THAR 281 1st Edition Lecture 5 Outline of Last Lecture I General Background on Asian Theater II Classical Indian Theater III Classical Chinese Theater IV Japanese Theater Forms Outline of Current Lecture I General Context Two Parts of Middle Ages a Early Middle Ages aka Dark Ages b High Middle Ages II Liturgical Drama III Mystery Plays IV Morality Plays V Elements of Production VI Popular Art Forms VII Episodic Form Current Lecture I General Context Two Parts of Middle Ages a Early Middle Ages aka Dark Ages 500 1000 i Source of stability was the Catholic church ii Mostly agricultural lifestyle iii Have feudalism as type of government iv Not much organized theater entertainment was fairly limited v Technological advances increased created more productivity b High Middle Ages 1000 1500 i Towns and cities began to regain importance ii Increase in commerce iii Knowledge spreads more education 1 Becomes important to growth of theater 2 Universities come about and spread 3 1450 Gutenberg s printing press 4 Monasteries are funded by church and used for education II Liturgical Drama a Evolved out of liturgical music b Eventually there are short call and responses through singing i These are called tropes c Tropes are spoken in Latin i They are first produced in monasteries ii Then start to be performed in churches and cathedrals because of larger space iii They eventually move from Latin to the language of the people iv Eventually become religious vernacular drama v Then religious vernacular dramas moved to be performed outside because 1 Cost 2 Space limitations 3 Opposition of church officials that plays shouldn t be performed at church III Mystery Plays a Also known as cycle plays because are done in cycles sometimes b They are biblically based c Independent from church d Usually presented in Spring and Summer because of good weather e Filled with anachronisms an object or event outside of its proper historical context f Spectacle is really important g There was an introduction to comedy h Second Shepard s Play i One of most famous mystery plays ii Biblical story was the birth of Jesus iii Anachronism of it is that they pray to Jesus when they haven t even met him iv Has a comedic side to it IV Morality Plays a Secular did not mention Jesus or Bible explicitly b Presented similar to a mystery play c Are about good vs evil in most cases V Elements of Morality a Vary throughout Europe because of diversity of landscape b In France women are allowed on stage c In England women are NOT allowed on stage d Mostly produced with amateur actors e Typecasting was a big deal i Ex honest scrawny guy casted as Abel ii Ex big strong guy casted as Cain f Had to be loud because no microphones and because of the audience g Secrets what they called special effects h Pageant Masters kind of like directors made sure everything was in order and calm also announced what was yet to come during the play like when an angel entered stage VI Popular Art Forms a Pantomimes jesters mistrals juggling and interlude i Interlude short play that would exist between the corsets of a banquet b Were other festivals where plays were performed that eventually became farce i Farce over the top comedy VII Episodic Form a Action is less focused than in climatic side plots can occur or separate stories intertwine b Stories switch from scene to scene c Time and place change frequently d There is a de emphasis on realistic or literal showing of the story
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