Mystery plays andmiracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably[1]) are among the earliest formally developedplays inmedieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation ofBible stories inchurches astableaux with accompanyingantiphonal song. They told of subjects such as the Creation,Adam and Eve, the murder of Abel, and theLast Judgment.[2] Often they were performed together in cycles which could last for days.[3] The name derives frommystery used in its sense ofmiracle,[4] but an occasionally quoted derivation is fromministerium, meaningcraft, and so the 'mysteries' or plays performed by thecraft guilds.[5]
As early as the fifth century, living tableaux were introduced into sacred services.[6] The plays originated as simpletropes, verbal embellishments of liturgical texts, and slowly became more elaborate. At an early period chants from the service of the day were added to the prose dialogue. As these liturgical plays increased in popularity, vernacular forms emerged, and travelling companies of actors and theatrical productions became common in the later Middle Ages.
TheQuem quaeritis? is the best known early form of the dramas. It is a schematic dialogue between the angel at the tomb of Christ and the women who are seeking his dead body.[6] Early forms of the responsorium were later elaborated with dialogue and dramatic action. Early performances were given in Latin, and were preceded by a vernacular prologue spoken by a herald who gave a synopsis of the events. The writers and directors of the earliest plays were probably monks or clerics.
In 1210, suspicious of the growing popularity of miracle plays,Pope Innocent III issued apapal edict forbidding clergy from acting on a public stage. This had the effect of transferring the organization of the dramas to town guilds, after which several changes followed. Vernacular texts replaced Latin, and non-Biblical passages were added along with comic scenes, for example in theSecunda Pastorum of theWakefield Cycle. Acting and characterization became more elaborate.
These vernacular religious performances were, in some of the larger cities in England such asYork, performed and produced byguilds, with each guild taking responsibility for a particular piece of scriptural history. From the guild control originated the term mystery play or mysteries, from the Latinministerium meaning "occupation" (i.e. that of the guilds). The genre was again banned as a result of theReformation and the establishment of theChurch of England in 1534.
The mystery play developed, in some places, into a series of plays dealing with major events in the Christian calendar, from the Creation to the Day of Judgment. By the end of the 15th century, the practice of acting these plays in cycles on festival days was established in several parts of Europe. Sometimes, each play was performed on a decorated pageant cart that moved about the city to allow different crowds to watch each play.[7] The entire cycle could take up to twenty hours to perform and could be spread over a number of days. Taken as a whole, these are referred to asCorpus Christi cycles. These cycles were often performed during theFeast of Corpus Christi.[8]
The plays were performed by a combination of clerics and amateurs and were written in highly elaborate stanza forms; they were often marked by extravagant sets and special effects, but could also be stark and intimate. There was a wide variety of theatrical and poetic styles, even in a single cycle of plays.
There are four complete or nearly complete extant English biblical collections of plays.[9] A collection is theYork cycle of forty-eight pageants; there are also theTowneley plays of thirty-two pageants; theLudus Coventriae; and theChester cycle of twenty-four pageants, now generally agreed to be an Elizabethan reconstruction of older medieval traditions. Also extant are two pageants from a New Testamentcycle acted at Coventry. Additionally, a fifteenth-century play of the life ofMary Magdalene,The Brome Abraham and Isaac and a sixteenth-century play of theConversion ofSaint Paul exist. Besides theMiddle English drama, there are a few surviving plays inCornish: namely, theOrdinalia (which is a cycle of three plays) andPascon Agan Aruth which both tell biblical stories, andBewnans Ke andBewnans Meriasek, which tell the stories of the lives of saints.
These biblical plays differ widely in content. Most contain episodes such as theFall of Lucifer, theCreation and Fall of Man,Cain and Abel,Noah and the Flood,Abraham and Isaac, theNativity, theRaising of Lazarus, thePassion, and theResurrection. Other pageants included the story ofMoses, theProcession of the Prophets,Christ's Baptism, theTemptation in the Wilderness, and theAssumption and Coronation of the Virgin. In given cycles, the plays came to be sponsored by the newly emerging Medievalcraft guilds. The Yorkmercers, for example, sponsored theDoomsday pageant. Other guilds presented scenes appropriate to their trade: the building of theArk from the carpenters' guild; thefive loaves and fishes miracle from the bakers; and thevisit of the Magi, with their offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh, from the goldsmiths.[10][11] The guild associations are not, however, to be understood as the method of production for all towns. While the Chester pageants are associated with guilds, there is no indication that the N-Town plays are either associated with guilds or performed onpageant wagons. Perhaps the most famous of the mystery plays, at least to modern readers and audiences, are those of Wakefield. Unfortunately, we cannot know whether the plays of the Towneley manuscript are actually the plays performed at Wakefield but a reference in theSecond Shepherds' Play toHorbery Shrogys[12] is strongly suggestive. In "The London Burial Grounds" by Mrs Basil Holmes (1897), the author claims that the Holy Priory Church, next toSt Katherine Cree on Leadenhall Street, London was the location of miracle plays from the tenth to the sixteenth century.Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London (c 1500 - 1569) stopped this in 1542.[13]
The oldest liturgical drama in Spain is from the 12th century and kept today inToledo Cathedral. It is a play about theBiblical Magi, three wise men from the East who followed a star and visited the baby Jesus inBethlehem.[14] It is believed to have been based on an earlier play written in France.[15]
TheMisteri d'Elx (in English, theElx Mystery Play orMystery Play of Elx) is a liturgical drama dating from the 13th century which has been enacted and celebrated every year without any known interruptions. Commemorating the Assumption of Mary, it is played on every 14 and 15 August in the Basilica de Santa María in the city ofElx (also known asElche). The prohibition of theatrical plays in churches by theCouncil of Trent eventually threatened to interrupt the yearly performance of the Misteri, but in 1632Pope Urban VIII issued a special permit for its continuation. In 2001, UNESCO declared it one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Miracle plays, or Saint's plays, are now distinguished from mystery plays as they specifically re-enacted miraculous interventions by thesaints, particularlySaint Nicholas orSt. Mary, rather than biblical events.[16]Robert Chambers, writing in the 19th century, notes that "especially in England, miracle [came] to stand for religious play in general".[17]
Cornish language miracle plays, particularly theOrdinalia trilogy, theBeunans Meriasek, and theBewnans Ke, were traditionally performed at theplain-an-gwarrys.[18] To capture the attention of the audience, "the plays were often noisy, bawdy and entertaining."[19]
Attention to the Medieval Mystery plays began to grow during the early 1800s, after their reference and publication byWilliam Hone andJames Heywood Markland. Notably, poet Lord Byron wrote the playsCain andHeaven and Earth: A Mystery as modern version of medieval dramas on similar subjects. Mystery plays are produced regularly throughout theUnited Kingdom. The local cycles were revived in bothYork andChester in 1951 as part of theFestival of Britain, and are still performed by the local guilds.[20] TheN-Town cycle was revived in 1978 as theLincoln mystery plays,[21] and in 1994 theLichfield Mysteries were revived.[22]
In 1977 theNational Theatre commissionedTony Harrison to createThe Mysteries, a re-working of theWakefield Cycle and others.[23] It was again revived in 1985 (the production was filmed forChannel 4 Television), and as a part of the theatre's millennium celebration in 2000.[24] The productions wonBill Bryden the Best Director title in both the1985Evening Standard Theatre Awards and the1985 Laurence Olivier Awards, the year the three plays first appeared together in performance at theLyceum Theatre.[25]
In 2001, theIsango Ensemble produced an African version of the Chester Cycle at theGarrick Theatre in London asThe Mysteries – Yiimimangaliso, performing in a combination of theXhosa language,Zulu, English, Latin, andAfrikaans. They revived an adapted version of the production at Shakespeare's Globe in 2015 asThe Mysteries.[26] In 2004, two mystery plays (one focusing on the Creation and the other on the Passion) were performed at Canterbury Cathedral, with actorEdward Woodward in the role of God. The large cast also includedDaniel MacPherson,Thomas James Longley andJoseph McManners.[27]
