The End - 10

Want to see how long it would have taken for the full cycle to run through the streets of York? One hell of a long time, that's how long. I was at ten hours (not actually ten hours - its a simulation) on the clock with twelve stops before I got the point that this was a festival that you were in for the long haul. Luckily this blog is only about one of those plays and only has four stops. Yay!

It's quite the trek - and it's really funny to watch. Play with the option buttons provided for speed, stops, and number of plays. Here you go. Enjoy!

And that concludes my Medieval Blog for this Theatre History class. I hope it was entertaining for you to read as much as it was entertaining for me to research and write.

Happy Holidays!

Work Cited

Jerz, Dennis G. "Simulation of York Corpus Christi Play." PSim. 1997-2001. <>

A M A Z I N G - 9

Maybe you've been to this website before, maybe you haven't - but it was here that I found out I'm more of a history nut than I let on to be. I can't take too many things from here, as I should only focus on one key thing, but it is jam packed with things to read up on. I'm surprised I didn't find it sooner (and hope that my enthusiasm isn't passed over because the site ends up being common knowledge). It's a site completely dedicated to the York Mystery Plays.

What really got me fired up over this website is that there are snippets from interviewed actors who had taken part in a production that took place right after World War II. Though it doesn't seem that they did their production upon pageant wagons, it seems they were still outdoors. Here are my favorite snippets from the selection:

"We were absolutely delighted at the thought of the Mystery Plays being revived - we'd had the grim years of the war and afterwards when there was still rationing and hard times - the thought of a bit of excitement - something different." Eileen Skaife

"Adam was on the ramparts spouting his speech, and his teeth flew out, and John Van Eyssen [Lucifer] deftly caught them."
Bill Brunton

"I was in the sixth form of Archbishop Holgate's [Grammar] School. we met the Queen. The people of York are extremely fortunate in that one of our greatest traditions is a theatrical tradition. one of the great foundation stones of English culture. I spoke at a Labour Party meeting in Coventry - the car workers were more interested in York and the Mystery Plays than Labour politics!"
Frank Dobson
I think it's so important that there is history recorded in this way. That there are people from the past, however recent, who took delight in putting on these plays really makes me happy. I think little quotations like these make this whole project more alive to me than anything. Hopefully, these voices from the past would help the actors too.

Work Cited

The National Centre for Early Music. "Ancestral Voices." York Mystery Plays. 2010. One to One Productions Ltd. < idno="2">

Mobile Music - 8

While delving into the realm of YouTube, I came across a video that was made by the same makers as the previous video I linked to. Watching and listening to the musicians, I realized what a relief it must have been to have them there. Check it out here.

They made the assembling of the wagon and arrangement of actors go by much quicker (a definite plus, as the time in which the audience has to watch anything beyond the performance is excruciating). I liked the use of instruments that had the feel of medieval times about them, and thought it might be fun to use those kinds of instruments, but with music from the Narnia movies.

So. If you can jam those two together in your mind, you've got the music which the hired musician-actors of this production would be playing as they moved from site to site (and would continue playing as the set-up went underway).

Works Cited

York Mystery Plays. "York 2010 St. Samsons Sq." Perf. by the Players of Heslington Church and the Taborers Society. 2010. < v="1iAvLVZVEvw">

Gregson-Williams, Harry. "Narnia Theme Song." Walt Disney. 2008. < v="f16ZMYW99eg">

Communication Station - 7

Going off of the small amounts of information I found out about Corpus Christi, I imagined there needed to be a way of incorporating its importance into the audience's experience.

So what could I do? Would the actors shout out a few fun facts before going on their way? Could I set up a board on which the audience could view these things? But how would I move it around? And hey, how about the actual way the audience members KNEW the characters between play and book?

But then a light bulb went off! Honestly, it should have gone off earlier. I decided I would create a program. And I did!....though it's more of a brochure, but it's pretty dang neat. There weren't a lot of template options that ranged within the theatre spectrum, but I got the necessary information down that I wanted to convey to the audience.

Check it out!

Username: lgdrama@yahoo.com
Password: theatrehistory

Click on The Last Judgment project box and then click on OPEN in the righthand column box that appears. The inner pages of my brochure will come up. Use the tabs at the bottom to click between outer and inner pages. Enjoy!

Works Cited

-My Brochure Maker. 2010.
-Kupka, Mike. "The Great Lion." Fascination St. Animation Art. 2010.

Corpus Christi - 6

This show can't go without mentioning something about the festival in which it was set originally.

Leaning on ORO, I learned a little bit about it. The York mystery plays were set within a festival known as the Corpus Christi. Depending on the day on which Easter fell, it took place within the spring months and was completely mobile. The guilds would perform their mystery plays during this time, stories from the Bible from the Creation to the Last Judgment.

Many books have been written about the Corpus Christi, and much information is available online as well. In searching for a worthy wealth of information, I found this review about a book duly named The Feast of Corpus Christi, authored by Barbara Walters, Vincent Corrigan, and Peter Rickets. The review of the book itself, written by Michael S. Driscoll and published in the Catholic Historical Review, is praised as being "honest" and "scholarly" (806).

The book talks on lesser known aspects than just the mystery plays, including known-history-of, what the performances by the musicians were like, and translations of found poetry and other documents.

Works Cited

"Corpus Christi" The Oxford Dictionary of Local and Family History. David Hey. Oxford University Press, 1997. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Central Washington University. 5 December 2010

Driscoll, Michael S. "Book Review: The Feast of Corpus Christi." Catholic Historical Review. 2008. Vol. 94: Issue 4. p806-807.

Quest - 5

This being a Central production put on by the Central Theatre Ensemble, it's going to happen right in the near heart of Ellensburg on the Central campus. I couldn't copy and paste the darn thing into the blog, so you'll have to click back and forth between the map and my instructions to see how things unfold.

Guidelines: Stick to the south and the central part of campus. We don't want to be crossing the stream as the bridges have barricades that would make it impossible to take the wagon across.

Anyway. *ahem*

1st Stop: On the map around location E7. This is the courtyard right outside McConnell Hall (aka the theatre building), Shaw-Smyser Hall, and Barge Hall.

2nd Stop: Head north to section K10. There is a lovely little sloping kind of green hill around this area that would benefit audience members to sit on. The wagon might fare well too.

3rd Stop: Only a short ways away, the next stop is in section J12. In this grassy area, the wagon would be surrounded by the residential halls - North Hall, Alfred-Montgomery, and Wilson. This way the students lazing around on their computers might pop their heads out into the fresh air and watch some live theatre!

4th Stop: E/F11. This is directly on Walnut Street and in front of Bouillon Hall. This is the last stop, as our actors are tired. They will then turn West and head along the boulevard that will take them right back to E8 (also known as the mother ship), McConnell Hall.

This is a tentative plan: when time comes for the production, the actors may decide to just ford across the creek...or find another practical route.

Work Cited

"Parking Services: Campus Map." Central Washington University. 2010.

Narnia Characters - 4

The main way I came to the conclusion that I'd set up a Narnia-inspired Last Judgment was through the characters. The cast from the play (in order of appearance) include God, 1 Angel , 2 Angel, 1 Good Soul, 2 Good Soul, 1 Bad Soul, 2 Bad Soul, 3 Angel , Jesus, 1 Apostle, 2 Apostle, 1 Devil, 2 Devil, and 3 Devil. I'll explain how I connected each one to a character from the book and include a photo for inspiration. Let's begin:

God --- SunThough God doesn't appear in the shape of the
Sun for the book, the actor in this production may perhaps be situated in a loft over the main stage. The sun just makes sense. Also, I don't want the first third of the play belonging to a disembodied voice.



1 Angel --- King Tirian
2 Angel --- Jewel, the Unicorn
3 Angel --- Roonwit, the Centaur
These are the three who are in charge of spreading the news throughout Narnia that change must be made and that Aslan himself will surely be coming to save them. The messengers equal the angels!


1 Good Soul --- Jill Pole

2 Good Soul --- Eustace
I made these two the characters of the good souls as those souls are called "the blessed children" within the play. The picture of Eustace doesn't show him looking like such a good soul, but I assure you he is very good in this book. To the characters of 1 and 2 Good Soul there is also innocence and questioning, as children are sure to embody.

1 Bad Soul --- A Dwarf
Though not true of all dwarfs, there were some in the book that turned against the side of good and went along with the bad armies. Thus, 1 Bad Soul represents that group of dwarfs who did wrong.


2 Bad Soul --- A Calormen

The Calormenes made up an army that would fight against the side of good, so an actor playing one Calormen would represent the whole. They weren't up to any good either, thus being labeled as 2 Bad Soul.


Jesus --- Aslan
For the win! God given a body who comes down the earth. It had to be Aslan.


1 Apostle --- Puzzle, the DonkeyMore ignorant than bad, I would consider Puzzle an apostle because he ends up seeing the difference between good and evil - and choosing to follow Aslan.


2 Apostle --- Poggin, the Dwarf

A dwarf who chooses to leave his fellow non-believing dwarfs behind and follow Aslan in order to promote good.

1 Devil --- Shift, the Ape
Cunning and mischievous, and making poor Puzzle do wrongdoings, Shift later announces himself as King of Narnia. A devil indeed.


2 Devil --- Rishda Tarkaan, Captain of the Calormen Army
3 Devil --- Tash, god of the Calormenes

Both pictured here. Rishda was the leader of Calormenes focused on destroying Narnia and tricking its inhabitants into fear. Tash is simply fear personified.





Work Cited

Lewis, C.S. "The Last Battle." United Kingdom. 1956.

Baynes, Pauline. "The Last Battle." Harper Collins. 2000.

Walden Media. "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Walt Disney Pictures & Twentieth Century Fox. 2005.

Colorful Accents! - 3

I found an overview of what a fully-fledged run of the the cycle (though whittled down to less wagons) looks like here. It's a pretty cool video to watch, even after you get over listening to the amazing accents. You get the sense of just how much effort and commitment each and every person involved has to put in.

Also, I find it great to see so much colors used in these modern adaptations. That's what I noticed most. Because the mercers had access to fabrics - and perhaps the dyes - I think it fitting that this production of Narnia's Last Battle and Last Judgement can have a lot of colors too --> It's the end of the world and there is fire and brimstone to be dealt with and an overall sense of dread to represent within the colors I use. Besides what the character's will be costumed in, it's important to focus on how these dreadful colors apply to the setting.

The setting, to quote one passage from the book of Revelation as my primary source:

"The Horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur....a third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths." (Revelation 9:17-18)

It is also important to quote this passage that came earlier on:

"And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads." (Revelation 9:3-4)

So there's fire, smoke, and sulfur, but nature goes unharmed? I think I have an idea of what the color palette would be:

Works Cited

Laurence, Richard. "A Brief Introduction to the York Mystery Plays 2010." VPS Limited. 2010.

Holy Bible. New International Version. "Revelation 9:4-18." International Bible Society. 2001.

Spinning Silk - 2

Before running off into Narnia, I wanted to take a closer look at the beginning of the title of the play. It says - The Mercers Play: The Last Judgement.

(Note: I know that is not how you spell judgment, but it's how the people of old did apparently).

What is a mercer? Who were the mercers? Oxford Reference Online cites a mercer as a "a dealer in textile fabrics, especially silks, velvets, and other fine materials." I crossed this knowledge with what more I found out.

Through the peer-reviewed article, "The Challenges of Social Unity: The Last Judgment Pageant and Guild Relations in York," I found that the mercers - who always put on this particular play - were well-able to use those fine silks and velvets and other fabrics. Kate Crassons explains from her research that the Mercers were the wealthiest guild year after year, going in the place of honor at the end of the line.

This will be helpful to the show. Knowing their trade and how much wealth the mercers possessed, I think the costumers will be able to make this the most glamorous show they possibly can. The mercers were traders of the finest fabrics available, so that may be what we would use too.

Works Cited

"Mercer" The Oxford Dictionary of English (revised edition). Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Central Washington University. 4 December 2010

Crassons, Kate. "The Challenges of Social Unity: The Last Judgment Pageant and Guild Relations in York." Journal of Medieval & Early Modern Studies. 2007. Vol. 37: Issue 2. p305-334

Medieval Play Concept - 1

I've decided to do a spin on things. The play I've chosen for my production comes from the York Corpus Christi Cycle, called The Mercer's Play: The Last Judgement. In this play God explains his judgments made based on what both good and bad souls have done. Then he ends the world.

I've two main ideas that I want to incorporate into this production. The first, I want to have this play done as it would have been done way back when: on a pageant wagon - a real, live, working, movable wagon with the actors pulling the thing along. An example I provide in a picture here from students who actually had a pageant play project of their own:



So great: the play has to be performed as it had been! But how could I make it unique and different? How could I make it worthy of seeing - something that would attract a greater audience than just those who are told they are going to die? I, personally, would never go to see a play based off of the book of Revelation - it's just plain scary and depressing.

But then! an idea hit me. It looked a little something like this:




Though this picture is a representation (and taken from a film series' franchise), the point is that it is the vision taken from a popular children's series also known as The Chronicles of Narnia!! The last book in the series, The Last Battle, is right in line with what the Last Judgement is trying to get across. And thus, my concept is set in motion. The Last Judgement Pageant Play will be influenced by the story of The Last Battle.

This is my "project" for the Central Theatre Ensemble. Whether we do all of the plays or just one is still in debate amongst the staff...

Works Cited

-Newport, Samantha. "Samantha Newport". 2010. Knox College
-2010. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Walden Media, LLC

Further Reading
(I recommend readers of this blog to read the sources from which I bring my vision to life)

-The York Plays. Trans. Chester N. Somerville and Kimberly M. Yates. "The Mercers' Play: The Last Judgement." Toronto. 2003.

-Lewis, C.S. The Last Battle. United Kingdom. 1956.

-Holy Bible. New International Version. International Bible Society. 2001

A Natural Venue

We can't jet over to Greece and just use the theatres of old, but I have found a venue that would stay true to doing the show outdoors, if not in a perfect Mediterranean environment with the perfect blue ocean in the background.

The California Shakespeare Theater puts on two Shakespeare shows along with two other classical shows - but we won't need them! With the right amount of money that a generous backer has supplied, this production of Antigone can go ahead and rent the place.

Watch the six-minute TOUR to see if you agree with me!

The pine trees may throw off a true-to-form reproduction of our classic Greek play, but the rolling hills behind the stage in the background? The (apparently) movement of cattle in said hills? The coyotes you can hear at night? The quiet? It may not be as bad as I thought. The natural beauty and the animals wouldn't have stopped for the Greeks either.


Work Cited
Cal Shakes Bruns Theater Tour. Perf. Jonathan Moscone. California Shakespeare Theater. 2010

Visionary

The production of Antigone I envision is less in tune with exactly the way things were done, but as realistically as possible - yet with some of the elements of masking and instruments and lighting used as the Greeks had done. While the picture I have chosen as my vision definitely does not portray a man wearing a woman's mask, I agree with other aspects of it. This is more than just a depiction of Antigone and Ismene. I've seen depictions that I don't like. With this one, my vision agrees with the clothing they are wearing, with the setting that suggests they are alone - with the way they are NOT placed on a stage in the middle of the palace. This is organic.

Also, this artist has rendered Antigone as more than just an angry, stubborn head. Creon and Oedipus were given contrary characteristics, despite their anger. I think Antigone should be allowed the same.





Work Cited
Armstrong, Thomas. Antigone and Ismene.

Flutey Crafts

Let's say a production of Antigone today - or any classical Greek play - needed a fully fledged band to play the music that may have accompanied the show thousands of years ago. Would you run out and buy brand new bongos and electric guitars? Ha. Sure you would.

No, you'd take the more annoying route and perhaps learn how to make your own versions of the instruments that the Greeks used. I found a video of how to make a Greek flute (even though the description tells us that it was used by only the Spartans in war). You could probably buy something like this - though I have no idea where. Viva la crafts! Maybe if you asked Hephaestus, he'd help you out.

Check it out HERE, at the History Channel website. I'm sorry I couldn't post the video directly in this blog. Anyway. If you create a flute like this, perhaps it won't be the correct way of how one was created....but add it to your production, and you have a better chance of recreating an ancient Greek play. Though you might have trouble keeping the audience from laughing during a tragedy.


Work Cited
Ancient Hobbyist. Perf. Dave Shaw. A&E Television Works. 1996-2010.

A Wedding Denied

One of the questions I had for this project was about marriage. Antigone and Haemon were going to be getting married and having a joyous celebration (we had hoped) before these tragic circumstances broke out. What would that wedding in ancient Greece have looked like? Which of the Gods would have been invited? I'm betting Dionysus was probably at the top of the guest list...

These are questions that I assume would have been answered very well in The Wedding in Ancient Athens. A book that has undergone scholarly peer review, it has been reviewed by the journal Women's Studies. The reviewer claims that while it doesn't appear to be a well-researched book, it proves its critical readers wrong. It's chock-full of the rituals the wedding would have had. The authors of the book even used a "plethora" of vases to illustrate their points (246).

While the story of Antigone didn't take place in Athens - what the ceremony would have been like may have been pretty damn close. We'd at least get a sense of how much the family had been looking forward to the spectacular occasion before everything came crashing down. Were there rituals and processes Antigone had to turn away from in order to save her brother? Were there preparations Haemon and Ismene had been helping with? What effects did the battle between brothers have on the upcoming wedding? Etc.

This is a book I wouldn't mind reading. Maybe I should buy it new for $17.95 from Barnes and Noble.

Work Cited

Boland, Catherine. "The Wedding in Ancient Athens (Book)." Women's Studies 32.2 (2003): 246. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 31 Oct. 2010.