2. The Christian church is the medieval institution that is credited with the rebirth of western theatre.

3. Dramatic insertions into the high mass were called tropes. Probably the most significant of these short playlets was the Quem Queritis, “Whom Seek Ye.”

4. Easter is the Christian holiday/festival were these playlets performed. The bible was the source of the stories which were dramatized.

5. The plays were staged on a number of small “platforms” distributed around the edge of the church. Both the actors and the audience would move from one “platform” (or scene) to the next. The platform where actors performed was the plateau. The actors of these plays were the priests.

7. During the 13 th century, the plays were moved out of the church because the plays were getting too complicated to produce within the confines of the church building. Also the production of these dramas was beginning to interfere with the other services of the church. The trade guilds, which were the medieval unions, produced the mystery plays after they left the church.

8. A pageant wagon held the mansion (scenic façade), the plateau, (playing area), and a dressing area on one structure. This wagon would then be moved from one gathering of audience to the next, much like a float in a parade. It was used in England.

10. Types of plays Mystery play: The plot and characters were drawn from the books of the Bible. It was the major form of Medieval drama. The best examples are the cycle plays of England. The York Cycle contained 48 short plays, and was performed over several days. Of the 48 plays the York Cycle, eleven deal with the Old Testament (from the Creation to the crossing of the Red Sea), 13 cover the period from Annunciation to the Palm Sunday, 23 cover the final week of Christ’s earthly life and His Assumption into Heaven, and one describes Judgment Day.

11. Miracle play: built its plot around the lives and the works of the saints. They were usually performed on the saint’s feats day. Some of the scripts were biblical, others were not. Morality play: These dramas were based on the spiritual trails of the average man. They formed a bridge between the Medieval religious plays and the secular dramas of the Renaissance. The plays were allegories about the moral temptations which beset every man. The location was in every man’s soul. The action of the drama was the battle between good and evil to posses man’s soul.

12. Examples Mystery play: The Second Shepherd’s Play from the Wake Cycle or The Passion Play. Probably the most famous Passion Play is the Oberammergau (Germany) Passion Play which has been presented every ten years since the middle of the 17 th century. Morality play: Everyman is visited by Death. He is told he can take one friend with him on his long journey. He approaches Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Goods, Knowledge, Discretion, Strength, Beauty, and Five Wits. All refuse. Only Good Deeds will join him on his journey. The moral is obvious.