In woord en beeld: gesproken intredetoneel in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden op de overgang tussen Middeleeuwen en Moderne Tijd

Abstract

Within the relatively recent interest for the theatrical aspects of joyous Entries in the Netherlands, most attention has gone to tableaux vivants, generally dumb and motionless scenes that were mounted along the entry route. However, from a number of sources we learn that these festivities also gave rise to the performance of dramatic forms including more elaborate speech. The aim of the present article is to describe the origin and nature of spoken drama in joyous Entries in the Southern Netherlands. I will also look at the performers of these plays and at the relationship between spoken entry-drama and mute tableaux vivants. My starting point will be the highly influential theory of George R. Kernodle about theatre and joyous Entries, which will prove to be hard to maintain. Special attention will be given to a chronicle description of a theatre contest at the occasion of the entry of Philip the Good into Ghent in 1458 and to a drama text that was probably written for a visit of Charles the Bold to Brussels in 1466, the only entry-play in Dutch that has come down to us.