Types of Medieval theatre spaces

The theatre-in-the-round

A very influential study of the medieval theatre is Richard Southern's The medieval theatre in the round (1975) that from its first appearance in 1957 has dominated the view of scholars dealing with the English tradition. In the 2nd edition Southern deals particularly with two theatres/plays (both also being depicted by circular diagrams in ancient manuscripts), namely the Cornish Ordinalia as staged in so called 'rounds' found in Cornwall (for example: Piran Round) and The Castle of Perseverance.

Many scholars accepted Southern's reconstructions, as is attested for by the image of the Piran Round drawn by Leacroft and Leacroft (1984, fig. 67).

Characteristics of these conjectures include a circular ditch or moat, an earthen embankment on which spectators sit and that also supports a number of scaffolds (loci), and a more or less open space (platea) in the middle where also spectators can be seen and where either temporary structures like a the Ark, the Temple, a tomb, etc. (Ordinalia) are placed during performance or where there is a more permanent structure (Castle of Perseverance).

Now, all these reconstructions rely heavily on the diagram depicting the spatial layout of the Castle of Perseverance that accompanies the script from around 1425 (re-edited by Eccles, 1969). However, this diagram might be given a quite different interpretation as has been shown by Pamela King in her essay 'Spatial semantics and the medieval theatre' (James Redmond (ed.), 1987). An interpretation that is more in line with the fact that the scaffolds in the diagram are designated as lying 'outside' the moat and are not walled in. In this interpretation, the moat surrounds the castle directly while spectators and scaffolds are outside. In this case, the diameter of the ditch would be considerably smaller than Southern presumes -and hence much easier to dig out of some field- and that the earth coming from this ditch could have been used to heighten the inside, producing a kind of platform on which any action would be quite visible. Now on top of that little hill surrounded by the ditch could be placed the bed of Mankind with over it a kind of scaffolding structure representing a tower or castle. This whole ensemble -ditch, hill, bed, tower- is then the stronghold [the Castle of Perseverance] that is defended against the onslaughts of the vices - coming from the scaffolds that are placed around this structure.

This short account makes clear that there are at least two conflicting views on the theatre in the round. Southern maintains a view where there is something like a 'theatre building' in the twentieth century sense of the word; an area closed off from everyday life where spectators have to pay to enter. Some, like Rey-Flaud (1973), insist that virtually all medieval theatre was staged in the round, including the Valenciennes Passion Play. Drawings of the Valenciennes performance, however, do not support his thesis. Nevertheless, it is important to realise the scope of the controversy.

King on the other hand offers an interpretation of the evidence that seems more in line with the medieval concept of theatrical space as we know it from other events (liturgical drama in the church and the town, processions, etc.): a form of theatre that inscribes itself in everyday life - performed by the citizens of the town for their fellow citizens, using familiar spatial connotations and symbolism to strengthen the content of the drama.

Other types of space: environmental and frontal

Not all of the medieval theatre was environmental and/or 'in the round'. For instance, in the late middle ages there are numerous examples of performances with a more frontally defined spectator-stage relationship. One of these is the Valenciennes Passion play (1547) where the visual evidence seems to show a raised stage - a platform supporting different mansions. However, besides being stretched out in a long line on a raised platform, the fundamental conception of loci and platea doesn't change. The multiple locations function as deictic markers, helping the audience to identify the characters of the play and defining where a certain scene -acted out in the platea- is taking place within the fiction (for example, when a character enters from the portal designated as Nazareth, the audience knows that the ensuing scene is taking place there). In addition, reminiscences of the spatial symbolism that we encountered earlier can be discerned here: the poles between which the play is presented are still heaven (left) and hell mouth (right) with more worldly locations in between. Finally it should be remarked that stage and mansions were also clearly designed to provide for spectacular dramatic tricks: truth descending on a cloud, heaven opening up and revealing God in majesty, hell mouth with pyrotechnics, a pond representing the sea with a ship, etc.

Valenciennes may, or may not, have been a frontally staged performance but there were other types of performance, too. Earlier, there was the liturgical drama acted out in the church or cathedral. There were also the processional cycles, performed on mobile wagons, pageants, throughout the city (for example, the York-Cycle). There is a lot of debate about how these events took place (for instance, the question was raised if it was the audience that moved from pageant to pageant or from place to place, or if it were the pageants that moved along a fixed route. The question has not been answered yet). The processional performances, that remind one of the Royal Entries or even religious processions, are either environmental (the people roaming about the area) or frontal (if the wagons are placed in a position that favours frontal view or even in front of a scaffold with seats for the spectators). Whatever the case, the spatial symbolism of the medieval theatre remains intact: the pageants are defined types of space, the loci; the city-streets are the platea. It is the loci that generate meaning, a meaning that is transferred into the platea (streets) by the theatrical action.

Another type of stage used during the middle ages was the temporary booth stage that was erected for a special occasion and could be removed easily afterwards. Such occasions could be Royal Entries, local fairs and other festivities. The booth stage was also used by the Chambers of Rhetoric of the netherlands, to stage their performances at festivities or theatre contests.

In the medieval theatre, we may conclude, there existed several types of space. Leacroft and Leacroft summarised this adequately:

‘The medieval theatre, then, can be seen to present a number of different actor-audience relationships in addition to those introduced in the classical period. In the church and the market place, it would seem that audience and performers sometimes mixed freely in the open space, the spectators moving from place to place as the action of the play moved from one raised mansion to another (…). Some of the simultaneous settings, however, were also presented on raised platforms, before an audience who all faced in one direction towards the stage (…).’ (Leacroft and Leacroft, 1984, 41).