Liturgical Drama

Liturgical Drama, critical term for a type of quasi-dramatic celebration, examples of which occur from the 10th century onwards in the forms of worship of the medieval Catholic Church. Apparently originating from St Gall in Switzerland, liturgical playing (invariably in Latin) spread rapidly throughout western Europe, first taking the form of primitive, antiphonally sung dialogues, interpolated into the Easter Mass, between the three Marys and the angel they meet at Christ's empty tomb. At one time scholars attached great importance to the “evolution” of these “dramas” from primitive to more sophisticated forms, as they supposedly outgrew the confines (or moral sanction) of the Church, spreading first to the churchyard and thence to the market square, thus contributing to the re-emergence of a professional theatre. However, apart from evidence of the continuity of itinerant theatre forms since the Roman period, and of the concurrent development of more recognizable “plays” (for example, also in the 10th century, by the German nun Hrosvitha), recent studies have shown that any “development” of liturgical drama was not so much chronological as dependent upon the resources, tastes, and traditions of particular religious centres. In some, simple celebrations remained the rule; in others, more complex “dramas” developed, incorporating additional and even nonscriptural characters, and with different parts of the church being utilized to represent specific settings (known as “houses” or “mansions”). In the Easter drama, the “action” would thus progress from the nave towards a sepulchre set up before the rood screen. Though less common, liturgical dramas celebrating Christmas, with the infant Jesus's crib as focal point, have left clearer contemporary traces in the form of nativity plays; in England, however, this descent is rather through the later mystery cycles, which, despite the sweep of sacred history they encompassed, were civic and secular in provenance.