European Medieval Drama

The medieval English biblical drama uses prophecy and reiteration in order to tie together a number of distinct plays played seriatim. Whilst all forms of medieval Christian drama draw on biblical typology to a degree, the so-called ‘mystery’ plays rely on it for their overall narrative cohesion. This article examines some of those instances where Old-to-New-Testament typology serves a clear and recurring dramaturgical function in the medieval English drama — where particular images, properties, characters, or mises-en-scène are redeployed for particular dramatic ends. It argues, ultimately, that the ‘Harrowing of Hell’ episode marks the dramatic crux or turning point of the long-form biblical drama collections, the place where an overarching dramatic narrative is felt most acutely.

Dating back to the period between c. 1480 and c. 1620 are some ninety plays in the Low Countries dealing with biblical topics. Twenty-six of them figure in the play collection assembled, by the turn of the seventeenth century, by members of the two Haarlem Chambers of Rhetoric, Trou Moet Blijcken (Loyalty Needs to be Proven) and Lieft Boven Al (Love Above All). Plays staging New Testament topics, including parable plays, dominate this collection with no less than twenty items. Only six plays stage stories taken from the Old Testament: Abraham’s Sacrifice, Saul and David, The Prophet Elisha, The Prophet Jonah, Old Tobias (or Tobit), and The Maccabees, the latter two based on apocryphal writings. In this essay I will attempt to answer the question why a late sixteenth- or early seventeenth-century audience took an interest in these topics.

The paper collects hints in Andreas Pfeilschmidt’s Esther about the space used for performance. It suggests that the performance took place in Korbach’s market square, possibly facing the old townhall, on a stage with two levels: the ground level for scenes playing in town, the higher level for court scenes. Each act uses two indoor-rooms at court, and thus the rooms need a changing definition — by props and by music. At the beginning of the play, the music used is courtly music, including city pipes, and indicates representative and festive acts, as well as rooms of royal representation. The queen’s rooms, however, are marked by silence, symbolizing her humility. At the end, when Esther has managed to change Asverus’s rule, Lutheran hymns and psalms replace the courtly music, and illustrate a new style of rulership.

The paper examines the specific performative features of the Service of Washing of the Feet as it is performed today on the island of Patmos. The ceremony itself was recorded in a post-Byzantine manuscript, likely dating to the seventeenth or eighteenth century. Its performance at the monastery of St John the Theologian has been documented since the monastery’s foundation in the eleventh century. It can therefore be assumed that the written record was made only after the service’s form had become more or less established. The distinctive traits of Orthodox liturgical performativity observed throughout the Byzantine rite are exceptionally developed in this specific and perhaps most spectacular service still celebrated. These performative aspects can also be discerned in other Byzantine material (textual and visual), making the service a valuable ‘archaeological’ example for studying Byzantine performativity.

One of the earliest surviving theatrical texts in Catalan is an early fourteenth-century fragment featuring the role of Nicodemus in a Descent from the Cross scene, now held in the Arxiu Capitular de Barcelona (MS 178). This article explores the significance of such performances across the Catalan cultural area, examining a wide range of late medieval Good Friday practices. These include the Depositio Crucis (the ritual laying down of the cross), documented Passion play performances both inside churches and in public spaces, evidence of Descent from the Cross enactments, sculptural groups representing the scene, and contemporary reenactments. The study spans the entire territory of the medieval Crown of Aragon, offering a comprehensive view of this multifaceted devotional and theatrical tradition.