place them in unforeseen circumstances....
Enjoyed it immensely, last two days I breathlessly read through it.
Great book indeed. Beautiful read. The top of historical reads.
Recommended.
October 14, 2018
When you reread an old favourite you run the risk of finding out it wasn't that great, but that didn't happen here. Not at all. Brilliant medieval sort-of-quasi-murder-mystery in which an entire troop of strolling players turns into a collective detective - that's a good enough idea right there but it's not the main one here - which is no less than the dawning of modern self-consciousness - I know, sounds very pompous. But it's not, it's so neatly expressed and it sends a shiver through your very readerly spine. You'll wish you were a porcupine so you could have more spines to shiver.
Recommended for everybody.
Recommended for everybody.
June 4, 2018
The best of historical fiction is said to comment on the time during which it was written, not just the time being written about. Here, though, the focus is perhaps on a universal theme, the idea that nothing ever changes, especially concerning those in power controlling or suppressing the truth for their own benefit.
If you're looking for a mystery (which I didn't read this as), the story might seem formulaic. The nature of the crime and the perpetrator came at me from a mile away and many characters are basically stock figures as befitting a morality play. While it's true the members of the troupe of players (the word 'actor' is never used), along with a woman who travels with them, delve into the mystery as if they were almost detectives, the novel is also a reflection on the nature of art, of storytelling, how it can get at truth even if all the details are not accurate, even if the ending is unknown, even if a first motive is profit.
The townspeople do not come out in droves for the players' first offering, a stock morality play, but they pack the area for a play that is about themselves, becoming vocal when something seems wrong. The audience intervention helps the players get at more of the truth, along with showing the benefit (and danger) of questioning a story put out by authorities. The revelatory play-within-the-play (or novel) reminded me of Hamlet's play wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
A different form of playing -- jousting for the entertainment of the upper classes -- is seen as a substitute blood-sport for those who send out their underlings to do the actual fighting in actual battles, another reflection on the political world of today, of just about any day.
If you're looking for a mystery (which I didn't read this as), the story might seem formulaic. The nature of the crime and the perpetrator came at me from a mile away and many characters are basically stock figures as befitting a morality play. While it's true the members of the troupe of players (the word 'actor' is never used), along with a woman who travels with them, delve into the mystery as if they were almost detectives, the novel is also a reflection on the nature of art, of storytelling, how it can get at truth even if all the details are not accurate, even if the ending is unknown, even if a first motive is profit.
The townspeople do not come out in droves for the players' first offering, a stock morality play, but they pack the area for a play that is about themselves, becoming vocal when something seems wrong. The audience intervention helps the players get at more of the truth, along with showing the benefit (and danger) of questioning a story put out by authorities. The revelatory play-within-the-play (or novel) reminded me of Hamlet's play wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
A different form of playing -- jousting for the entertainment of the upper classes -- is seen as a substitute blood-sport for those who send out their underlings to do the actual fighting in actual battles, another reflection on the political world of today, of just about any day.
November 24, 2022
konusuyla, gördüğüm anda heyecanlandığım bir kitaptı ve ilk fırsatta da okumaya başladım. 14. yüzyıl ingiltere’sinde geçen bu roman aslında bir cinayeti konu ediyor. 23 yaşında çiçeği burnunda rahip ve aynı zamanda romanın anlatıcısı nicholas barber, küçük bir kasabaya giden bir oyuncu topluluğuna katılır ve grup burada kendilerini henüz gerçekleşmiş bir cinayetin izini sürerken bulur. para kazanmak ve yola devam etmek için bu çözülmemiş cinayeti sahnelemeye karar verirler. dönemin normları gereği incilden anlatılara dayanan bölümlerin gösterildiği tiyatro anlayışından farklı olarak “bugüne ait olan” bir olayın sergilendiği, yani cinayetin çözülmeye çalışıldığı bir oyun, roman açısından bana çok ilginç gelmekle birlikte aslında sanatın hakikatin bulunmasına aracılık edebileceği yönündeki yenilikçi fikriyle de modernizme bir göndermede bulunuyor.
içinde vebanın, soğuk ormanların, bugün farklı formlarda da olsa hala devam eden üst sınıfların eğlence anlayışına hizmet eden çeşitli oyunların, iktidarın, lordların, baronların ve toplumsal cinsiyet mekanizmalarının nasıl algılandığına ilişkin küçük küçük bölümlerin bulunduğu bu kitabı ziyadesiyle beğendiğimi söyleyebilirim.
içinde vebanın, soğuk ormanların, bugün farklı formlarda da olsa hala devam eden üst sınıfların eğlence anlayışına hizmet eden çeşitli oyunların, iktidarın, lordların, baronların ve toplumsal cinsiyet mekanizmalarının nasıl algılandığına ilişkin küçük küçük bölümlerin bulunduğu bu kitabı ziyadesiyle beğendiğimi söyleyebilirim.
May 26, 2015
Barry Unsworth’s Morality Play proves to be equal parts Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael and learned explication of medieval life. Please don’t let that put you off! This brief, thoroughly entertaining novel won the Booker Prize, and you’ll see why almost immediately.
Wayward priest Nicholas Barber ran away from his diocese during the springtime. Having run afoul of a cuckolded husband, at Christmas time he has fled afield and crosses paths with a traveling acting troupe just at the moment when one of their number has suddenly died. Nicholas eagerly takes refuge with them, while the players reluctantly consent, as they are in need of another actor. In route to a gig, they stop on the way to make a little extra coinage entertaining at a village controlled by one Lord Richard de Guise.
That the decision will prove an unwise one Nicholas announces from the very first page. A 12-year-old peasant boy has been murdered, and a local woman charged with the crime. Hollywood today can’t resist a brutal murder, nor could these medieval players, who adapt the story into a play of their own — a very novel move in Northern England at the time. However, the more they delve into the brutal killing, the less the authorities’ version of what happened holds together.
Like The Name of the Rose before it, Morality Play brings the Middle Ages — and its scourges of war, plague, corruption, and grinding poverty — to life under the guise of a whodunnit. Enjoy the heart-stopping suspense and the shocking ending, and, as a side benefit, get an unvarnished glimpse into the plight of the common man in 14th century Northern England. Highly, highly recommended.
Wayward priest Nicholas Barber ran away from his diocese during the springtime. Having run afoul of a cuckolded husband, at Christmas time he has fled afield and crosses paths with a traveling acting troupe just at the moment when one of their number has suddenly died. Nicholas eagerly takes refuge with them, while the players reluctantly consent, as they are in need of another actor. In route to a gig, they stop on the way to make a little extra coinage entertaining at a village controlled by one Lord Richard de Guise.
That the decision will prove an unwise one Nicholas announces from the very first page. A 12-year-old peasant boy has been murdered, and a local woman charged with the crime. Hollywood today can’t resist a brutal murder, nor could these medieval players, who adapt the story into a play of their own — a very novel move in Northern England at the time. However, the more they delve into the brutal killing, the less the authorities’ version of what happened holds together.
Like The Name of the Rose before it, Morality Play brings the Middle Ages — and its scourges of war, plague, corruption, and grinding poverty — to life under the guise of a whodunnit. Enjoy the heart-stopping suspense and the shocking ending, and, as a side benefit, get an unvarnished glimpse into the plight of the common man in 14th century Northern England. Highly, highly recommended.
November 23, 2021
Innovation and imagination are not attributes we associate with the Medieval period. Instead, we might think of an abstract heirarchic stability: sacred/profane, nobility/commoner, faith/reason. A glance at the 14th century's events would quickly dispel such complacent thinking. The Black Death decimated Europe's population; the Hundred Years War raged in France. Author Barry Unsworth views this period from the vantage point of a traveling company of actors, social outliers. His first person narrator is a truant monk, Nicholas Barber.
Nicholas with his conventional beliefs is a striking contrast to his new companions. In fact, he is certain that public performance is a sin. Had not Pope Boniface VIII declared it so? Fortunately, he is also a contemplative observer of his new companions. Most intriguing is their leader, Martin Bell, a man of intense passions. Even Nicholas is drawn into his orbit: “...there was something in him, some power of spirit, that made me want to please him. Perhaps, it occurs to me now, it was no more than the intensity of his wish. Men are distinguished by the power of their wanting. What this one wanted became his province and his meal, he governed it and fed on it from the first moment of desire. Besides, with the perversity of our nature, being tested had made me more desire to succeed, though knowing the enterprise to be sinful.” (p.16)
The troupe pauses at a village close to the keep of a powerful baron. Their standard enactment of “The Story of Adam” receives a tepid reception. Hard up for money, Martin seizes on what we might call a “ripped from the headlines” theme for a new play. Two days prior, a murdered boy's corpse was found by the roadside. A young woman has already been convicted and sentenced to hang for the crime. Martin admits he has been dissatisfied with the confines of the didactic allegories of their repertory. Moreover, they are on the losing end of competition from elaborate and well-funded guild productions and cheaper amusements provided by jugglers and dancing bears. A contemporary crime drama will certainly generate excitement. That such a novelty might be sinful is only troubling to Nicholas.
Enacting the recent murder presents several problems. Is capitalizing on this opportunity for freedom an act of hubris? Moreover, there is the problem of reconstructing the “true story” of the murder. The characters in a play must be driven by convincing motives. The more information the actors gather from the villagers, the more unlikely the official version of events becomes. In seeking the truth, “Step by step we were moving toward evil and all of us knew it. Aided and encouraged each by the others, in that barn of twisting shapes and shadows of masks, hanging costumes and weapons that would not wound, to the sound of bells from the church above us and clatter from the yard outside, we were moving toward knowledge of evil.” (p.133)
Unsworth presents a vivid portrayal of 14th century drama. Visuals are iconographic, aided by a language of over 30 complex gestures. Mime, scripted recitations of rhymed couplets, music and sound effects are the core of the production. Swept up in the moment, actors occasionally improvise speeches which the others on stage are expected to respond to extemporaneously.
An implicit comparison between a play and reality has been voiced by several characters throughout the novel. That comparison is made explicit in a startling way by its end. Unsworth brings together themes of creative innovation, personal epiphany, separating assumption from truth in a satisfying conclusion.
NOTES: an essay focused on Nicholas' growth (warning, contains spoilers) https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+dr...
Nicholas with his conventional beliefs is a striking contrast to his new companions. In fact, he is certain that public performance is a sin. Had not Pope Boniface VIII declared it so? Fortunately, he is also a contemplative observer of his new companions. Most intriguing is their leader, Martin Bell, a man of intense passions. Even Nicholas is drawn into his orbit: “...there was something in him, some power of spirit, that made me want to please him. Perhaps, it occurs to me now, it was no more than the intensity of his wish. Men are distinguished by the power of their wanting. What this one wanted became his province and his meal, he governed it and fed on it from the first moment of desire. Besides, with the perversity of our nature, being tested had made me more desire to succeed, though knowing the enterprise to be sinful.” (p.16)
The troupe pauses at a village close to the keep of a powerful baron. Their standard enactment of “The Story of Adam” receives a tepid reception. Hard up for money, Martin seizes on what we might call a “ripped from the headlines” theme for a new play. Two days prior, a murdered boy's corpse was found by the roadside. A young woman has already been convicted and sentenced to hang for the crime. Martin admits he has been dissatisfied with the confines of the didactic allegories of their repertory. Moreover, they are on the losing end of competition from elaborate and well-funded guild productions and cheaper amusements provided by jugglers and dancing bears. A contemporary crime drama will certainly generate excitement. That such a novelty might be sinful is only troubling to Nicholas.
Enacting the recent murder presents several problems. Is capitalizing on this opportunity for freedom an act of hubris? Moreover, there is the problem of reconstructing the “true story” of the murder. The characters in a play must be driven by convincing motives. The more information the actors gather from the villagers, the more unlikely the official version of events becomes. In seeking the truth, “Step by step we were moving toward evil and all of us knew it. Aided and encouraged each by the others, in that barn of twisting shapes and shadows of masks, hanging costumes and weapons that would not wound, to the sound of bells from the church above us and clatter from the yard outside, we were moving toward knowledge of evil.” (p.133)
Unsworth presents a vivid portrayal of 14th century drama. Visuals are iconographic, aided by a language of over 30 complex gestures. Mime, scripted recitations of rhymed couplets, music and sound effects are the core of the production. Swept up in the moment, actors occasionally improvise speeches which the others on stage are expected to respond to extemporaneously.
An implicit comparison between a play and reality has been voiced by several characters throughout the novel. That comparison is made explicit in a startling way by its end. Unsworth brings together themes of creative innovation, personal epiphany, separating assumption from truth in a satisfying conclusion.
NOTES: an essay focused on Nicholas' growth (warning, contains spoilers) https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+dr...
March 30, 2022
A Play For Modernity
Barry Unsworth's short novel "Morality Play" (1995) is a murder-mystery set in 14th century England, but it is much more. It is a story that explores the changing boundaries between the medieval and the modern and that illuminates the power of drama to help people understand their experiences.
The narrator of the book is a 23-year old priest, Nicholas Barber, who becomes restless with his calling, runs away, has a brief affair with a married woman, and meets a group of itinerant players who are burying one of their number. Nicholas joins the troupe which heads to a small village where they decide to make a play of the fresh murder of a 12-year old boy, Thomas Wells, in the community. A young deaf and dumb woman is being held for the murder. The troupe is compelled to perform their play for the local baron, Sir Richard de Guise (in a scene that reminded me of Hamlet's performance for Claudius). They come closer to the truth of the murder than they realize.
There are vivid pictures in this book of English medieval life, of corrupt monks and priests, plagues, dusty towns, jousting, knights, the life of wandering actors and performers called joungleurs, and much else. And the mystery itself is absorbing. Nevertheless, in my reading I found these features of the book secondary.
I found "Morality Play" most intriguing in the character development of Nicholas and in the attendant picture of a rising modernity. Nicholas is dissatisfied in his budding life as a cleric and ultimately decides that the life of a clergyman is not for him. "The impulse to run away had not been folly but the wisdom of the heart," (p. 206) he concludes. There is a turn to secularization in Nicholas's story, and to finding and following one's own star in life.
Many other features of the novel illustrate the move to and nature of the modern temperament. The players initially object to performing a play based upon the murder of young Thomas Wells in part because the story is not biblically-based and the meaning of it in the divine plan is not revealed (unlike, say, the Fall, or the story of Cain and Abel.) But as a member of the troupe observes, "Men can give meanings to things. That is no sin because our meanings are only for the time, they can be changed." (pp.74-75)
The troupe decides to perform its story of Thomas Wells to make money, a distinctively modern motivation. The members of the troupe investigate the circumstances surrounding the murder, and their play suggests how art and science are means of approaching the truth. Ultimately the murder is solved by an investigator sent by the King, and the story has something to say about the relationship between a rising central government and medieval feudalism. Finally, a young woman of easy virtue, Margaret, has been accompanying the troupe as the mistress of one of the players. She also does a great deal of value for the troupe and contributes towards preparation of the play about Thomas Wells. Yet, the troupe does not consider her as one of their number due to her gender. She becomes highly angry with this and leaves the players to make her way on her own.
Thus, I think this book has a great deal to say about the growth of secularism and the rise of views of personal growth and personal identity, naturalism in art, strong civil government, gender issues, and other matters that move the story forward from the medieval time in which it is set. The "Play of Thomas Wells" is itself a drama that tells a story of our modern world and of the factors which have led to its development.
Robin Friedman
Barry Unsworth's short novel "Morality Play" (1995) is a murder-mystery set in 14th century England, but it is much more. It is a story that explores the changing boundaries between the medieval and the modern and that illuminates the power of drama to help people understand their experiences.
The narrator of the book is a 23-year old priest, Nicholas Barber, who becomes restless with his calling, runs away, has a brief affair with a married woman, and meets a group of itinerant players who are burying one of their number. Nicholas joins the troupe which heads to a small village where they decide to make a play of the fresh murder of a 12-year old boy, Thomas Wells, in the community. A young deaf and dumb woman is being held for the murder. The troupe is compelled to perform their play for the local baron, Sir Richard de Guise (in a scene that reminded me of Hamlet's performance for Claudius). They come closer to the truth of the murder than they realize.
There are vivid pictures in this book of English medieval life, of corrupt monks and priests, plagues, dusty towns, jousting, knights, the life of wandering actors and performers called joungleurs, and much else. And the mystery itself is absorbing. Nevertheless, in my reading I found these features of the book secondary.
I found "Morality Play" most intriguing in the character development of Nicholas and in the attendant picture of a rising modernity. Nicholas is dissatisfied in his budding life as a cleric and ultimately decides that the life of a clergyman is not for him. "The impulse to run away had not been folly but the wisdom of the heart," (p. 206) he concludes. There is a turn to secularization in Nicholas's story, and to finding and following one's own star in life.
Many other features of the novel illustrate the move to and nature of the modern temperament. The players initially object to performing a play based upon the murder of young Thomas Wells in part because the story is not biblically-based and the meaning of it in the divine plan is not revealed (unlike, say, the Fall, or the story of Cain and Abel.) But as a member of the troupe observes, "Men can give meanings to things. That is no sin because our meanings are only for the time, they can be changed." (pp.74-75)
The troupe decides to perform its story of Thomas Wells to make money, a distinctively modern motivation. The members of the troupe investigate the circumstances surrounding the murder, and their play suggests how art and science are means of approaching the truth. Ultimately the murder is solved by an investigator sent by the King, and the story has something to say about the relationship between a rising central government and medieval feudalism. Finally, a young woman of easy virtue, Margaret, has been accompanying the troupe as the mistress of one of the players. She also does a great deal of value for the troupe and contributes towards preparation of the play about Thomas Wells. Yet, the troupe does not consider her as one of their number due to her gender. She becomes highly angry with this and leaves the players to make her way on her own.
Thus, I think this book has a great deal to say about the growth of secularism and the rise of views of personal growth and personal identity, naturalism in art, strong civil government, gender issues, and other matters that move the story forward from the medieval time in which it is set. The "Play of Thomas Wells" is itself a drama that tells a story of our modern world and of the factors which have led to its development.
Robin Friedman
June 3, 2012
Well, well, well, Barry... Didn’t think we would meet again after that ghastly horror that ‘The Land of Marvels’ was. But this wasn’t half bad.
The book takes place in late fourteenth century and tells the story of Nicholas, a fugitive monk ,who joins a travelling troupe. As the narrator says:
“It was a death that began it all and another death that led us on.”
Now, writing a literary crime fiction novel revolving around medieval theatre is a very original concept in itself. Unsworth moves very well within the constraints of the world view of the times, and his characters are accurate representations of medieval mentality where fear is the most familiar feeling of all. In the world of war, feudalism, plague and the cruel God punishing you for all sorts of random things, there is indeed a lot to fear.
Unsworth brings the Middle Ages to life with its smells, sounds and sights – most of them aren’t pretty. The atmosphere is so real that you feel like you need a shower afterwards. While Unsworth paints the landscape masterfully, he is, sadly, not as skilled with portraits. The characters melt into one mass of a generic medieval man. This inability to create memorable characters was also my main complaint about ‘The Land of Marvels’ and by ‘memorable’ I mean that if you read their name of on the page, some image comes to your mind. To be honest, the characters remained strangers to me and if I passed them on the street I wouldn’t recognise them. In ‘Morality Play’ there was at least a pretty good story to back it up.
The troupe arrives in a small town where a twelve year boy was recently murdered allegedly by the Weaver’s daughter and she has already been sentenced and is now awaiting execution. When the troupe’s regular biblical plays fails to attract as much attention as they hoped for, Simon, unofficial leader of the group, has an idea to present a play that would depict the little boy’s murder. If you think that’s not a big deal, you obviously never lived in the Middle Ages. Back then you went to hell for things like that. You can’t just play out actual local events! It’s wrong and it’s a sin. Yet, the troupe’s bellies are empty and the promise of money together with a challenge that playing something new and original would present are enough to convince the players to give it a go.
Here is probably, where most of us will have to suspend our historical disbelief, for Martin and his troupe have just singlehandedly revolutionised the theatre. If they hadn’t, there would be no story, so let’s cut Unsworth some slack.
Obviously with the superiority of centuries of experience a modern reader can tell right away that the poor girl is innocent but the players don’t realise that until they start acting the whole murder out and things are just not quite right. And before they know it they are investigating a crime through a play.
‘Morality Play’ is what you call a cracking read, and would be a lot better if Unsworth didn’t constantly interrupt to drone on about how we all wear masks, and we get so into our roles that we forget that they are roles, and the world is a stage and we are all actors, and it is all so unbelievably revelatory, Barry. I am sure no one has ever thought of it before. Except for, maybe, Shakespeare. There really was a little too much heavy-handed symbolism made for eye-rolling only, because it didn’t enrich the story in any way.
All in all, I am not a Barry Unsworth convert. I still fail to see what the big deal about him is, but ‘Morality Play’ was fairly enjoyable and I would even recommend it. Especially to people who like short books, chop, chop, chop.
The book takes place in late fourteenth century and tells the story of Nicholas, a fugitive monk ,who joins a travelling troupe. As the narrator says:
“It was a death that began it all and another death that led us on.”
Now, writing a literary crime fiction novel revolving around medieval theatre is a very original concept in itself. Unsworth moves very well within the constraints of the world view of the times, and his characters are accurate representations of medieval mentality where fear is the most familiar feeling of all. In the world of war, feudalism, plague and the cruel God punishing you for all sorts of random things, there is indeed a lot to fear.
Unsworth brings the Middle Ages to life with its smells, sounds and sights – most of them aren’t pretty. The atmosphere is so real that you feel like you need a shower afterwards. While Unsworth paints the landscape masterfully, he is, sadly, not as skilled with portraits. The characters melt into one mass of a generic medieval man. This inability to create memorable characters was also my main complaint about ‘The Land of Marvels’ and by ‘memorable’ I mean that if you read their name of on the page, some image comes to your mind. To be honest, the characters remained strangers to me and if I passed them on the street I wouldn’t recognise them. In ‘Morality Play’ there was at least a pretty good story to back it up.
The troupe arrives in a small town where a twelve year boy was recently murdered allegedly by the Weaver’s daughter and she has already been sentenced and is now awaiting execution. When the troupe’s regular biblical plays fails to attract as much attention as they hoped for, Simon, unofficial leader of the group, has an idea to present a play that would depict the little boy’s murder. If you think that’s not a big deal, you obviously never lived in the Middle Ages. Back then you went to hell for things like that. You can’t just play out actual local events! It’s wrong and it’s a sin. Yet, the troupe’s bellies are empty and the promise of money together with a challenge that playing something new and original would present are enough to convince the players to give it a go.
Here is probably, where most of us will have to suspend our historical disbelief, for Martin and his troupe have just singlehandedly revolutionised the theatre. If they hadn’t, there would be no story, so let’s cut Unsworth some slack.
Obviously with the superiority of centuries of experience a modern reader can tell right away that the poor girl is innocent but the players don’t realise that until they start acting the whole murder out and things are just not quite right. And before they know it they are investigating a crime through a play.
‘Morality Play’ is what you call a cracking read, and would be a lot better if Unsworth didn’t constantly interrupt to drone on about how we all wear masks, and we get so into our roles that we forget that they are roles, and the world is a stage and we are all actors, and it is all so unbelievably revelatory, Barry. I am sure no one has ever thought of it before. Except for, maybe, Shakespeare. There really was a little too much heavy-handed symbolism made for eye-rolling only, because it didn’t enrich the story in any way.
All in all, I am not a Barry Unsworth convert. I still fail to see what the big deal about him is, but ‘Morality Play’ was fairly enjoyable and I would even recommend it. Especially to people who like short books, chop, chop, chop.
February 21, 2024
Veba salgınının insanları kırıp geçirdiği, cesetlerin yerlere serildiği, Fransa ile bitimsiz savaşların sürüp gittiği, kara kışın her yeri esir ettiği zor zamanlar. Yoldan çıkmış derbeder bir papazın zorlu arazi ve iklim şartlarından kurtulmak için katılmak zorunda kaldığı oyuncular topluluğu, ona yepyeni bir serüvenin kapısını aralar.
Dönemin ruhuna uygun olarak aralarındaki tek kadın Margaret’ın tıpkı çağdaşları gibi silik kaldığı, bir rol dağılımı yapılır. Din adamlarının yozlaştığı, halkın yoksullaştığı, çetelerin dört bir yanı sardığı koşullarda vardıkları kasabadaki bir suç ve iki cenaze gerginliği iyice arttırır. Eski papaz Nicholas ve yeni ekibi bu krizi fırsata çevirmeye çalışır. Olaylar bundan sonra iyiden iyiye karışır.
Bir mikrokozmos olarak kasabadaki genel portrenin çizilmesini müteakiben dışardan buraya bakan objektif olduğunu düşündüren grubun eylem, gözlem, izlem ve söylemleri neticesinde varacakları kanaat merak uyandırır. Karanlık karlı hava ile ketum kasaba birçok gizem ve sırrı içerisinde barındırır.
Ortaçağın karanlık günlerinde geçen hikaye; dere beyleri ile kilisenin tahakkümü altında ezilen yoksul halkın ve özellikle kadınların, haklı ve haksızların, suç ve ceza kavramlarının, hakikat ile yalanların tartışmaya açıldığı bir altmetni de kapsamına alır.
Güncel olayların sanata ilham kaynağı olabileceği, sanatın hayatı, hayatın sanatı dönüştürebileceği, merak ve tamahkarlığın insanları körleştirebileceği, nihai adaletin er ya da geç tecelli edebileceği sadelikle aktarılır. Geleneksel sahne tasarımları, kostüm ve maske türleri, klasik tiplerin modellemeleri, oyun ve roman içindeki karakter dönüşümleri ile teatral havasını okura geçiren çok güçlü bir metin.
Eserin özgün adı olan “Morality Play”in esasen 15. ve 16. yüzyılın başlarında öne çıkan, soyut kavram ve nitelikleri kişileştiren, iyi davranışlar ve insanlar hakkında dersler veren alegorik drama tadındaki oyun türü için kullanıldığını öğrenmiş bulunuyorum. Bu bağlamda çeviri olarak tercih edilen isimlendirmenin de naçizane fikrim yerinde olduğunu düşünüyorum.
Dönemin ruhuna uygun olarak aralarındaki tek kadın Margaret’ın tıpkı çağdaşları gibi silik kaldığı, bir rol dağılımı yapılır. Din adamlarının yozlaştığı, halkın yoksullaştığı, çetelerin dört bir yanı sardığı koşullarda vardıkları kasabadaki bir suç ve iki cenaze gerginliği iyice arttırır. Eski papaz Nicholas ve yeni ekibi bu krizi fırsata çevirmeye çalışır. Olaylar bundan sonra iyiden iyiye karışır.
Bir mikrokozmos olarak kasabadaki genel portrenin çizilmesini müteakiben dışardan buraya bakan objektif olduğunu düşündüren grubun eylem, gözlem, izlem ve söylemleri neticesinde varacakları kanaat merak uyandırır. Karanlık karlı hava ile ketum kasaba birçok gizem ve sırrı içerisinde barındırır.
Ortaçağın karanlık günlerinde geçen hikaye; dere beyleri ile kilisenin tahakkümü altında ezilen yoksul halkın ve özellikle kadınların, haklı ve haksızların, suç ve ceza kavramlarının, hakikat ile yalanların tartışmaya açıldığı bir altmetni de kapsamına alır.
Güncel olayların sanata ilham kaynağı olabileceği, sanatın hayatı, hayatın sanatı dönüştürebileceği, merak ve tamahkarlığın insanları körleştirebileceği, nihai adaletin er ya da geç tecelli edebileceği sadelikle aktarılır. Geleneksel sahne tasarımları, kostüm ve maske türleri, klasik tiplerin modellemeleri, oyun ve roman içindeki karakter dönüşümleri ile teatral havasını okura geçiren çok güçlü bir metin.
Eserin özgün adı olan “Morality Play”in esasen 15. ve 16. yüzyılın başlarında öne çıkan, soyut kavram ve nitelikleri kişileştiren, iyi davranışlar ve insanlar hakkında dersler veren alegorik drama tadındaki oyun türü için kullanıldığını öğrenmiş bulunuyorum. Bu bağlamda çeviri olarak tercih edilen isimlendirmenin de naçizane fikrim yerinde olduğunu düşünüyorum.
April 14, 2013
this was my introduction to the historical novels of barry unsworth and i really appreciate his idea of telling a story set in the past. he doesn't overwhelm the reader with his precious research; rather he provides in morality tale a whodunnit set in the middle ages. his style of historical writing is like a high-end manicure: the story is buffed and polished, and then painted with two or three coats of in the colours of the era, in the reflection of historical context in which he has chosen to set his story. that's not to say research isn't done -- it's just not overwhelming, and unsworth allows himself to speculate about how things might have been. short, sweet, intriguing little novel. i highly recommend it.
one proviso: i do not recommend discussing this book with somebody you brought home from the bar. they might ask you if it is a based on a true story (the doings of a band of travelling players who try to figure out the murder of a boy by creating a play based on the facts they are able to gather was likely to be well documented, right?) and you might just look at the cross-eyed, and tell them you'll call them a cab.
not that that ever happened to me, or anything. :P
one proviso: i do not recommend discussing this book with somebody you brought home from the bar. they might ask you if it is a based on a true story (the doings of a band of travelling players who try to figure out the murder of a boy by creating a play based on the facts they are able to gather was likely to be well documented, right?) and you might just look at the cross-eyed, and tell them you'll call them a cab.
not that that ever happened to me, or anything. :P
November 17, 2024
Ortaçağın (14.yy) özelliklerini hayranlık verecek düzeyde ayrıntılarıyla kullanan, ustaca kurgulanmış, okudukça kuşatan ve zekice bitirilmiş bir başyapıt.
Roman, geçimini sağlamak için gezinip oyun sergileyen bir kumpanya grubunun, vebanın kol gezdiği İngiltere'nin bir kasabasında denk geldikleri bir cinayet anlatısını oyun olarak kurgulayıp canlandırırken, seyircinin müdahaleleri ve insani doğaçlamaları sayesinde daha fazla gerçeğe yaklaşmalarını, yetkililer tarafından ortaya atılan hikayeyi sorguladıkça da ortaya çıkan sonuçları ve tehlikeyi anlatır.
***
"Bizimki gibi veba ve kan çağında zavallı bir etten kabuğu nasıl bertaraf edecekleri üzerine tartışmaktaydılar; oysa öyle bir zamandı ki her gün Ölüm için ziyafet günüydü, cesetlerin hiçbir ayrım gözetmeden yollara yığıldığını, arabalarda çürümeye terk edildiğini, üst üste mezar niyetine açılan müşterek çukurlara atıldığını gördüğümüz zamanlardı. Üzerinden birkaç sene geçti ama şimdi burada, kuzeyde yine bir salgın patlak verdi, çok daha güçlü bir tür, kış soğuğu bile onu durduramıyor. Tarlalar işlenmeden kalıyor, çoğu insan açlıktan ölüyor, düşüp kalıyor ve sonra aceleyle gözden ırak köşelere süpürülüyor. Eşkiya çeteleri kırsal bölgeleri sardı, köylüler üzerlerine yığılan iş yükünden kaçmaya çalışıyor, askerler Fransa'yla sürüp giden bitimsiz savaşlardan geriye dönüyor; genç yaşlarından beri cinayetten başka bir şey bilmeyen adamlar bunlar. Bir papazın idaresindeki bölgelerde, halkın yarısından azının hayatta kalabildiğini görürsünüz."
"Ve o zaman anladım ki bu oyun kumpanyasının tüm üyeleri ortada kendilerinden başka kimse yokken bile rollerini oynamaya devam ediyordu. Her birinin kendi repliği vardı ve onları söylemesi bekleniyordu. Bu olmadan ne kendi aramızda ne de koca dünyadaki herhangi bir yerde bir tartışma yürütülebiliyordu. Bunlar belki de bir zamanlar seçilip belirlenmiş rollerdi: Bir muhafazakâr, bir korkak ve müşfik, bir kavgacı, bir özlü sözleriyle mantığın sesi ve bir soyutlama/ahlâk görevlisi."
"Şövalyeler öldürme üzerine kurulu bir sınıftır, çocukluktan itibaren silah kullanacak ve istirap verici acıları azar azar dağıtacak şekilde eğitim görürler. Ama babalarımıza ya da onların babalarına inanırsak, bu eğitimin bir zamanlar amacı vardı; bir şövalyenin amacı zayıfları güçlülerin tahakkümüne karşı korumak ve Kutsal Topraklar'da İsa adına savaşmaktır, bu da onlara ölümün ticaretini yapma ve mal mülk sahibi olma izni verir. Ama belki de babalarımızın babaları da kendi babalarından duyduklarını anlatıyorlardı ve şövalyelerin böyle bir role sahip olduğu doğru değildi; bunu söyleyen belki de izledikleri yöntemleri yumuşatma umudundaki Kilise'ydi, belki de krallar onlara bahşettikleri toprakları açıklayabilmek için söylemişlerdi bunu. Şövalyeler onlar için elzemdi ve bu yüzden kendilerine bir rol bahşedilmeliydi. Her nasıl olduysa, vaktiyle oynayacak bir rolleri olmuşsa da bunu artık yitirmişlerdi, savaştaki rolleri bile yitip gitmişti; yaşadığımız zamanın bize cömertçe gösterdiği gibi, şövalyeler ve onların savaş atları kan içinde debelenip boğazlanırken savaşları artık sıradan insanlar, okçular ve mızraklı askerler kazanıyor. Bu yüzden onlar da yüzlerini işin spor kısmına döndüler ve oyun oynarken öldürebilmek için giyinip kuşanıyorlar."
"Kasabanın ve civardaki arazilerin üstünü örten kar, o soğuk sabahta bana çok huzurlu görünmüştü. Öyle görünmesi tuhaftı, zira nereden bakarsan bak başım yeterince beladaydı ve günahlarım boyumu aşmıştı. Pilatus'un kopyasını çıkarma işini yarım bırakmıştım, izin almadan piskoposluk bölgemin dışına çıkmış, tavernalarda şarkı söylemiş, üzerimdeki kutsal emanetleri zar atarak kaybetmiştim; ayrıca bir kadınla zinaya karışmış ve unvanları ne olursa olsun tüm dini görevlilere açıkça yasaklanmış bir işe girişip gezici bir tiyatro topluluğuna katılmış ve tüm bunlarla Tanrı'yı gücendirmiştim.
Hâlâ açtım, meteliksizdim; ama bir şeyi yaşamak ile onu oynamak arasındaki fark kafamı karıştırıyordu."
"Bir ay yetecek paramız olmuştu oyunun ilk izlenmesinden; yoksul oyuncular için bu sonsuza dek yetecek para demekti. Bazen düşünüyorum da para kesesini liderimiz Martin'in iki eliyle birden tuttuğu o zafer anı, Komünyon ayinini yöneten bir papazın hali gibiydi. Güçlü sahneleri olan, insanları rahatsız edecek ve onları değişmiş halde uğurlayacak bir oyun istiyordu. Hakiki oyun bu muydu? Ve para istiyordu. Bizi ikna etmişti ama bizi buna ikna edebilmek onun rolüydü zaten. Söylediği replikleri ona biri doğaçlama hatırlatıyordu, tıpkı bize olduğu gibi. Güce duyduğumuz hayranlık, kendimizi bu Thomas Wells Oyunu'na mahkûm etmeye itmişti bizi."
"Bir yargıcın gönderdiği kimseye güvenip tek sır söylemem, yargıçlar da papazlar gibidir; hepsi şeytanın tohumu, koyunları yağmalayıp yoksulun kanıyla ziyafet çeken obur kurtlar."
"Şimdi biz seyirciydik, şatonun avlusundaki şövalyeler oyuncu. Sergiledikleri mızrak dövüşü oyunu da kendi yiğitlikleri ve onurlarıydı. Bu şimdilerde insanların pek beğendiği bir eğlence. Yankesicilere ve fahişelere yarayacak şekilde akın akın seyretmeye geliyorlardı. Ama şimdi, belki kendim de bir oyuncuya dönüştüğümden, borazanlar tekrar çalınır ve teşrifatçılar insanlara seslenirken, bütün bunların o dönemin sunabildiği imkânlarda müthiş bir gösteri olduğunu idrak ediyordum. Bizler mesleki anlamda oyuncuyduk ve kendimize uygun gördüğümüz rolleri ödünç alıyorduk. Soyluların ise tek bir rolü vardı fakat bunu sürdürmekte ısrarcıydılar; gerçi kendini beğenmişlikleri, şiddet gösterileri ve papalar ile krallar için pekâlâ harcanabilecek paraların boş yere ortalığa dökülmesi yüzünden söz konusu papalar ile krallar tarafından açıkça kınanıyorlardı. Dominiken papazları sürekli bu etkinlikler aleyhine vaaz veriyor, mızraklı turnuvaları pagan ayini olarak ifşa ediyorlardı ama bütün hitabet becerileri faydasızdı. Aforoz tehditleri de işe yaramıyordu. Onları zenginliğe ve güce ulaştıran bu roldü ve bu role uygun olarak giyinmeli, kendilerini işaretler ve amblemlerle donatmalılardı. Kimseye gösterilmeyen güç ve zenginlik neye yarardı ki?
Sadece körleşmiş mızraklar ya da ucu koruyucu bir başlıkla kapatılmış olanlar kullanılacaktı. Dövüşen şövalye kafasına ya da göğsüne darbe alırsa müsabakayı kaybetmiş sayılacaktı. Atından düşürüldüğü takdirde kendi atını ödül olarak muzaffer şövalyeye verecekti. Yere düşen şövalyeye sadece kendi armasını taşıyan yaveri yardım edebilecekti..."
"Bu oyunculuk meselelerinde yeniyim oyun düş kurmak gibi geliyor bana. Oyuncu hem kendisi hem başka biri. Oyundaki diğer kişilere baktığında, onların kurduğu düşün bir parçası olduğunu biliyor, tıpkı kendisinin de onların düşünün bir parçası olduğu gibi. Sahnenin dışında belki de aklına gelmeyecek olan düşünceler ve sözler bu sayede ortaya çıkıyor."
"Şeytan dünyayı seyredip dururken çok erdemli bir hayat yaşayan bir adama denk gelmiş ve onu yoldan çıkarmaya niyetlenmiş. Aklına gelen tüm tatlı sözleri söylemiş, bütün tensel hazları, yeryüzünün tüm zenginliklerini, şöhreti, toprak hâkimiyetini vaat etmiş. Adam büyük bir sebat göstererek hepsini reddetmiş. Şeytan ne yapacağını bilemez halde kalakalmış, onu oyuncu yapmayı önermekten başka bir şey gelmemiş aklına. Adam bunda bir zarar görmemiş ve kabul etmiş; böylece Şeytan'la mücadelesini kaybetmiş ve ceza olarak ruhundan vazgeçmiş. Çünkü oyuncular başkalarının ruhlarından ufak tefek bir sürü şeyi ödünç alırlar ve bu uğraş sırasında kendi ruhları gevşeyip çözülür, ellerinden kayıp gider; işte o zaman Şeytan'ın o ruhları çekip çıkarması çocuk oyuncağı olur. O zamandan beri de oyuncuların başına gelen budur."
"Dünyada nedenini ve nasılını düşünemeyeceğimiz kadar çok kötülük var. Daha nadir görülen bir şeyi merak etmek ve insanların neden bazen iyilik yaptığını sormak çok daha uygun."
Roman, geçimini sağlamak için gezinip oyun sergileyen bir kumpanya grubunun, vebanın kol gezdiği İngiltere'nin bir kasabasında denk geldikleri bir cinayet anlatısını oyun olarak kurgulayıp canlandırırken, seyircinin müdahaleleri ve insani doğaçlamaları sayesinde daha fazla gerçeğe yaklaşmalarını, yetkililer tarafından ortaya atılan hikayeyi sorguladıkça da ortaya çıkan sonuçları ve tehlikeyi anlatır.
***
"Bizimki gibi veba ve kan çağında zavallı bir etten kabuğu nasıl bertaraf edecekleri üzerine tartışmaktaydılar; oysa öyle bir zamandı ki her gün Ölüm için ziyafet günüydü, cesetlerin hiçbir ayrım gözetmeden yollara yığıldığını, arabalarda çürümeye terk edildiğini, üst üste mezar niyetine açılan müşterek çukurlara atıldığını gördüğümüz zamanlardı. Üzerinden birkaç sene geçti ama şimdi burada, kuzeyde yine bir salgın patlak verdi, çok daha güçlü bir tür, kış soğuğu bile onu durduramıyor. Tarlalar işlenmeden kalıyor, çoğu insan açlıktan ölüyor, düşüp kalıyor ve sonra aceleyle gözden ırak köşelere süpürülüyor. Eşkiya çeteleri kırsal bölgeleri sardı, köylüler üzerlerine yığılan iş yükünden kaçmaya çalışıyor, askerler Fransa'yla sürüp giden bitimsiz savaşlardan geriye dönüyor; genç yaşlarından beri cinayetten başka bir şey bilmeyen adamlar bunlar. Bir papazın idaresindeki bölgelerde, halkın yarısından azının hayatta kalabildiğini görürsünüz."
"Ve o zaman anladım ki bu oyun kumpanyasının tüm üyeleri ortada kendilerinden başka kimse yokken bile rollerini oynamaya devam ediyordu. Her birinin kendi repliği vardı ve onları söylemesi bekleniyordu. Bu olmadan ne kendi aramızda ne de koca dünyadaki herhangi bir yerde bir tartışma yürütülebiliyordu. Bunlar belki de bir zamanlar seçilip belirlenmiş rollerdi: Bir muhafazakâr, bir korkak ve müşfik, bir kavgacı, bir özlü sözleriyle mantığın sesi ve bir soyutlama/ahlâk görevlisi."
"Şövalyeler öldürme üzerine kurulu bir sınıftır, çocukluktan itibaren silah kullanacak ve istirap verici acıları azar azar dağıtacak şekilde eğitim görürler. Ama babalarımıza ya da onların babalarına inanırsak, bu eğitimin bir zamanlar amacı vardı; bir şövalyenin amacı zayıfları güçlülerin tahakkümüne karşı korumak ve Kutsal Topraklar'da İsa adına savaşmaktır, bu da onlara ölümün ticaretini yapma ve mal mülk sahibi olma izni verir. Ama belki de babalarımızın babaları da kendi babalarından duyduklarını anlatıyorlardı ve şövalyelerin böyle bir role sahip olduğu doğru değildi; bunu söyleyen belki de izledikleri yöntemleri yumuşatma umudundaki Kilise'ydi, belki de krallar onlara bahşettikleri toprakları açıklayabilmek için söylemişlerdi bunu. Şövalyeler onlar için elzemdi ve bu yüzden kendilerine bir rol bahşedilmeliydi. Her nasıl olduysa, vaktiyle oynayacak bir rolleri olmuşsa da bunu artık yitirmişlerdi, savaştaki rolleri bile yitip gitmişti; yaşadığımız zamanın bize cömertçe gösterdiği gibi, şövalyeler ve onların savaş atları kan içinde debelenip boğazlanırken savaşları artık sıradan insanlar, okçular ve mızraklı askerler kazanıyor. Bu yüzden onlar da yüzlerini işin spor kısmına döndüler ve oyun oynarken öldürebilmek için giyinip kuşanıyorlar."
"Kasabanın ve civardaki arazilerin üstünü örten kar, o soğuk sabahta bana çok huzurlu görünmüştü. Öyle görünmesi tuhaftı, zira nereden bakarsan bak başım yeterince beladaydı ve günahlarım boyumu aşmıştı. Pilatus'un kopyasını çıkarma işini yarım bırakmıştım, izin almadan piskoposluk bölgemin dışına çıkmış, tavernalarda şarkı söylemiş, üzerimdeki kutsal emanetleri zar atarak kaybetmiştim; ayrıca bir kadınla zinaya karışmış ve unvanları ne olursa olsun tüm dini görevlilere açıkça yasaklanmış bir işe girişip gezici bir tiyatro topluluğuna katılmış ve tüm bunlarla Tanrı'yı gücendirmiştim.
Hâlâ açtım, meteliksizdim; ama bir şeyi yaşamak ile onu oynamak arasındaki fark kafamı karıştırıyordu."
"Bir ay yetecek paramız olmuştu oyunun ilk izlenmesinden; yoksul oyuncular için bu sonsuza dek yetecek para demekti. Bazen düşünüyorum da para kesesini liderimiz Martin'in iki eliyle birden tuttuğu o zafer anı, Komünyon ayinini yöneten bir papazın hali gibiydi. Güçlü sahneleri olan, insanları rahatsız edecek ve onları değişmiş halde uğurlayacak bir oyun istiyordu. Hakiki oyun bu muydu? Ve para istiyordu. Bizi ikna etmişti ama bizi buna ikna edebilmek onun rolüydü zaten. Söylediği replikleri ona biri doğaçlama hatırlatıyordu, tıpkı bize olduğu gibi. Güce duyduğumuz hayranlık, kendimizi bu Thomas Wells Oyunu'na mahkûm etmeye itmişti bizi."
"Bir yargıcın gönderdiği kimseye güvenip tek sır söylemem, yargıçlar da papazlar gibidir; hepsi şeytanın tohumu, koyunları yağmalayıp yoksulun kanıyla ziyafet çeken obur kurtlar."
"Şimdi biz seyirciydik, şatonun avlusundaki şövalyeler oyuncu. Sergiledikleri mızrak dövüşü oyunu da kendi yiğitlikleri ve onurlarıydı. Bu şimdilerde insanların pek beğendiği bir eğlence. Yankesicilere ve fahişelere yarayacak şekilde akın akın seyretmeye geliyorlardı. Ama şimdi, belki kendim de bir oyuncuya dönüştüğümden, borazanlar tekrar çalınır ve teşrifatçılar insanlara seslenirken, bütün bunların o dönemin sunabildiği imkânlarda müthiş bir gösteri olduğunu idrak ediyordum. Bizler mesleki anlamda oyuncuyduk ve kendimize uygun gördüğümüz rolleri ödünç alıyorduk. Soyluların ise tek bir rolü vardı fakat bunu sürdürmekte ısrarcıydılar; gerçi kendini beğenmişlikleri, şiddet gösterileri ve papalar ile krallar için pekâlâ harcanabilecek paraların boş yere ortalığa dökülmesi yüzünden söz konusu papalar ile krallar tarafından açıkça kınanıyorlardı. Dominiken papazları sürekli bu etkinlikler aleyhine vaaz veriyor, mızraklı turnuvaları pagan ayini olarak ifşa ediyorlardı ama bütün hitabet becerileri faydasızdı. Aforoz tehditleri de işe yaramıyordu. Onları zenginliğe ve güce ulaştıran bu roldü ve bu role uygun olarak giyinmeli, kendilerini işaretler ve amblemlerle donatmalılardı. Kimseye gösterilmeyen güç ve zenginlik neye yarardı ki?
Sadece körleşmiş mızraklar ya da ucu koruyucu bir başlıkla kapatılmış olanlar kullanılacaktı. Dövüşen şövalye kafasına ya da göğsüne darbe alırsa müsabakayı kaybetmiş sayılacaktı. Atından düşürüldüğü takdirde kendi atını ödül olarak muzaffer şövalyeye verecekti. Yere düşen şövalyeye sadece kendi armasını taşıyan yaveri yardım edebilecekti..."
"Bu oyunculuk meselelerinde yeniyim oyun düş kurmak gibi geliyor bana. Oyuncu hem kendisi hem başka biri. Oyundaki diğer kişilere baktığında, onların kurduğu düşün bir parçası olduğunu biliyor, tıpkı kendisinin de onların düşünün bir parçası olduğu gibi. Sahnenin dışında belki de aklına gelmeyecek olan düşünceler ve sözler bu sayede ortaya çıkıyor."
"Şeytan dünyayı seyredip dururken çok erdemli bir hayat yaşayan bir adama denk gelmiş ve onu yoldan çıkarmaya niyetlenmiş. Aklına gelen tüm tatlı sözleri söylemiş, bütün tensel hazları, yeryüzünün tüm zenginliklerini, şöhreti, toprak hâkimiyetini vaat etmiş. Adam büyük bir sebat göstererek hepsini reddetmiş. Şeytan ne yapacağını bilemez halde kalakalmış, onu oyuncu yapmayı önermekten başka bir şey gelmemiş aklına. Adam bunda bir zarar görmemiş ve kabul etmiş; böylece Şeytan'la mücadelesini kaybetmiş ve ceza olarak ruhundan vazgeçmiş. Çünkü oyuncular başkalarının ruhlarından ufak tefek bir sürü şeyi ödünç alırlar ve bu uğraş sırasında kendi ruhları gevşeyip çözülür, ellerinden kayıp gider; işte o zaman Şeytan'ın o ruhları çekip çıkarması çocuk oyuncağı olur. O zamandan beri de oyuncuların başına gelen budur."
"Dünyada nedenini ve nasılını düşünemeyeceğimiz kadar çok kötülük var. Daha nadir görülen bir şeyi merak etmek ve insanların neden bazen iyilik yaptığını sormak çok daha uygun."
June 2, 2024
A most unusual mystery set in England during medieval times. In the midst of winter, a runaway monk, Nicholas Barber, comes across a troupe of traveling players, one of whose members has just died. He convinces the group that he will be useful, and travels with them to a nearby town to bury their friend. While there, the troupe performs a well-worn morality play, but finds the reception less than enthusiastic (and not particularly profitable).
A murder has recently taken place – a twelve-year-old boy was found murdered and lying in the road. A girl living nearby has been accused and condemned but not yet hanged. The leader of the troupe convinces the players to act out the circumstances of the murder, which creates interest in the villagers who will pay more to see it. The players gather information from the locals, which they use in their performances. During these performances, they find themselves clarifying the truth of what happened, but at great peril to themselves.
I am so impressed by this story. It combines mystery and historical fiction of the first degree. The writing is superb. I felt fully immersed in medieval times. The characters are wonderfully drawn and easy to picture. I love the theme of art revealing truth and showing how human nature has not changed all that much in hundreds of years. I had not previously read anything by Barry Unsworth but will definitely be seeking out more of his work.
A murder has recently taken place – a twelve-year-old boy was found murdered and lying in the road. A girl living nearby has been accused and condemned but not yet hanged. The leader of the troupe convinces the players to act out the circumstances of the murder, which creates interest in the villagers who will pay more to see it. The players gather information from the locals, which they use in their performances. During these performances, they find themselves clarifying the truth of what happened, but at great peril to themselves.
I am so impressed by this story. It combines mystery and historical fiction of the first degree. The writing is superb. I felt fully immersed in medieval times. The characters are wonderfully drawn and easy to picture. I love the theme of art revealing truth and showing how human nature has not changed all that much in hundreds of years. I had not previously read anything by Barry Unsworth but will definitely be seeking out more of his work.
April 26, 2017
Sometimes the best discoveries start as chance events. I saw this book in a second hand shop and thought little more than "oh Barry Unsworth, he's the one who wrote Sacred Hunger, that might be interesting". As it turned out this was an inspired choice.
This is on one level a tautly plotted murder mystery, secondly fourteenth century social history, and thirdly and perhaps deepest an investigation of the birth of modern theatre.
The narrator, a fugitive monk bored with his work, stumbles upon a group of travelling players whose trade is in religious mystery plays, and joins their company to replace a dead man. Their need for money in a strange town leads them to improvise a play based on the murder of a local boy, and as the play and the story evolve, a dark truth emerges.
This is on one level a tautly plotted murder mystery, secondly fourteenth century social history, and thirdly and perhaps deepest an investigation of the birth of modern theatre.
The narrator, a fugitive monk bored with his work, stumbles upon a group of travelling players whose trade is in religious mystery plays, and joins their company to replace a dead man. Their need for money in a strange town leads them to improvise a play based on the murder of a local boy, and as the play and the story evolve, a dark truth emerges.
May 21, 2022
A gripping tale of being an actor in quite a different play than you first thought it was
January 31, 2015
This is a historical novel set in a small rural town in fourteenth century England: it is winter, the landscape is snow-laden, the climate is freezing cold, and the Black Death is a constant presence.
This is a pretty nice, atmospheric novel, decently researched and written, with credible characters and a good and engaging storyline, with sparks of real originality: however it does not have the intellectual depth nor the ambitious scope of the "Name of the Rose", for example.
Overall, this is a nice and pleasant read, recommended to all readers interested in the Late Middle Ages. 3.5 stars.
November 23, 2017
Did you think the theme was overdone, too 'Umberto Eco-ish', too antiquated? Did you find the writing clunky and otherwise awkwardly direct?
So did I.
And then I didn't. And then I read the whole thing in one sitting.
Early on in the tale a group is outside lamenting their dead friend while being spied on by a runaway priest. The priest notes how the winter mist coming from everybody's mouth resembles the devotional fumes of funeral incense; almost immediately I realized I would like this book if the characters are gonna go ahead and make observations like this, and (SPOILER ALERT) sometimes they do!
I thought Morality Play was written in a very school book way. I don't think the points it makes are overtly simple, just that they're laid out quite plainly. Also, we could effortlessly give it to a teacher to beat their classroom to death with questions like: "What does the constant reference of snow symbolize throughout the novel?", "Is their any real justice within the narrative?", etc. Despite this, I couldn't help sinking into a trance with the story, the characters, and especially their fascinating transition from simple minded players (i.e. actors) to an ensemble whose real world bleeds into the fabric of their profession (and vice-versa).
Remember when Robin William quotes Whitman in "Dead Poet's Society"?
"..the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?".
Well this book repeatedly handles this idea: that in a way we are all actors in our own plays, subject to roles and actions we are not always entirely capable of mastering (even when we recognize them). It warns us that we must be careful to not slip into a 'role' we think genuine in our own real life, because "we can lose ourselves in the parts we play and if this continues for too long we cannot find our way back" (pg.206). As the book time and time again exposes, those around you will not break you from your chosen role, they are right there with you dreaming and contributing. The main character begins to find it increasingly difficult to separate the act of acting, from the act of simply living that is accomplished outside of the stage. He tells us "...the player is always trapped in his own play but he must never allow the spectator to suspect this, they must always think that he is free. Thus the great art of the player is not in showing but concealing" (pg. 33). But, if we are all just playing a role in our day-to-day lives, what exactly are we concealing? Our true nature? How then can we ever hope to retrieve it, if in displaying ourselves to the rest of the world we are inevitably forced to conduct our behavior in a certain fashion.
This theme is resourcefully explored in Morality Play, all while being wound up in writing that is more than capable of emulating the variety of human nature, at least as much as can be expected for a novel set in the Middle Ages. The brilliancy of Unsworth's writing is visible in the way he can get you captivated about the actual morality plays being performed. You get so caught up in the mechanism of the stage craft, and the group's collective experience, that you sort of lose interest in the actual murder-mystery aspect of the plot. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing either. If the performances weren't an absorbing part of the text it would be dismally boring, considering their are at least four we get shown (not just as their audience see them, but a real behind-the-curtain glance).
Some of the characters are flatter than I'd like them to be, particularly Tobias and Margaret, but anyone who has accustomed themselves to Canadian winters (Autumn's for that matter too) cannot help but sympathize with their perpetually dark and numbing situation. I must also admit that the ending is almost too neatly wrapped up; it sort of caught me off guard with its simplicity. Other than that, what can I say? A hearty novel that certainly deserves to be read, studied, maybe even acted out.
So did I.
And then I didn't. And then I read the whole thing in one sitting.
Early on in the tale a group is outside lamenting their dead friend while being spied on by a runaway priest. The priest notes how the winter mist coming from everybody's mouth resembles the devotional fumes of funeral incense; almost immediately I realized I would like this book if the characters are gonna go ahead and make observations like this, and (SPOILER ALERT) sometimes they do!
I thought Morality Play was written in a very school book way. I don't think the points it makes are overtly simple, just that they're laid out quite plainly. Also, we could effortlessly give it to a teacher to beat their classroom to death with questions like: "What does the constant reference of snow symbolize throughout the novel?", "Is their any real justice within the narrative?", etc. Despite this, I couldn't help sinking into a trance with the story, the characters, and especially their fascinating transition from simple minded players (i.e. actors) to an ensemble whose real world bleeds into the fabric of their profession (and vice-versa).
Remember when Robin William quotes Whitman in "Dead Poet's Society"?
"..the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?".
Well this book repeatedly handles this idea: that in a way we are all actors in our own plays, subject to roles and actions we are not always entirely capable of mastering (even when we recognize them). It warns us that we must be careful to not slip into a 'role' we think genuine in our own real life, because "we can lose ourselves in the parts we play and if this continues for too long we cannot find our way back" (pg.206). As the book time and time again exposes, those around you will not break you from your chosen role, they are right there with you dreaming and contributing. The main character begins to find it increasingly difficult to separate the act of acting, from the act of simply living that is accomplished outside of the stage. He tells us "...the player is always trapped in his own play but he must never allow the spectator to suspect this, they must always think that he is free. Thus the great art of the player is not in showing but concealing" (pg. 33). But, if we are all just playing a role in our day-to-day lives, what exactly are we concealing? Our true nature? How then can we ever hope to retrieve it, if in displaying ourselves to the rest of the world we are inevitably forced to conduct our behavior in a certain fashion.
This theme is resourcefully explored in Morality Play, all while being wound up in writing that is more than capable of emulating the variety of human nature, at least as much as can be expected for a novel set in the Middle Ages. The brilliancy of Unsworth's writing is visible in the way he can get you captivated about the actual morality plays being performed. You get so caught up in the mechanism of the stage craft, and the group's collective experience, that you sort of lose interest in the actual murder-mystery aspect of the plot. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing either. If the performances weren't an absorbing part of the text it would be dismally boring, considering their are at least four we get shown (not just as their audience see them, but a real behind-the-curtain glance).
Some of the characters are flatter than I'd like them to be, particularly Tobias and Margaret, but anyone who has accustomed themselves to Canadian winters (Autumn's for that matter too) cannot help but sympathize with their perpetually dark and numbing situation. I must also admit that the ending is almost too neatly wrapped up; it sort of caught me off guard with its simplicity. Other than that, what can I say? A hearty novel that certainly deserves to be read, studied, maybe even acted out.
July 22, 2012
I enjoyed this book, and thought it was well executed, but it left me a little cold. It was a little too studied, a little too self-conscious in its use of the theatre as key to life trope that permeates the book. Also, given the book's brevity, we don't get very full pictures of its characters. No doubt psychology isn't what the author is after - morality plays themselves are a long way from Ibsen, or even Shakespeare - but there's enough of it in there to make you feel the want of more.
Perhaps, also, there was a bit too much history for such a short book, too many of the expected events and situations from historical fiction: the powerful lords in conflict with the King; plague; jousting; child murder; travelling players; corrupt clerics; heretical christians preaching the end of days, it's all there, in only 200 pages! It's as if the author had wanted to make sure and pack in everything any reader might expect from a novel about the 14th century.
The most interesting things in the book, and I'm assuming Unsworth did his homework and wasn't making this up out of whole cloth, were the descriptions of the theatrical performances staged in the course of the action. Learning about the kinds of gestures used by actors, the degree of ad libbing and secret signs the actors had to warn each other of their intentions, the costumes, the staging, all of that was absolutely fascinating. (In fact, it's made me want to read a scholarly book about medieval theatre!) Also interesting, though this was obviously less historical, were the ways in which the players wanted to change the constraints under which their art operated; and especially, the ways in which the players' rehearsals and performance of the story of a child's murder led them to deeper and better understandings of the events.
Perhaps, also, there was a bit too much history for such a short book, too many of the expected events and situations from historical fiction: the powerful lords in conflict with the King; plague; jousting; child murder; travelling players; corrupt clerics; heretical christians preaching the end of days, it's all there, in only 200 pages! It's as if the author had wanted to make sure and pack in everything any reader might expect from a novel about the 14th century.
The most interesting things in the book, and I'm assuming Unsworth did his homework and wasn't making this up out of whole cloth, were the descriptions of the theatrical performances staged in the course of the action. Learning about the kinds of gestures used by actors, the degree of ad libbing and secret signs the actors had to warn each other of their intentions, the costumes, the staging, all of that was absolutely fascinating. (In fact, it's made me want to read a scholarly book about medieval theatre!) Also interesting, though this was obviously less historical, were the ways in which the players wanted to change the constraints under which their art operated; and especially, the ways in which the players' rehearsals and performance of the story of a child's murder led them to deeper and better understandings of the events.
August 2, 2025
Müthiş kurgusuyla okuru Ortaçağ İngilteresine ışınlamayı başaran sayılı romanlardan biri Kıssadan Hisse. Veba başta olmak üzere birçok tehlikenin kol gezdiği, halkın çoğunluğunun kilise ile soyluların insafına terk edildiği bu coğrafyada var olmaya çalışan kendi halinde bir gezginci tiyatro topluluğu, kimsenin aklına gelmeyecek bir yöntemle gerçeğin ortaya çıkmasına vesile oluyorlar: Geldikleri bir kasabada bir süre önce bir gencin ölümü ve suçlanan kişi hakkında duydukları, herkes gibi onları da etkiliyor. İncil hikayelerini canlandıran oyuncular seyircilerin de etkileşimli olarak katıldıkları gösterilerinde bu ölümü de işin içine katarak her seferinde eldeki verileri kullanarak aslında bir soruşturma başlatıyorlar. Her gösterimde değişen oyun, gerçeğe yaklaştıkça başta kilise görevlisinin ve yörenin soylu ailesinin tiyatro topluluğu üzerindeki baskısı ve tehditleri de artıyor tıpkı günümüzdeki gibi.
"Gerçek sanat, bizi rahatsız etme yeteneği taşır. " diyor Susan Sontag. Edebiyatın gücünü ve yazarın yeteneğini ortaya koyan bu eser döneme, toplumun dinamiklerine getirdiği eleştirisiyle kendini savunamadan ölmüş nicelerinin tok sesi olmayı başarıyor.
"Gerçek sanat, bizi rahatsız etme yeteneği taşır. " diyor Susan Sontag. Edebiyatın gücünü ve yazarın yeteneğini ortaya koyan bu eser döneme, toplumun dinamiklerine getirdiği eleştirisiyle kendini savunamadan ölmüş nicelerinin tok sesi olmayı başarıyor.
August 22, 2012
Morality Play by Barry Unsworth tells the story of a troupe of actors in 14th century England who become involved in the murder of a young boy. As they investigate the crime for the purposes of producing a play based on it, they become increasingly aware of the inconsistencies that pervade the case against the girl accused by the authorities. The actors soon find themselves well over their heads, embroiled in a mystery that involves far more than a peasant boy's death, a play whose actors are the most powerful men in all of England.
Unsworth's characters make up one of the strongest points of this novel. The narrator, Nicholas, is insightful and philosophical yet not to the degree that he becomes alienating to the reader. He is given a fully fleshed out and flawed personality so that he does not merely become the lens through which we view the novel's world but is instead a character on par with any of the others in the book. Martin Ball, the head of the group is perhaps the most fascinating of the actors. From the outset, Unsworth prepares us for this man's uniqueness and consequent dangerousness. In a time where creativity is not looked highly upon in the ranks of the peasantry, Martin is a dangerous person to be associated with. He is not content to continue performing the same tired out, formulaic Biblical plays and wants to experiment with an entirely new method of theatre. Casting aside convention, he attempts to depict contemporary life through art, a risky move even in today's culture and outrageous in the 14th century. Martin is very much a visionary, and I had the impression while reading this novel that had he been born a few hundred years later, he would have been a successful and famous playwright. Thus, Unsworth adds a sense of mournful irony to the character of Marin Ball, for both author and reader are aware of the subsequent developments in theatre that would allow men like Martin creative liberty in their writing. For his own time however, Martin is an oddity and is the driving force behind the group's investigation of the town's murder.
Throughout this short novel, we are presented with fascinating snippets of Nicholas' philosophy. His commentary contains deep insight into issues relevant to his own time as well as the world in general. My favourite of his reflections is this one that he gives as he witnesses a tournament. He says:
"We were the people now, in our turn they [the nobles] the players. And the play was their own valor and pride. I had seen jousting before, in courtyards and open fields, combats of single champions and melees with a hundred fighting, sometimes with weapons blunted, sometimes not. It is a spectacle very popular with the people now. They crowd to see it with great advantage to pickpockets and whores. But now, perhaps because I had become a player myself, as the trumpets sounded again and the heralds shouted, it came to me for the first time that this was the greatest example of playing our times afforded. We were players by profession and borrowed roles as seemed fitting. The nobility had only the one but they persisted in it, though denounced by popes and kings for the violence and vainglory of it and the expenditure of money which might have been better spent in maintaining those same popes and kings."
In this passage as well as others, Nicholas extols the idea that everyone is an actor, performing upon one of the many hierarchical stages that make up the world. It is a similar sentiment to that expressed by Shakespeare in his famous quotation, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Unsworth takes the often cited analogy of the world being a stage and explores the depths of their likenesses. By the end of the novel, Unsworth has you seeing the world in the same way as Nicholas, who, his transformation to actor complete, views the entire world as a series of ranked stages. Morality Play is more than just a mystery; it is a profound examination of the nature of acting and the effects of role-playing. I highly recommend it as a deep and compelling novel with an unusual take on both historical fiction and mystery.
Unsworth's characters make up one of the strongest points of this novel. The narrator, Nicholas, is insightful and philosophical yet not to the degree that he becomes alienating to the reader. He is given a fully fleshed out and flawed personality so that he does not merely become the lens through which we view the novel's world but is instead a character on par with any of the others in the book. Martin Ball, the head of the group is perhaps the most fascinating of the actors. From the outset, Unsworth prepares us for this man's uniqueness and consequent dangerousness. In a time where creativity is not looked highly upon in the ranks of the peasantry, Martin is a dangerous person to be associated with. He is not content to continue performing the same tired out, formulaic Biblical plays and wants to experiment with an entirely new method of theatre. Casting aside convention, he attempts to depict contemporary life through art, a risky move even in today's culture and outrageous in the 14th century. Martin is very much a visionary, and I had the impression while reading this novel that had he been born a few hundred years later, he would have been a successful and famous playwright. Thus, Unsworth adds a sense of mournful irony to the character of Marin Ball, for both author and reader are aware of the subsequent developments in theatre that would allow men like Martin creative liberty in their writing. For his own time however, Martin is an oddity and is the driving force behind the group's investigation of the town's murder.
Throughout this short novel, we are presented with fascinating snippets of Nicholas' philosophy. His commentary contains deep insight into issues relevant to his own time as well as the world in general. My favourite of his reflections is this one that he gives as he witnesses a tournament. He says:
"We were the people now, in our turn they [the nobles] the players. And the play was their own valor and pride. I had seen jousting before, in courtyards and open fields, combats of single champions and melees with a hundred fighting, sometimes with weapons blunted, sometimes not. It is a spectacle very popular with the people now. They crowd to see it with great advantage to pickpockets and whores. But now, perhaps because I had become a player myself, as the trumpets sounded again and the heralds shouted, it came to me for the first time that this was the greatest example of playing our times afforded. We were players by profession and borrowed roles as seemed fitting. The nobility had only the one but they persisted in it, though denounced by popes and kings for the violence and vainglory of it and the expenditure of money which might have been better spent in maintaining those same popes and kings."
In this passage as well as others, Nicholas extols the idea that everyone is an actor, performing upon one of the many hierarchical stages that make up the world. It is a similar sentiment to that expressed by Shakespeare in his famous quotation, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Unsworth takes the often cited analogy of the world being a stage and explores the depths of their likenesses. By the end of the novel, Unsworth has you seeing the world in the same way as Nicholas, who, his transformation to actor complete, views the entire world as a series of ranked stages. Morality Play is more than just a mystery; it is a profound examination of the nature of acting and the effects of role-playing. I highly recommend it as a deep and compelling novel with an unusual take on both historical fiction and mystery.
May 8, 2024
I looked forward to reading this historical-fiction novel as soon as I knew the basic premise. Fortunately, Barry Unsworth (whose work I did not know at that point) realized his concept with both skill and inspiration. This is a short novel but it's rich in plot details and fascinating characters.
~ and language. Perhaps more than anything else, 'MP' is a work of exquisite language. Set as it is near the end of the 14th century in northern England, the book's language reflects a wondrous alchemy, a 'translation' of pre-Shakespearean tongue that is both lovely to read and accessible as an equivalent of what was spoken at the time.
Though it does carry its own clear, clever logic, the plot itself is perhaps (on its surface) not the likeliest for its dramatis personae, a small troupe that makes a meager living by performing Biblical stories throughout the countryside. But one of the things that attracted me to the story was precisely this small band of players; the kind you rarely hear tell of in fiction or film. (I had thoughts of such characters in classics like Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal' and Fellini's 'La Strada'.)
You'd probably have to have been a theater major (which I was) to have much of an idea of what the lives of such artists were like. But, if not, Unsworth appears to have done an impressive amount of research. His eagle-eyed depiction of the reality of these players is persuasive.
And his story hinges on a simple narrative twist. The troupe's leader (Martin) gets the idea of bringing something different (and, esp., innovative) to the repertoire - which is something the players very much need to do if they are to improve their desperate state. In this effort, Martin is prescient:
Along with the effective way the novel is written, Unsworth creates a chilling atmosphere of an unenlightened time, an era darkened not only by plague but by a rigidly stratified hierarchy. You can feel the widespread and ugly oppression.
Still, it's not a depressing work; it's largely an illuminating and textured one. It has much, for example, to say about the distilled perception of truth. It's masterful storytelling on Unsworth's part, but decidedly creepy as it reaches the inevitable.
~ and language. Perhaps more than anything else, 'MP' is a work of exquisite language. Set as it is near the end of the 14th century in northern England, the book's language reflects a wondrous alchemy, a 'translation' of pre-Shakespearean tongue that is both lovely to read and accessible as an equivalent of what was spoken at the time.
Though it does carry its own clear, clever logic, the plot itself is perhaps (on its surface) not the likeliest for its dramatis personae, a small troupe that makes a meager living by performing Biblical stories throughout the countryside. But one of the things that attracted me to the story was precisely this small band of players; the kind you rarely hear tell of in fiction or film. (I had thoughts of such characters in classics like Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal' and Fellini's 'La Strada'.)
You'd probably have to have been a theater major (which I was) to have much of an idea of what the lives of such artists were like. But, if not, Unsworth appears to have done an impressive amount of research. His eagle-eyed depiction of the reality of these players is persuasive.
And his story hinges on a simple narrative twist. The troupe's leader (Martin) gets the idea of bringing something different (and, esp., innovative) to the repertoire - which is something the players very much need to do if they are to improve their desperate state. In this effort, Martin is prescient:
He looked at me steadily. "It has been in my mind for years now that we can make plays from stories that happen in our lives. I believe this is the way that plays will be made in the times to come."Again, necessity proves the mother of invention. ~ but this 'mother' leads her 'children' down a mysterious and ultimately dangerous path, one that (for the reader) drives the novel inexorably in its concluding chapters.
Along with the effective way the novel is written, Unsworth creates a chilling atmosphere of an unenlightened time, an era darkened not only by plague but by a rigidly stratified hierarchy. You can feel the widespread and ugly oppression.
Still, it's not a depressing work; it's largely an illuminating and textured one. It has much, for example, to say about the distilled perception of truth. It's masterful storytelling on Unsworth's part, but decidedly creepy as it reaches the inevitable.
October 4, 2023
Ortaçağ İngiltere'sinde geçen bir polisiye, kıtlık, veba, zalimler, yoksullar, tiyatronun ve oyunun oyunculuğun doğası... çok sevdim, güzel bir kitap.
April 23, 2022
Scene One:
Place: Northern England, in a Woods
Time: Mid December, about 1370
Dramatis Personae: Nicholas Barber, Runaway Priest
A Morality Play Troupe
Action: On his flight, Nicholas Barber comes up a motley-dressed group of people, a morality play troupe, surrounding a dying comrade, Brendan. The group mourn the death of their comrade and provisionally accept Nicholas as a substitute.
The troupe is making its way to Durham to entertain their noble sponsor and her guests for the Christmas holidays. They decide to carry Brendan back to Durham for burial, but on the way his corpse becomes too corrupted and he must be given proper burial as soon as possible. They spy a town on the horizon and decide to bury him there. On arrival they find the town in an upset mood. Five days earlier Thomas Wells, a 12-year old boy, was robbed and murdered, and a deaf and dumb girl arrested, tried and sentenced to hang. Needing money desperately, the troupe must put on a play in the town; instead of the usual Christmas plays they take a radical course and decide to recreate the death of the boy and its aftermath to entertain the townspeople – The Play of Thomas Wells!
As they assemble the parts of the play, they become uncomfortable with the official rendition of events and the players spread out across the town to discover what actually happened. As they assemble the facts they incorporate them into their play with explosive results and danger to themselves.
“Morality Play” is a novel and a carefully constructed Medieval mystery written almost as a morality play. It has an old-fashioned feel to it, not just because of the setting and slightly archaic language, but because it has a simple, straightforward structure with no flashback scenes so beloved today. Unsworth also skillfully recreates the atmosphere of the place and times. Short-listed for the Booker Prize, it is a small gem of a book and easily read in a day or so.
Place: Northern England, in a Woods
Time: Mid December, about 1370
Dramatis Personae: Nicholas Barber, Runaway Priest
A Morality Play Troupe
Action: On his flight, Nicholas Barber comes up a motley-dressed group of people, a morality play troupe, surrounding a dying comrade, Brendan. The group mourn the death of their comrade and provisionally accept Nicholas as a substitute.
The troupe is making its way to Durham to entertain their noble sponsor and her guests for the Christmas holidays. They decide to carry Brendan back to Durham for burial, but on the way his corpse becomes too corrupted and he must be given proper burial as soon as possible. They spy a town on the horizon and decide to bury him there. On arrival they find the town in an upset mood. Five days earlier Thomas Wells, a 12-year old boy, was robbed and murdered, and a deaf and dumb girl arrested, tried and sentenced to hang. Needing money desperately, the troupe must put on a play in the town; instead of the usual Christmas plays they take a radical course and decide to recreate the death of the boy and its aftermath to entertain the townspeople – The Play of Thomas Wells!
As they assemble the parts of the play, they become uncomfortable with the official rendition of events and the players spread out across the town to discover what actually happened. As they assemble the facts they incorporate them into their play with explosive results and danger to themselves.
“Morality Play” is a novel and a carefully constructed Medieval mystery written almost as a morality play. It has an old-fashioned feel to it, not just because of the setting and slightly archaic language, but because it has a simple, straightforward structure with no flashback scenes so beloved today. Unsworth also skillfully recreates the atmosphere of the place and times. Short-listed for the Booker Prize, it is a small gem of a book and easily read in a day or so.
September 24, 2023
Gerek konu seçimi, gerek anlatımı, gerek atmosferi ile son derece başarılı bir kitap. Barry Unsworth bu eserde vebanın kol gezdiği, ortaçağ karanlığına gömülü Avrupa'nın soğuk köylerine götürüyor okuru.
İlk sayfalarda düşük tempoyla başlayan Kıssadan Hisse, bölümler ilerledikçe son derece esrarengiz bir olaylar silsilesinin ortasına atıveriyor bizleri. Anlatıcı karakterimiz genç papaz Nicholas Barber de bence ilgin bir karakter. Henüz 23 yaşında ve gençlik heyecanlarına çabuk kapılan, belayı da biraz çeken bir kişiliği var.
Kitapta tek eksik ise kumpanyanın diğer karakterlerinin yeterince tanıtılıp ayırt etmemizin kolaylaştırılmamış olması. Yani kim Martin'di kim diğeriydi, o nasıl biriydi, bu kimdi, tam oturmuyor epey bir süre. Ancak Springer falan karışmıyor. O da çocuk diye.
Tavsiye ediyorum. Bu kitabı mutlaka okuyun.
İlk sayfalarda düşük tempoyla başlayan Kıssadan Hisse, bölümler ilerledikçe son derece esrarengiz bir olaylar silsilesinin ortasına atıveriyor bizleri. Anlatıcı karakterimiz genç papaz Nicholas Barber de bence ilgin bir karakter. Henüz 23 yaşında ve gençlik heyecanlarına çabuk kapılan, belayı da biraz çeken bir kişiliği var.
Kitapta tek eksik ise kumpanyanın diğer karakterlerinin yeterince tanıtılıp ayırt etmemizin kolaylaştırılmamış olması. Yani kim Martin'di kim diğeriydi, o nasıl biriydi, bu kimdi, tam oturmuyor epey bir süre. Ancak Springer falan karışmıyor. O da çocuk diye.
Tavsiye ediyorum. Bu kitabı mutlaka okuyun.
August 28, 2017
Nicholas Barber is a fourteenth-century cleric who has left his position in Lincoln Cathedral through youthful restlessness. He is therefore a fugitive, and a hungry one, when he happens upon a group of players and they allow him to join them. Their journey takes them through a town where a woman is about to be hung for murder. They decide to perform a play about her crime but somehow the story refuses to fit the form.
There is so much packed into this beautifully crafted short novel. It is alive with the sights and sounds and smells (especially the smells) of the period and has all the archetypes of the Medieval hierarchy. However, it is an order under strain, where the conflict between the individual and the role that is assigned to them is about to come to the boil.
Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the dramatisation of the murder by the players. The writing is impressive because we see everything from Nicholas’ point of view as he performs, but we also get a vivid sense of what the audience sees. This is enhanced in the audiobook by the excellent narrator. He distinguishes not just the individual characters, but between their ‘real’ and their theatrical voices, as they move between artifice and realism.
As the players perform the play their understanding of the murder changes. They are not only learning the truth, they are creating it. In telling a story of their own devising, rather than the officially sanctioned account, they are questioning the very basis of their society, even though they know there will be consequences.
Morality Play is a book that stays with you, with its intricate drawing together of the visceral honesty of theatre and the role-playing that we call real life.
This review first appeared on my blog https://katevane.wordpress.com
There is so much packed into this beautifully crafted short novel. It is alive with the sights and sounds and smells (especially the smells) of the period and has all the archetypes of the Medieval hierarchy. However, it is an order under strain, where the conflict between the individual and the role that is assigned to them is about to come to the boil.
Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the dramatisation of the murder by the players. The writing is impressive because we see everything from Nicholas’ point of view as he performs, but we also get a vivid sense of what the audience sees. This is enhanced in the audiobook by the excellent narrator. He distinguishes not just the individual characters, but between their ‘real’ and their theatrical voices, as they move between artifice and realism.
As the players perform the play their understanding of the murder changes. They are not only learning the truth, they are creating it. In telling a story of their own devising, rather than the officially sanctioned account, they are questioning the very basis of their society, even though they know there will be consequences.
Morality Play is a book that stays with you, with its intricate drawing together of the visceral honesty of theatre and the role-playing that we call real life.
This review first appeared on my blog https://katevane.wordpress.com
July 8, 2023
tek kelimeyle ba-yıl-dım!
14. yüzyılın karanlık ingilteresi. piskoposlar, lordlar, şövalyeler, yoksulluk, adaletsizlik.. ve tüm bunların ortasında bir gezici tiyatro kumpanyası.
nicholas ufak tefek suçlar işlemiş firari bir papaz. din ile hayat arasındaki ahlaki çatışmaları sürerken, karşılaştığı gezici tiyatro kumpanyasına girerek, kendini o güne kadar karşılaşmadığı kadar büyük çatışmaların ortasında bulan biri. şimdi hiç tanımadığı bir dünyaya tanık olacak.
her şey kumpanyaya katılmasına vesile olan karşılaşmayla, oyunculardan brendan’ın ölümü ile başlıyor. kumpanyacıların tek amacı var, brendan’a bir kilise cenazesi düzenleyebilmek. bu da demek ki yol boyunca cenazeyle yolculuk edecekler ve en yakın kasabaya ulaşıp arkadaşlarını gömmek için mola verecekler. kendi deyimleriyle kasabaya ölümü götürecekler ve ölümle başlayan bu macera, küçük bir çocuğun ölümüyle dallanıp budaklanacak.
kumpanyanın içine sızan bu son ölüm, yeni bir oyunu çıkaracak sahneye. üç kez oynanacak bu oyun her seferinde değişecek, gelişecek ve oyuncularını yiyen bir canavara dönüştürecek kumpanyayı. peki ödenen bedeller sonunda adalet tecelli edecek mi? kralın adaleti nedir? tüm bu meraklı soruları kumpanyanın karakterleri ile okuyacağız: hakikat, nasihat, adalet, kibir..
çok güzel bir kurgu, biter bitmez diğer kitaplarına bakındığım bir yazar. ne yazık ki türkçe’ye çevrilmiş başka kitabı bulunmuyor. umarım bir yerlerde yayına hazırlanan bir kitabı vardır.
başta çevirmen damla göl olmak üzere emeği geçen herkesin eline, gözüne sağlık. siz de benim gibi ortaçağ avrupası ile ilgiliyseniz beğeneceğinize eminim.
14. yüzyılın karanlık ingilteresi. piskoposlar, lordlar, şövalyeler, yoksulluk, adaletsizlik.. ve tüm bunların ortasında bir gezici tiyatro kumpanyası.
nicholas ufak tefek suçlar işlemiş firari bir papaz. din ile hayat arasındaki ahlaki çatışmaları sürerken, karşılaştığı gezici tiyatro kumpanyasına girerek, kendini o güne kadar karşılaşmadığı kadar büyük çatışmaların ortasında bulan biri. şimdi hiç tanımadığı bir dünyaya tanık olacak.
her şey kumpanyaya katılmasına vesile olan karşılaşmayla, oyunculardan brendan’ın ölümü ile başlıyor. kumpanyacıların tek amacı var, brendan’a bir kilise cenazesi düzenleyebilmek. bu da demek ki yol boyunca cenazeyle yolculuk edecekler ve en yakın kasabaya ulaşıp arkadaşlarını gömmek için mola verecekler. kendi deyimleriyle kasabaya ölümü götürecekler ve ölümle başlayan bu macera, küçük bir çocuğun ölümüyle dallanıp budaklanacak.
kumpanyanın içine sızan bu son ölüm, yeni bir oyunu çıkaracak sahneye. üç kez oynanacak bu oyun her seferinde değişecek, gelişecek ve oyuncularını yiyen bir canavara dönüştürecek kumpanyayı. peki ödenen bedeller sonunda adalet tecelli edecek mi? kralın adaleti nedir? tüm bu meraklı soruları kumpanyanın karakterleri ile okuyacağız: hakikat, nasihat, adalet, kibir..
çok güzel bir kurgu, biter bitmez diğer kitaplarına bakındığım bir yazar. ne yazık ki türkçe’ye çevrilmiş başka kitabı bulunmuyor. umarım bir yerlerde yayına hazırlanan bir kitabı vardır.
başta çevirmen damla göl olmak üzere emeği geçen herkesin eline, gözüne sağlık. siz de benim gibi ortaçağ avrupası ile ilgiliyseniz beğeneceğinize eminim.
January 7, 2009
MORALITY PLAY Hist. Mys-Nicholas Barber-England-1300s) – G+
Unsworth, Barry – Standalone
Doubleday, 1995, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0385479530
First Sentence: It was a death that began is all and another death that led us on.
Young priest Nicholas Barbar has run away from his safe but boring position at Lincoln Cathedral to join a company of players. Deciding to do something different than has been done before, they decide to make a play out of the real murder which has just occurred. A young boy was found dead by the roadside and a girl has been condemned for execution. In order to create the play, the players must learn the truth of the crime and uncover, among other things, that the girl is deaf and mute.
Mr. Unsworth has clearly done his research on life in the 14th century. There is wonderful detail about the period and the elaborateness of plays during the time and a case for how plays changed from strictly presenting stories of the Bible into morality plays.
The author has an almost philosophic tone, bordering upon, but not quite crossing into preachy. He presents an interesting prospective on who are actors. It is a remarkably insightful book that causes one to think, question and acknowledge.
As usual, I had a problem with the overwhelming number of portents in the story. At the same time, I was thoroughly engrossed in the story.
Written in a style and cadence which suggests the period, this was not the easiest book to read, but it was well worth the effort.
Unsworth, Barry – Standalone
Doubleday, 1995, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0385479530
First Sentence: It was a death that began is all and another death that led us on.
Young priest Nicholas Barbar has run away from his safe but boring position at Lincoln Cathedral to join a company of players. Deciding to do something different than has been done before, they decide to make a play out of the real murder which has just occurred. A young boy was found dead by the roadside and a girl has been condemned for execution. In order to create the play, the players must learn the truth of the crime and uncover, among other things, that the girl is deaf and mute.
Mr. Unsworth has clearly done his research on life in the 14th century. There is wonderful detail about the period and the elaborateness of plays during the time and a case for how plays changed from strictly presenting stories of the Bible into morality plays.
The author has an almost philosophic tone, bordering upon, but not quite crossing into preachy. He presents an interesting prospective on who are actors. It is a remarkably insightful book that causes one to think, question and acknowledge.
As usual, I had a problem with the overwhelming number of portents in the story. At the same time, I was thoroughly engrossed in the story.
Written in a style and cadence which suggests the period, this was not the easiest book to read, but it was well worth the effort.
June 20, 2023
Started well then became a dull act.
October 27, 2013
An excellent medieval mystery involving a renegade priest, Nicholas Barber, who, having broken his vow of chastity, has run away from his diocese of Lincoln. He tells us his story of how one bleak December he has joined with a troupe of travelling players and his life with them. They give what is termed 'morality plays': on Biblical subjects, and good triumphing over evil. They are on their way to Durham, the castle of the lord of the area, Sir Robert de Guise, to provide entertainment at the lord's Christmas feast. When Nicholas first meets them, one of their number has just died and they stop in a small town in order to have him buried. In the town, a boy, Thomas Wells, has been murdered, and the players decide to investigate and to present as a morality play 'The Play of Thomas Wells' to the townspeople. This will be something new; they feel they will attract a larger audience. The performance is so successful, the players decide to dig deeper into the crime, to prove innocent the deaf-and-dumb girl accused of the murder, and to present 'The True Play of Thomas Wells' to the villagers. In this second performance, apparently they have come too close to the truth and are in danger. They are hauled off to the lord's castle and are forced to give him a private performance in his private chambers...
This was very well written and I learned something about the medieval theatre through the players' rehearsals and presentations. I got a good feel for the atmosphere of 14th century England. I liked the description of the jousting tournament in the tilting yard at Sir Robert's castle.
This short novel is highly recommended.
This was very well written and I learned something about the medieval theatre through the players' rehearsals and presentations. I got a good feel for the atmosphere of 14th century England. I liked the description of the jousting tournament in the tilting yard at Sir Robert's castle.
This short novel is highly recommended.
September 4, 2019
Žao mi je što je knjiga pisana izvornim a ne modernim eng. jezikom pa je kao takva i prevedena. Prošlo vrijeme "izbodeno" aoristom i imperfektom ubilo mi je volju za čitanjem pa sam prestala pratiti sadržaj a počela brojiti koliko ću puta u rečenici dobiti "bijaše" i sl. inačice dragog nam glagola biti. "Maltretiranje"jezikom ovakvog tipa dozvoljavam samo Bibliji, ovo je bilo pravo mučenje. Šteta, jer knjiga uopće sadržajno nije loša.
Film je popravio dojam (naravno, britanski je) pogotovo moj omiljeni Paul Bettany kojem je dodijeljena uloga svećenika Nicholasa.
Bijaše ovo zaista jedno neponovljivo iskustvo (bar se nadam da se neće ponoviti).
Film je popravio dojam (naravno, britanski je) pogotovo moj omiljeni Paul Bettany kojem je dodijeljena uloga svećenika Nicholasa.
Bijaše ovo zaista jedno neponovljivo iskustvo (bar se nadam da se neće ponoviti).
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