Medieval Drama
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Medieval Drama ENGL-342

This course is an investigation of the development of theater in Europe from the early Middle Ages through the early Renaissance. Readings provide a survey of representative works. Production of a play is a major part of the course: students from the course and members of the community jointly form the Medieval Drama Guild and present dramatic entertainment from the Middle Ages for the community.

Textbooks for 2008

Coldewey, John C.  Early English Drama: An Anthology.  New York and London: Garland, 1993.  ISBN 0824054652
Harris, John Wesley.  Medieval Theatre in Context: An Introduction.  London and New York: Routledge, 1992.  ISBN 0415067820

2008 production:
Hell's Bells: Medieval Devil Tales

This year the Medieval Drama Guild will produce Hell's Bells, a boisterous presentation of four tales about devils.  Hell’s Bells will take place Saturday December 6 at 2:00 and Monday December 8 at 7:30 in the Special Events Center in the Student Union Building on the campus of Boise State University.  Admission is $6, students and seniors $4.   

In The Last Judgment, a fifteenth-century mystery play, the demon Tutivillus cracks jokes as he gathers sinners.  In Soul Food, an actor who has been playing the role of the devil frightens some poachers and then has difficulty returning the abandoned rabbits to their owner.  Sung to a lively melody, the thirteenth-century Galician-Portuguese cantiga The Knight and the Devil tells how a knight who has lost his wealth vows to serve the Devil, but is rescued from the bad contract.  Finally, in The Lady Prioress, a woman tricks her unwanted suitors by sending them to a chapel where a dead man comes to life and a demon attacks.

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