Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Pageant comes from the archaic word for the wagon stage, "pagyn.” It is a word used to describe the movable stage on which a scene of the processional religious play was performed. [2] The origin of the religious play began in medieval churches. The dramas began as a simple way to impart the message of the Bible to the people.
A medieval pageant is a form of procession traditionally associated with both secular and religious rituals, often with a narrative structure. Pageantry was an important aspect of medieval European seasonal festivals, in particular around the celebration of Corpus Christi , which began after the thirteenth century.
Other special effects were created by the pageant wagon itself which was offered at its simplest a raised stage and at its most sophisticated a two-story structure which had machinery to raise and lower angels and also a trapdoor that opened up to hell. [8]
York Historic Pageant (1909) In 1909, the York Historic Pageant included a parade of guild banners accompanying a wagon representing the Nativity through the streets. [7] In December the same year a selection of six plays was performed as a fund-raising venture for St Olave's Church, York. [8]
First, "medieval" denotes a time period (500–1500) far too large and complex to understand in short descriptions. And within it, there was "a vast and varied spectrum of kinds of performances: ludus , jeu, ordo, representatio, officium, pagina, miraculum, mystère, processus, interlude, morality, mumming , disguising, and, of course, play."
A Pageant in Coventry. The Coventry Mystery Plays, or Coventry Corpus Christi Pageants, are a cycle of medieval mystery plays from Coventry, West Midlands, England, and are perhaps best known as the source of the "Coventry Carol".
2.3 Transition and early medieval theatre, 500–1050. ... Plays were staged on pageant wagon stages, which were platforms mounted on wheels used to move scenery ...
In the earliest days of liturgical drama, plays were performed inside the church with limited scenery and the focus of the audience on the action. [7] Mansions were used to indicate location but much of the performance took place on the platea, the open space in front of the scenic structure, with the actors moving from mansion to mansion only when strictly necessary.