Besides these village amusements, many plays of a
religious character came into vogue during the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries. The earliest were the miracle plays. They presented in dramatic form
scenes from the Bible and stories of the saints or martyrs. The actors at first
were priests, and the stage was the church itself or the churchyard. This
religious setting did not prevent the introduction of clowns and buffoons.
After a time the miracle play passed from the clergy to the guilds. All the
guilds of a town usually gave an exhibition once a year. Each guild presented a
single scene in the story. An exhibition might last for several days and have
as many as fifty scenes, beginning at Creation and ending with Doomsday. [35]
[35] The great Passion Play at Ober Ammergau in Germany is
the modern survival and representative of this medieval religious drama.
MORALITY PLAYS
The miracle plays were followed by the
"moralities." They dealt with the struggle between good and evil,
rather than with theology. Characters such as Charity, Faith, Prudence, Riches,
Confession, and Death appeared and enacted a story intended to teach moral
lessons. Out of the rude "morality" and its predecessor, the
miracle play, has grown the drama of modern times.
