Mystery Plays

Abstract

AbstractA mystery play is a form of liturgical drama that developed in Byzantium as well as in the west in the 12th to 15th centuries. Originally part of the mass, its presentation was taken over by the guilds and cofraternities and was held in the church, its immediate confines, or in the public square. In Italy, most of the performances were initiated by theLaudesi, a penitential movement centered in Umbria. The standard scenes included paradise, nativity, transfiguration, and Gethsemane. Slowly, professionals were inducted as actors, and costumes and scenery were introduced. By the 14th and 15th centuries permanent settings and stages appeared. Several booths on the stage would be set apart for such scenes as the annunciation or the raising of Lazarus but paradise would hover over the stage while a demon or leviathan with open jaws represented hell below the stage. Another variant was the procession where the stage was on carts with the various booths portraying scenes in the life of Christ. Often these mystery plays were standard repertoire for the Holy Week, or Corpus Christi, Ascension, and the Pentecost. Their enactment was reinforced by the Black Plague, which intensified the traditions of piety among the common people.