Miracle Plays
Theater is plainly ingrained in church rituals, and the Mass itself influenced the creation of theater. The subjects for plays were suggested by the seasons: Christmas, Easter, Bible stories (called Mysteries), saints’ life stories (called Miracle Plays), and stories from other sources. The clergy performed scenes from Christ’s life to commemorate holy days such as Christmas, Easter, and so forth in the early Middle Ages.
The telling of these stories in the church signifies the beginning of the drama’s good phase. Generally speaking, mysteries were less popular than miracle plays, most likely because of their more recent subject matter.
Every large town, such as York, Chester, and Coventry, had its own cycle of plays. An Orleans M.S. has one of the oldest known instances of a miracle play, which is about St. Nicholas. It has ancient French refrains and is written in Latin.
On Christmas Eve, the Office of the Shepherds was held. On the alter, a cradle and a picture of the Virgin Mary were set up. Several clergy members dressed like shepherds and carried crooks into the church, along with actual sheep and dogs. While some shepherds guard their flocks, others pretend to sleep.
Abruptly, a choirboy disguised as an angel ascends the pulpit and proclaims the birth of Christ, accompanied by booming trumpet blasts. At once, a choir in the clerestory begins to sing, “Glory to God in the Highest.” The shepherds make their way up the church to the altar, where other priests greet them and give them permission to tell the congregation of the child’s birth. The shepherds march around the cathedral, chanting a hymn of praise because they admire the child and his mother.
Morality Plays
Morality plays, also known as morality, are allegorical plays that were very popular in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. They teach moral teachings while having characters that personify moral concepts like virtue or death or virtue or vice or vice.
One of the three primary forms of medieval vernacular drama, together with the mystery play and the miracle play, is the morality play. The morality play’s action revolves around a hero, such as mankind, whose innate weaknesses are attacked by demonic forces personified as the Seven Deadly Sins. However, mankind has the option to choose redemption and enlist the help of characters like the Four Daughters of God (Mercy, Justice, Temperance, and Truth).
