I think that all churches should continue these medieval plays, as it really helps explain the moral messages and puts the important stories to life. People of all ages could learn a lot and be entertained from these medieval plays.

It is really amazing to see the truth brought to light and to life in medieval theatre. This is a nice way to portray the important messages that need to be portrayed, for what is truly important in this life is preparing and knowing about the next life.

These biblical plays could actually be the catalyst for some to be saved. A lot of people are wary of church, but not as many people are as wary as the material taught in churches, especially Christian churches. I know a lot of people who do not go to church because they feel judged or that the people there are hypocrites.

If you put information in a play fashion, it seems to be less threatening and more real. Also, if we as Christians act as much like Jesus Christ as we can always, we will basically be showing people how to live their life instead of telling them how to do it.

One of the non-denominational Christian churches I used to go to put on two annual plays that seem like they would be classified as medieval theatre. Both plays would have been classified as mystery plays under medieval theatre, because they were based on biblical accounts.

One play was about Christmas, when Jesus was born. The other was about the events leading up to Easter, and Easter. Easter is when Jesus rose from the dead after being beaten, tortured, and put to death for all of our sins. It was huge production, so huge that it lasted for several weeks, and lots of people from out of state attended these plays, especially the Easter play.

I am sad to say that these play went on for about ten years, and this year, they stopped having them. I don't know if their funds were to dwindling, which I doubt (since this particular church is the largest and wealthiest church in the whole state), or they did not have enough actors/actresses and volunteers to pull everything together. I still wonder what happened to the Medieval Theatre at this church, as it was a great depiction of the bible stories.

@starrynight - While we do live in a pretty diverse society, we still do have a Christian majority in this country. I think a play based on the Bible could be successful. I mean, look at the movie The Passion of the Christ. That was based on the Bible and very commercially successful.

However, I think a Bible based play for modern audiences would probably have a different slant than Medieval theatre. I feel like modern audiences prefer more storytelling and less moralizing.

I doubt this kind of theatre would ever attain popularity these days. At least, not in the United States.

We have so many different kinds of people in this country. People of all kinds of backgrounds and religions. While Medieval Europe was a somewhat homogenous society as far as race and religion, modern United States is not!

I'm sure there is a place for Christian themed plays in churches still. But I don't see a Biblically themed play attaining much success on the mass market.

@Mammmood - I wonder how long the first plays were. If they were meant merely to serve as illustrations for the sermons, then I’d think they would be no more than thirty minutes maximum.

At our church we have a strong creative arts department. Sometimes the team will come out on stage and do a performance to illustrate a point that the pastor is making.

Usually these are brief two to three person skits, and often they are very funny! I can certainly understand why the Medieval churches used them as tools for making a point. Plays can get the point across quite well; and I’ve never nodded off in the middle of a play (as opposed to a sermon).

@Charred - I never would have thought of the “Twilight Zone” as a morality play but I guess you’re right.

While the article doesn’t say, I’d also bet that the Medieval plays influenced Shakespeare and his rich tradition. He dealt with universal truths and there were allegories in his plays just like there were in the Medieval plays.

I think these kinds of plays stay relevant because they touch on universal themes that people everywhere can relate to, regardless of their religious tradition or affiliation.

@allenJo - You bring up a good point. I think it should also be stressed that the artistic expression doesn’t have to be Christian in viewpoint.

The article mentions the morality play. That sounds like it was something pedantic, but the term morality play exists today to describe a work of art that has some moral point.

If you want a modern day example of a morality play, take the old “Twilight Zone” series from the 1960s with Rod Serling’s signature voice as an example. Believe it or not, these were morality plays; each episode used science fiction and fantasy to tell a story, which however farfetched the plot, seemed to end with a twist and a certain moral point.

It was not preachy; it was illustrative, and that’s what morality plays do.

I think Medieval Theater reinforces the fact that the arts and the sacred do not have to be kept separate.

As a matter of fact when I went to college I noticed that a lot of the Western classical literature that I read reflected the Judeo- Christian tradition. There were a few notable exceptions here and there, but for the most part this rang true.

Of course literature and the arts is a reflection of the times, and so I guess the Medieval Theater was a reflection of those times. Nowadays the arts have taken on a more secular role, because times have changed, but some people believe that the arts can still be used to illustrate sacred truth.

This is especially true with the advent of faith based film making. Last week I saw one such film which was quite moving. Artistically, it was done well too.

@Izzy78 - You are absolutely correct. Religion at the time of the height Medieval Theater had its highest emphasis and they hoped to save as many people as possible and get as many people in the churches as they could.

However, people were simpler back then and there was a problem keeping people in the churches. This was just an ongoing problem and eventually the churches accepted it and sought other ways to religiously educate people. That is where medieval theaters come in.

Most people enjoyed watching plays back in the days before television and Medieval Times were no exception. By instituting religious morals and religious tones in the story the churches were able to educate people and spread their religious messages through a entertainment meme.

I have seen a type of medieval theater relived at a medieval fair and was quite different than what I saw at the dinner theater version.

The medieval theater I saw was a very quiet, simple type of theater that simply sought to tell its story. It was theater at its simplest form involving costumes but was all story driven, hoping to educate the audience on certain things that they may take for granted.

In Medieval Europe at the height of medieval theater the emphasis on religion was very high and there was constant tries to try and educate the populace in religion and its messages, however they had to do so outside of church in order to make sure people would want to hear the message. Medieval theaters were created to simplify the messages and preach them in a way that people could understand and remember.

I believe what you saw was a type of theater depicting medieval times, but not necessarily considered medieval theater.

I would equate what you saw to a medieval fair, which revolves around the interest in medieval life and culture and is more of an attraction for entertainment purposes as opposed to what the article describes as medieval theater, which is centered around art with a message.

Most medieval theater occurred centuries ago and declined once people started to re-gain interest in the Roman empire and started doing theater based upon Roman and Greek fables.

Medieval theater was something that was supposed to send a message to the audience and not necessarily revolve around what they saw. They had to think in order for the play put on to be successful and differs greatly to the type of theater that you saw.

I once went to a dinner theater where the actors involved jousted and fought to the death -- well, not really to the death, but it looked like it. It was a good time and I loved to visit the dungeon, which had many re-productions of medieval torture devices. They claimed to be a medieval theater, because it took place in medieval times and was simply a classic knights tale, but upon reading this article it calls into question their self proclaimed title as a medieval theater.

The medieval dinner theater that I went to did not really have morals involved or a biblical nature to them, they were simply stories centered around entertainment. The knights fought to the "death" for control of the kingdom and the hand of the fair princess. I would think that this would be what a medieval theater would be, but the article as written would disagree. So my question is are there different types of medieval theater?