When and where did medieval theatre take place?

Answer 1

Medieval theater started sometime in the 5th century A.D. after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It stayed on almost till the 15th century and was used mainly to tell moral stories, religious stories and short plays.

Answer 2

The plays in the middle ages were done by the church to teach The Bible stories to the people because they didn't know how to read. The monks put on the plays. Later, in the late middle ages the guilds took up the cost and sponsored the plays but they were still religious. All parts were done by men and boys, there were no women in the plays.

Answer 3

I've been trying to find this out too, so after lots and lots of stressing and searching i found that it ended it the 1500's

and if anyone was wondering it was said to of started in about 1350

Answer 4

Theater continued through the Middle Ages, right from the start, though we know very little about the earliest theater, which was disapproved of and not documented well at all.

We know from records that Empress Theodora (c. 500 to 548) was a theatrical performer before she was an Empress. At that time, actors were considered to be very lowly, and an actress was the equivalent of a prostitute in society.

The earliest plays performed in the West were possibly of a type called mummings. We have very imperfect information about them, but what we have makes it clear that much of their content was pagan. A secular play called "Querolus" was written in the 5th century, and revised in the High Middle Ages. There were doubtless other early medieval secular plays, but we have nothing firm in the way of records.

Religious plays also existed in the Early Middle Ages, but again, we have little in the way of records. The Church banned theatrical performances very early on, but the ban was not entirely effective. A lack of urban support for theaters also meant that there were few or no buildings dedicated to theater in medieval cities. Nevertheless, actors and actresses were among the many people who travelled from place to place giving performances of all kinds, including story telling, music, and so on.

We have good records of theater beginning in the 10th century with miracle and mystery plays. Hildegard of Bingen wrote the oldest morality play we have in the 12th century, and set it to music. Since her notation included relative pitch and duration, the music can still be performed. From the 10th century on, we have records of increasing theatrical activity. There were attempts on the parts of various church organizations to stamp theater out, but this was part of the Reformation, and after the Middle Ages.

Answer 5

The miracle and mystery plays of the middle ages were among the earliest forms of theater in Europe. The mystery plays began in the 10 century and were performed by the clergy. These were a way to tell the stories of the bible to people who couldn't read. The plays were very popular and in 1210 Christan clergy were banned from acting in public. This means that the performances passed to the wider community and were done outdoors. Town guilds provided financial support and a particular guild would have control of a section of the play. Often this related to the guild speciality. For example the guild of bakers would do the Last Supper. A pageant master oversaw the plays and men performed all parts. These were usually done for times like Easter or Christmas.

Answer 6

Years estimated to 476 - 1492