Jesuitendrama

Jesuitendrama, a collective term for Latin plays written by Jesuit fathers for performance in their schools in the late 16th c. and in the 17th c. Performances took place in the hall of the schools each September. Since many of the audience could not understand the words, a synopsis was commonly provided, and the plays themselves tended, for the same reason, to rely on visual effects and on ancillary music. The purpose of the plays was religious and missionary, and they served as one of the instruments of the Counter-Reformation (see Gegenreformation). Their subjects were mainly drawn from the Old Testament and from the legends of the saints. The earliest beginnings of Jesuit drama are seen c.1565, and the heyday is the early 17th c., though its manifestations continue into the 18th c. The principal exponents are J. Gretser, J. Bidermann, N. Avancini, and J. B. Adolf (1657-1708). Jesuit drama flourished most conspicuously in the south, especially in Vienna and Munich.