dramaturgy 9a

In this video, you can see how in your face these plays are meant to be performed. There should be as little as possible separation between the actors and the audience.

Fall of Man

Again this is on the ground where we will using the pagent wagon.

dramaturgy 8a

Performing the mystery/cycle plays is not a new thing
here we can see one company performing one of the entire cycles in one spot.

The English Mystery Plays 2009

Were as we are going to make a more traditional approach and perform in various spots. on wagons.

dramaturgy 7a

originally the cycle plays were performed on pageant wagons:

(http://department.monm.edu/theatre/Rankin/Classes/THEA171/Lectures/pageant%20wagon.jpg)

here we can see an artists rendering of one. These were basically small movable stages.

and here we can see the plans for one. Though these are not "true blueprints" we will be basing our wagon off of it

(http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/mpwagonrec.jpg)

As you can see the wagon had two carts you could park next to one another giving a larger playing space, but it can split for travel, which is whats needed when moving down the narrow streets.

dramaturgy 6a

In Andrea Boboc's article, Lay Performances of Work and Salvation in the York Cycle, she discusses the use of work within some of the York plays. She also discusses the purpose of the guilds, and what they did with the performances.

The plays' emphasis on individual salvation and individual responseibility may explain their popularity at the vanguard of the Reformation. By highlighting work and salvation as core Christian values the plays avoid touching on controversial doctrinal points, to which a Protestant audience would have been resistant. In fact, focusing on individuals (as members of a community) and their ideals of work and salvation may well be one secret to the staying power of these plays (boboc, 266)

In this she is showing us that originally the plays were not meant to bring people into the catholic church, because the protestant sect was wide spread (and probably made up a good deal of the guilds) and pushing  full catholic values in the play would alienate a good size of the audience.

With our production we're not trying to "say this is the way it was" or push christian values on anyone, but we're simply trying to enjoy a piece of theatre history.




Andreea Boboc. "Lay Performances of Work and Salvation in the York Cycle." Comparative Drama 43.2 (2009): 247-71. Print.

Dramaturgy 5a

This script (along with all the other York plays) were written in Iambic Octameter, meaning eight beats or syllables per line. The more familiar Iambic meter we're used to is used by Shakespeare and that is Iambic Pentameter (ten syllables), which is what is considered to be the closest to normal speech patterns. With the Octameter you get a much more sing-songy or Poetic rhythm. Though the author will break the established rhythm to draw the audience's attention  

ADAM:   
Ah, lord, since we shall do nothing (8)
But love you for your great goodness, (8)
We always shall bow to your bidding, (9)
And fulfill each word, both more and less. (9)
The author is drawing attention to "We always shall bow to your bidding and fulfill each word both more
and less." Possibly to show mans faithfulness to God. A means of prayer in the show.

Dramaturgy 4a

The Creation of Man has been an influence of religious art for a long time.


http://frted.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/creationadameve.jpg

We can see God teaching Adam and Eve.

We can see in this image God introducing Eve to Adam as his partner.

http://www.all-art.org/early_renaissance/images/bosch/30.jpg


http://emergent-culture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/adam-eve-garden-of-eden.jpg
and in this picture we can see Adam and Eve thanking God for the garden.

We can also gather from these images that nudity was not an accepted thing, people kept their bodies hidden for fear of sin. So in keeping with that our actors will appear in loincloths and similar clothes.

Dramaturgy 3a

In Genesis, Adam is created first then "Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name." This was God attempting to make a "Suitable Helper" for Adam. 

"...but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man."

Though in the script Adam and Eve are created at the same time.

"For this reason and cause alone

I shall make man like unto me.
Rise up, you Earth, in blood and bone;
In the shape of man, I bid you be.

From your left rib, I make a mate
For you, and her to you I send,
So that alone you may not wait
Without a sister and a friend."

Genesis 2:19, 2:20, 2:21, 2:22

"Genesis 2." New American Standard Bible. Anaheim, CA: Foundation Publications, 2008. Print.

"York Pageant 3: The Cardmakers' Play." Records of Early English Drama (REED). Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <http://www.reed.utoronto.ca/yorkplays/York03.html>.

Dramaturgy 2a

http://www.reed.utoronto.ca/yorkplays/york.html#pag
http://www.reed.utoronto.ca/yorkplays/York03.html

the script we will be using.

The Title "The Cardmakers Play" comes from the fact that an individual guild would take responsibility for each play in the cycle. This one was handled by the Cardmakers (makers of playing cards).




The Worshipful Company of Makers of Playingcards. Web. <http://www.makersofplayingcards.co.uk/>.
"York Mystery Plays." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_Mystery_Plays>.

Dramaturgy 1a

I've decided to tackle one section of the York Cycle plays. The section I'll be working on is; The Cardmakers' Play: The Creation of Adam and Eve. This is the third play in the York Cycle. According to Oxford Reference Online, a Cycle (as referring to performing and other art) is A group of works that either share a common theme or subject, or are linked together as a sequence.the mystery plays of the Middle Ages that were performed as a sequence during the same festival at a particular place are referred to as the York Cycle, the Chester Cycle. The name of the cycle is from the city where they were originally based. 






"cycle"  The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Chris Baldick. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  6 December 2010  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t56.e281>

THIS IS THE BREAK POINT

This is the post to separate the two blogs. Medieval Dramaturgy here I come!