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In the classical world, theatre was more than just entertainment. Plays were often based on the mysteries and ritualistic traditions of their past, a way of keeping the mythologies and religious thought processes alive by presenting them to the masses in the form of entertainment, yet the underlying messages would have been tantamount and obvious. With the ascension of Christianity, these "pagan" plays would have been deemed heretical and would have been forgotten and lost to history.

It is ironic, and then, that the medieval theatre tradition has its roots in the same religious germ as the earlier Greek classical plays, this time in the Christian doctrines, the very church that saw the earlier theatre arts as being immoral. The new theatre had its birthplace at the foot of the altar; important parts of the mass were acted out, the Nativity for example, which is still played out by children through out the Western world. The priest rising from a coffin often represented the Resurrection; acts that may have been inartistic but which nevertheless are the birth of a new tradition.

Before long these religious playlets would have been performed at travelling fairs and in the streets of towns and villages. At this time the players were still monks and priests and the stories still scriptural. The first major development was the invention of the Mystery of the Passion of Christ or Passion Plays, still obviously devotional in nature but presented in French verse rather than the traditional Latin. Back in the streets there was also evolution, players were taking over from priests as the performers, music was added and humour helped to increase the popularity of the performance.

It was in 1398 that the first group of performers set up a permanent residence on the north bank of the Seine and the first Paris Playhouse was born. From there it was a short step to move from religious plays to the less devotional works, the old troubadour tales and a rediscovery of the old classics. Once the playhouses were separate from the church it was on its own evolutionary path to the modern situation we see today, theatres and playhouses in every town and city and a wealth of entertainment of all kinds.

Learn more about this author, Dave Franklin.
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