Liturgical dramas are definitely an underrated part of the worship experience, especially in the time period that they experienced a wave of popularity across the known world. Some interesting details I picked up on were that lines of dialogue were chanted instead of spoken as if to simulate a conversation, some plays ranged from having two to twenty-eight characters (so actors would sometimes have to double up on roles), and the set design for these dramatizations drastically improved over the centuries with the addition of props such as ropes and pullies. The details about holidays such as Easter and Christmas being the most dramatized highlights where the people of the Church were trying to place a focus in the worship services they put on: The birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Interestingly enough however, the storylines of liturgical dramas that took settings from these celebrated events usually did not depict the actual climatic event of the Biblical story, rather covering the time before or the aftermath of the event. Some examples of this would be certain dramas showing Jesus as he revealed himself resurrected to his disciples or even Mary herself, but not showing the crucifixion previously. The use of stage props improved as time went on, and used mainly pulleys or ropes to move scenery or even actors:
“That this machinery grew to be extremely elaborate in some churches is established by Bishop Abraham of Souzdal’s account of liturgical plays he saw performed in Florence (Italy) in 1439. In one, showing Christ’s Ascension into Heaven, the actor portraying Christ was raised upward by means of ropes and pulleys to be engulfed in simulated clouds and then united with God and the Angels in Heaven (a platform located some 50 feet above the church floor).” (Theater, 76-77).
I guess one could say that Jesus' actor in the play previously observed in the quote had the...HIGH GROUND! Ok, I'll see myself out after how bad that one was...
I commented on Leanne's and Rachael's posts.
These guys really did "set-the-stage" for all those involved in modern theatrics! And yes, I did mean to include that pun.
ReplyDeleteThough it is really cool to think that these medieval actors were able to pull-off such astounding feats during their shows, I think that I would be a bit hesitant to trust the technology? Like, the amount of faith that these actors had in the props and pulleys . . . heavens, I could never!