Miracle Play - Literary Terms
Miracle Play - Literary Terms
Miracle play is a kind of medieval play which deals with a miraculous event in a saint's life or with a story from the Bible. At first these plays were introduced in Latin but with the introduction of secular and ribald material, they moved into the streets, and Latin was replaced by English. In France these plays were presented by the town, in England the responsibility of presenting them was taken over by the Trade Guilds. It was a major theatrical entertainer for about four hundred years and reached its high water mark of development in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The performances were done in the form of cycles, which grew to considerable size and evoked abundant interest. The cycle was presented with each play mounted on a wagon with a high curtained scaffold, the lower part of the wagon serving as a dressing-room. The settings of these plays were elaborate. As many as three hundred actors, members of the guilds, might be used for one cycle of plays.
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