New resources from Records of Early English Drama project now online
The Records of Early English Drama (REED) research collaboration has pulled back the curtain on two new online resources that bring a vibrant period of historical theatre performance, including the time of Shakespeare, to life.
Medieval Drama
This week, Danièle gets dramatic with a look at medieval drama, how it changed and evolved, and how it influenced later forms of theatre.
Leo Africanus Discovers Comedy: Sixteenth Century Theatre Across the Mediterranean Divide
This afternoon I want to describe through the persons of the North African Muslim Hassan Al Rosen and the Italian Jew, Jacob Mantino, an encounter between two traditions of theatre and poetry in the early 16th century.
Quiz: Ancient and Medieval Theatre
Can you answer these 43 questions about the history of the theatre, from the ancient Greeks to the end of the Middle Ages?
To Clothe a Fool : A Study of the Apparel Appropriate for the European Court Fool 1300 1700
This study endeavors to aid the costumer in search of the historical clothes of the Medieval and Renaissance court Fool.
Exhibit: Shakespeare In Ten Acts at the British Library
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The British Library has honoured his contribution to English literature and the stage in a celebratory exhibition that runs until September 6th. British Library curators, Julian Harrison and Zoë Wilcox, have crafted an impressive exhibit that covers Shakespeare’s importance in ten acts.
‘Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent’: “Good” King Richard Takes the Stage
The Golden Age Theatre Company, who put on this reboot of Richard’s life, tried to portray a different side of the story
REVIEW: The Ballad of Robin Hood
Over the holiday season, Southwark Playhouse is presenting their reinterpretation of The Ballad of Robin Hood.
Love and Marriage on the Medieval English Stage: Using the English Cycle Plays as Sources for Social History
Much scholarship concerning the concept of “companionate” marriage traces its origins to the early modern period as clergymen, especially Protestant ones, began to publish “guides” to the relationships and respective duties of husbands and wives in the 1500s and 1600s.
Religious Education as the Basis of Medieval Literature
The medieval literature was written with a purpose to teach Christian dogmas to the masses. The prose and poetry of the time meant to show men the ugliness of sin and the beauty of goodness.
The Depiction of Jews in the Carnival Plays and Comedies of Hans Folz and Hans Sachs in Early Modern Nuremberg
This study will thus demonstrate that the Bakhtinian model and its critics both contribute to our understanding of the Fastnachtspiel and the development of early modern German attitudes toward Jews.
THINGS TO SEE: Murder in the Cathedral
This is my review of the T.S. Eliot’s play, “Murder in the Cathedral”, on at St. Bartholomew in Smithfield, London.
Staging Medievalisms: Touching the Middle Ages through Contemporary Performance
Examining the Middle Ages through modern eyes: movies, TV, stage, tourism and books. How do we perform the Middle Ages?
Substitution: Theatrical Sleight of Hand in Medieval Plays
Substitution is concerned with replacing one thing with another. This is straight forward enough. But to what extent is the replacement indistinguishable from the original in order to qualify as substitution?
Poetics and beyond: noisy bodies and aural variations in medieval English outdoor performance
Pilate opens the Tapiters and Couchers guild’s pageant of Christ before Pilate I in the York Corpus Christi Play by asserting himself acoustically, threatening those who ‘cruelly are cry and’.
Caught in the (One-)Act: Staging Sex in Late Medieval French Farce
Caught in the (One-)Act: Staging Sex in Late Medieval French Farce Sharon D. King Paper given at the 14th Triennial Colloquium of the…
Taking (and Giving) Blows: Patterns of Violence and Spectacle in Le Mystère de Saint Martin (1496)
What I would like to do here is examine the passages of violence and other bits of scenography, moving from the macro to the micro level and back again, over the three- day play. With 260 rubrics (stage directions) embodied in the text, a manuscript nearly contemporaneous with the performance itself, we have a unique opportunity to visualize much of the action on stage.
Manifestations of the Grotesque and Carnivalesque Body in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal
Manifestations of the Grotesque and Carnivalesque Body in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal Brian Gourley (School of English, Queen’s University Belfast)Queen’s University Belfast, Quest, Vol.1…
The Enduring Appeal of Richard III
It has indeed been confidently asserted that [Richard the 3d] killed his two Nephews & his Wife, but it has also been declared that he did not kill his two Nephews.
Corpus Christi Plays and the Stations of the Cross: Medieval York and Modern Sydney
The earliest surviving reference to the Corpus Christi festival in York is dated 1322, when Archbishop William Melton commended it as „the glorious feast of the most precious sacrament of the flesh and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ‟. In 1408 the York Guild of Corpus Christi was established „as a confraternity of chaplains and lay persons, with the encouragement of the city government, probably to form the focus of the civic Corpus Christi Day procession‟.
The Virgin Mary in High Medieval England, A Divinely Malleable Woman: Virgin, Intercessor, Protector, Mother, Role Model
This thesis examines the significance of the Virgin Mary in England between the late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century. The primary sources selected indicate the variety of ideas circulating about her during this period. Strictly religious texts such as the Bible and early Christian writings ground Late Medieval beliefs about Mary in their historical context.
Dancing Devils and Singing Angels: Dance Scenes in German Religious Plays
The early Church had a mostly critical attitude towards the dance. It was said that those who dance cherish heathen godheads and that they allow their bodies rule over their minds. Repeatedly, the synods prohibited religious dances and/or dances within churches.
English Mystery Plays – Staging Patterns and Orality Features
Medieval English theatre is a term covering a large body of plays, performances and theatrical activities. The entire period of medieval drama spans for five hundred years.
Shakespeare’s Richard II: Machiavelli for the Good of England
The name Machiavelli has negative connotations, and this way of thinking is not new. Throughout Europe, in Shakespeare’s time and earlier, Machiavellianism was associated with unscrupulous abuse of power, and Machiavellian methods were seen as immoral and evil.
The Sad Death of a King: The Legacy of Richard the Second
This thesis will examine the manner in which Shakespeare drew upon existing sources material to depict a king whose inherent character flaws made him unworthy of his crown.