The origins of the English theatre

The first plays, closely linked to the main Christian celebrations, took place in churches.

When they moved in other places Latin was replaced with English and they were no more played by the clergy but by normal people: this was the birth of the English theatre, between the 13^th and the 15^th centuries.

The subjects of these performances, called Miracle Plays, were Biblical histories played on movable stage wagons moving in the city, called pageants, which usually stopped in the principal places like the market place or the town hall. There were several pageants at the same time in the city, and each one was a section of the complete story: so people used to move from one pageant to another.

Miracle Plays evolved into the Morality Plays, whose characters weren’t taken from the Bible but they were personification of human vices and virtues.

At the end of the 15^th century were acted, usually by a small acting company at a lord’s house, short plays called Interludes that combined serious and comic elements. Their main technical expedients were the disguise and the vice.

Simone Giuntini

The origins of the Theatre in England

The origins of the Theatre in England are linked to religious celebration and the performance took place in the nave of the church. During the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries Latin was replaced with English and people took the place of monks and priests in these performances, so-called “Miracle Plays”.
The subjects of Miracle Plays were stories from the Bible and they were performed on movable stage wagons called pageants .These pageants were open on all sides; people used to stop in front of a pageant to watch an episode they wanted to see.

The next development in drama were the “Morality Plays”, whose characters were not taken from the Bible but they were personifications of human vices and virtues. At the end of the 15th century started to be used the word “Interlude” referring to a short play usually performed at a lord’s house, that tried to combine serious and comic elements.

by Mauro Paradisi

The theatre in England

Originally the theatre in England was linked to religious celebrations, mainly about Christian events, and the performances took places within churches but later they moved to different places. T
his manifested the fact that Latin was replaced with English and as a result there were no monks to make these performances but people.
During this period, about the 13th 14th 15th centuries, born the famous “Miracle plays” that gave a dramatic profile to the entire story of the Bible. This was the most important form that characterises the Medieval Drama.
The “Miracle Plays” were staged by members of the trade guilds and they performed on movable stage wagons called pageants, which turned around the city and used to stop at some places where the people could watch the stage they wanted to see.
The “Morality Plays” was another important form of theatre. The characters of this kind of form were personifications of human vices and virtues, so they weren’t Biblical characters.
The “interludes” were born about at the end of the 15th century: they were a kind of short play that used to be performed by a small acting company at a lord’s house; the aim was to combine elements comic and serious.

Martina Goretti

English theatre

The origins of the English theatre are linked to religious celebrations especially Christian events.
In the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, these performances were set in the nave of the church at first, but then they were moved elsewhere and English substituted Latin.
These, called Miracle Plays, had Biblical theme and characters and were staged by members of the guilds, who acted on movable stage wagons called pageants, which stopped in a lot of places of town.

The next development were the Morality Plays, which were the personifications of human vices and virtues and represented psycological interpretation of characters who weren't taken from the Bible. At the end of 15th century Interludes born, which were short plays that combined serious and comic elements and the "actors" acted at lord's house.

Valentina Bacherini

Robin Hood

Robin Hood is a popular English hero and he is painted like a man known for robbing the rich to provide for the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny.

His place of birth was apparently Loxley in South Yorkshire, while it is assumed that Robin Hood is buried in the monastery of Kirklees.
Probably he lived between the 12th and 13th century and he was the result of the merger of a really existed character (a noble Saxon revoked or a bandit) with the legends of a god of a forest.
Currently, in the modern version of the legend, he is imagined as a generous outlaw that is clever in the arch.

His first appearance in a manuscript is in "Piers Plowman" by William Langland in 1377.
The first historical mention of Robin Hood is in a movement of the “Scottish Cronicon", written in part by John Fordun between 1377 and 1384 and partly by his pupil Wlater Bower, more or less in 1450, which modified and integrated the work of his master.
In modern versions of the legend, Robin Hood takes refuge in Sherwood Forest in the county of Nottinghamshire.
The original ballads speak to us instead of Barnsdale, about 50 miles north of Sherwood, in the county of Yorkshire. One of Nottinghamshire's biggest tourist attractions is the Major Oak, a tree that local folklore claims was the home of the legendary outlaw.
In these ballads, friends of Robin are: Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Much the son of Miller and Little John.
The films and TV series dedicated to the legendary hero are very numerous, like "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"(1991) by Kevin Reynolds and "The Adventures of Robin Hood"(1938) by Michael Curtiz.

Andrea Vagnoli

The medieval drama

The origin of the theatre in England is linked to religious events especially for commemorating Christian events. Those representation gave dramatic shape to the whole story of the Bible and characters. At first they were set in the church, but they were soon moved elsewhere. These performances were called Miracle Plays and were acted in English because Latin was replaced in 13th century. Miracle Plays were staged by members of the guilds and were performed on movable stage called pageant which moved from town; these pageants were open an all sides, and they are the first from of moving theatre. The next development in drama were the Morality Plays, whose characters didn’t take from the Bible, but were the personification of human vices and virtues. In the 15th century the word Interlude was referred to short play, where were combined serious and comic elements and which used the disguise and witty word games.

Sara Tassi

Robin Hood...

“Robin Hood Tales” is a very famous collection of ballad that the talks about a brave man and his faithful group of friends, who fight against the rich cruel people to help the poor. His first apparition in a manuscript is in William Langland’s “Piers Plowman” in 1377. These ballads are full of different and magic places, passion, adventures and engaging duels. One of the most famous lines are “the meeting with Little Jhon”,
Here there’s some lines of it:

“When Robin Hood was about twenty years old, With a hey down down and a down He happened to meet Little John, A jolly brisk blade, right fit for the trade, For he was a lusty young man”.

And

“Tho he was calld Little, his limbs they were large, And his stature was seven foot high; Where-ever he came, they quak’d at his name, For soon he would make them to fly.”

Today we have also lot of movies about “Robin Hood”, the most famous is “Robin Hood: Prince of thieves” of 1991 with Kevin Kostner, but I want to remember also the funny parody “Robin Hood a man in tights” of 1993, directed by Mel Brooks.


Francesco Viliani