Medieval Drama

This week we looked at the state of the medieval Church in England and how that an army of less than perfect friars were responsible for the religious education of the illiterate peasants. One effective way to transmit religious teachings to the illiterate was through drama, and the first English drama emerged in monasteries. Over time, the behaviour by both players and audience became unacceptable to the Church, and the plays moved into the marketplace, where thy were perfomred by the various craft guilds of the towns. Plays which related stories from the Bible were called "mystery plays" and were performed in cycles; and those which narrated the lives of saints were "miracle plays". Once out of the Church, the subject matter of the plays became diluted with everyday characters and events, as we saw in the example of Noah's Ark (evening group only!!).

"Morality" plays, such as Everyman, developed in parallel with the mystery plays but taught religious principles through allegory. These plays were performed by professional actors, often employed by the king or other nobles and often with the aim of criticising the Church. Everyman tells us the importance of doing good deeds over worldly goods.