A Companion To The Medieval Theatre

Features

Description

Vince has provided a useful and, for the most part, usable reference work. His introduction should be required reading for anyone approaching medieval theater. Choice Scholars increasingly see medieval theatre as a complex and vital performance medium related more closely to political, religious, and social life than to literature as we know it.

Reflecting the current interest in performance, A Companion to the Medieval Theatre presents 250 alphabetically arranged entries offering a panoramic view of European and British theatrical productions between the years 900 and 1550. The volume features 30 essays contributed by an international group of specialists and includes many shorter entries as well as systematic cross-referencing, a chronology, a bibliography, and a full complement of indexes.

Major entries focus on the theatres of the principal linguistic areas (the British Isles, France, Germany, Iberia, Italy, Scandinavia, the Low Countries, and Eastern Europe), and on dramatic forms and genres such as liturgical drama, Passion and saint plays, morality plays, folk drama, and Humanist drama.

Other articles examine costume, acting, pageantry, and music, and explore the theatrical dimension of courtly entertainment, the dance, and the tournament. Short entries supply information on over one hundred playwrights, directors, actors and antiquarians whose contributions to the theatre have been documented.

This informative guide brings new depth to our appreciation of the richness and color of medieval public entertainments and the symbolism and pageantry that were a part of daily life in the Middle Ages. Designed to appeal to general reader, this volume is also an attractive choice for libraries serving students and scholars of theatre history, English and European literatures, medieval history, cultural history, drama, and performance.

Review: ?The need for this work, according to its editor, Ronald W. Vince, arises from the tendency of general theater histories to give the theater of the Middle Ages proportionally less coverage than that of other periods. The approach taken by Vince in the Companion reflects recent studies of the medieval theater which have departed from a traditional emphasis on the dramatic text alone to focus on the elements of dramatic performance.

In his preface to the Companion, Vince observes that a medieval drama was an event rather than a literary text. The context (political, social, religious, etc.) in which these theatrical events took place demands as much consideration as the texts themselves. Accordingly, the emphasis in this work is on performance rather than literary analysis and/or appreciation.

For the purposes of the Companion, the medieval period is defined as the years between 900 and 1550. The introduction notes that the theatre we call medieval spans over 600 years, manifesting itself in more than a dozen languages and a great variety of forms. This is an indication of the scope of the material to be found in the Companion.

In over 250 entries, ranging in size from several lines to several pages, the reader will find a wealth of information useful not only for the study of the theater in medieval times but for the study of the medieval period itself. Along with explanations of liturgical drama and morality plays, terms like joust, tilt, and chivalry are defined.

Numerous entries are devoted to medieval personages and playwrights. Articles in the Companion are arranged alphabetically, with the subject heading printed in boldface type. Most are signed by their contributors; thoseunsigned are the work of the editor. Many of the entries are followed by brief, specialized bibliographies.

While many of the articles are a paragraph or two in length, there are a number of longer treatments of broad topics, such as dance, music, and secular drama. Among these essay entries are overviews of medieval drama in particular countries or regions, e.g., Iberia (Spain and Portugal), the Low Countries, and the British Isles.

In addition to the specialized source listings after many of the entries, the