The Service for Representing the Scene at the Lord’s Sepulchre was a liturgical play developed for performance in cathedrals and churches in England ‘during the eleventh and twelfth centuries’[1] . This is as opposed to being performed in purpose-built theatres or playhouses because according to Peter Happé, ‘spaces exclusively designed for and dedicated to performance hardly arise until late in the period.’[2] Therefore, when considering the architectural layout of Canterbury Cathedral as an example, many challenges are presented concerning how a piece of drama such as ‘The Visit To The Sepulchre’ would have been staged in this space which is not specifically intended for performance.
The greatest difficulty comes from determining exactly where each scene would have been performed within the cathedral to allow as much of the audience to see and hear it as possible whilst also retaining the symbolic significance of having certain scenes take place in certain areas of the building. The positioning of the sepulchre itself is of particular importance as this is ‘the focal point of the action’[3] since it is the site of Christ’s resurrection. With such enormous religious significance it would therefore be reasonable to position the sepulchre in the east of the cathedral[4], the holiest part of the building. However, this would cause it to be entirely blocked from the view of the laity. There is evidence that in Germany the sepulchre was positioned towards the nave to allow the congregation to see the action.[5] Whilst this would have therefore caused difficulty for the clergy assembled in the choir to see what was going on, it was more crucial for the congregation to see the performance rather than just hear it.
This was due to the fact that ‘The Visit to the Sepulchre’, like other liturgical drama of the period, was sung in Latin. Most of the words came from the late 4th Century Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate.[6] As the laity would not have known Latin, the only way they could have understood the story was if they could see what was taking place. Enabling the congregation to understand Bible stories was one of the main reasons for staging liturgical drama after all. Therefore, having the sepulchre positioned towards the nave for the laypeople to see would have made the most sense and the clergy who understood Latin, would most likely still have been able to hear the performance from the choir.
This layout corresponds to the fact that much of the play is addressed directly to the audience as indicated by stage directions such as ‘But let Mary say, turned toward the people’ (Line 62)[7]. Here Mary Magdalene is proclaiming to the congregation that she has seen Jesus risen and is asking them to share in her joy. Evidence such as this supports the fact that the purpose of plays such as ‘The Visit to The Sepulchre’ was to engage the congregation and instruct them, through Biblical stories, on matters such as ‘moral behaviour, or the sanctity of baptism; to give them such information as to help them how to live their lives in spiritual terms’. [8] The aim was therefore for the laity to understand as much of what was taking place as possible and, through this direct address, it encourages them to be roused into the excitement and elation of Christ’s resurrection.
However, the sheer size of Canterbury Cathedral does raise the issue of how someone sat at the back of the audience in the nave would have distinguished one character from another. The performers would have been male members of the clergy playing all the roles, including the three Marys.[9] Costumes were therefore a key aspect in defining individual characters although the basis for all costumes was simply church vestments. These would then be in different colours or have items added to them depending on which character was being represented. This is known through the text itself, which specifies that when the resurrected Christ appears he should be ‘vested in a white dalmatic, adorned with a white infula, a costly phylacterium on his head, having a cross with a standard in his right hand, a garment woven of gold in the left hand’ (Line 78-79)[10]. The colours of white and gold would have symbolically represented Christ’s new life and his power with the cross also demonstrating his death and resurrection. With such bold costuming it would have therefore been clear to any member of the congregation that this character was the resurrected Christ regardless of the fact they couldn’t understand Latin or perhaps couldn’t hear the singing of the dialogue because of their distance from the performance.
It is therefore clear that challenges are indeed presented by the use of Canterbury Cathedral as a performance space due to its enormous size and the separation of certain sections from others. However, these issues would have been overcome by the means of effective staging which enabled the congregation to see as much of what was going on as possible. This staging, along with the use of direct speech and symbolic costuming and props, would have engaged the audience and helped them to understand the drama and the story of the three Marys visiting Christ’s tomb. Thus the purpose of liturgical drama such as this was achieved.
Endnotes
[1] David Bevington, Medieval Drama (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company Inc., 2012) p.31
[2] Peter Happé, English Drama Before Shakespeare (New York: Addison Wesley Longman Inc., 1999) p.13
[3] Dunbar H. Odgen, The Staging of Drama in the Medieval Church (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2002) p.39
[4] ibid
[5] ibid
[6] Paul Edward Kretzman, The Liturgical Element in the Earliest Forms of Medieval Drama With Special Reference to The English and German Plays (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1916) p.5
[7] Bevington, p. 43
[8] Happé p.26
[9] Dunbar H. Odgen ‘Women Play Women In Liturgical Drama of The Middle Ages’ in Shakespearean Illuminations: Essays in Honor of Marvin Rosenberg, ed. by Jay L. Halio and Hugh. M Richmond (Delaware: University of Delaware, 1998) pp. 336-360 (p.336)
[10] Bevington, p.44
Bibliography
Primary Sources
‘[The Service] For Representing The Scene At The Lord’s Sepulchre’ in Bevington, David, Medieval Drama (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company Inc., 2012)
EN302 Early Drama Course Booklet Volume 1 (University of Kent, 2012)
Secondary Sources
Bevington, David, Medieval Drama (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company Inc., 2012)
Happé, Peter, English Drama Before Shakespeare (New York: Addison Wesley Longman Inc., 1999)
Kretzman, Paul Edward, The Liturgical Element in the Earliest Forms of Medieval Drama With Special Reference to The English and German Plays (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1916)
Odgen, Dunbar H., The Staging of Drama in the Medieval Church (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2002)
Odgen, Dunbar H. ‘Women Play Women In Liturgical Drama of The Middle Ages’ in Shakespearean Illuminations: Essays in Honor of Marvin Rosenberg, ed. by Jay L. Halio and Hugh. M Richmond (Delaware: University of Delaware, 1998) pp. 336-360
Walker, Greg ‘The Cultural Work of Early Drama’, in The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre, Ed. by Richard Beadle and Alan J. Fletcher, Second Edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) pp. 75-98