Functions Of Medieval English Stage Directions
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Functions of Medieval English Stage Directions
Author: Philip Butterworth
language: en
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Release Date: 2022-07-29
When we speak of theatre, we think we know what a stage direction is: we tend to think of it as an authorial requirement, devised to be complementary to the spoken text and directed at those who put on a play as to what, when, where, how or why a moment, action or its staging should be completed. This is the general understanding to condition a theatrical convention known as the 'stage direction'. As such, we recognise that the stage direction is directed towards actors, directors, designers, and any others who have a part to play in the practical realisation of the play. And perhaps we think that this has always been the case. However, the term 'stage direction' is not a medieval one, nor does an English medieval equivalent term exist to codify the functions contained in extraneous manuscript notes, requirements, directions or records. The medieval English stage direction does not generally function in this way: it mainly exists as an observed record of earlier performance. There are examples of other functions, but even they are not directed at players or those involved in creating performance. More than 2000 stage directions from 40 or so plays and cycles have been included in the catalogue of the volume, and over 400 of those have been selected for analysis throughout the work. The purpose of this research is to examine the theatrical functions of medieval English stage directions as records of earlier performance. Examples of such functions are largely taken from outdoor scriptural plays. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in theatre, medieval history and literature.
Medieval English Theatre 46
Newest research into drama and performance from the Middle Ages and the Tudor period. Medieval English Theatre is the premier journal in early theatre studies. Its name belies its wide range of interest: it publishes articles on theatre and pageantry from across the British Isles up to the opening of the London playhouses and the suppression of the civic religious plays, and also includes contributions on European and Latin drama, together with analyses of modern survivals or equivalents, and of research productions of medieval plays. This volume is testament to the lively range of current research across the field of medieval theatre. It investigates different traditions of performance, through a variety of theatrical, theological, and material approaches. It opens with an analysis of a fascinating Dutch rhetoricians play-text, revealing how its engagingly disruptive female character, "Everyday Chitchat", proves central to a serious discussion of censorship - in a play which was itself censored. Although no play-text survives from medieval Beverley, the next contribution shows how local records of its Corpus Christi plays offer rich details of a range of pageants and organisation not dissimilar from its more famous neighbour, York. The two following articles investigate theological issues. A nuanced re-reading of The Treatise of Miracles Playing considers how priestly involvement in performance raised anxieties about the role and authority of priests, including at the Mass. Attitudes to "dread", revealed through the taxonomies of fear developed by medieval theologians, then illuminate the didactic role of fear, engendered in the protagonists and audiences of the Macro morality plays. The volume closes with the second part of an investigation into "John Blanke's Hat". Following the first part's demonstration, in the previous volume of METh, that the Black trumpeter's headgear was not a marker of his faith, this uncovers the true identity of the hat, asking how far it can offer evidence for his history. The present volume thus throws new light on familiar texts and questions, offering important contributions to newly developing fields of study.
Staging Conventions in Medieval English Theatre
Author: Philip Butterworth
language: en
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Release Date: 2014-06-26
Examines staging conventions in the medieval English theatre and ways in which they conditioned the reactions of the audience.