Hell's Bells: Medieval Devil Tales -- December 2008

The Fall 2008 Medieval Drama Guild Production will be 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.

The innovative production draws on new understanding of the medieval performance world. There are no clear boundaries between drama and narrative. Medieval entertainers moved freely between music, storytelling, and acting. Until recently we haven’t always recognized scripts.

The four plays explore medieval notions of evil, challenging audiences to consider their own ideas about evil: how it is manifested and how it can be combated. In particular, the Devil and demons are almost always ludicrous in medieval representations. We are often shocked by the juxtaposition of broad humor with serious religious concepts. For medieval audiences, though, humor did not diminish the importance of a subject.

The Medieval Drama Guild focuses on entertainment in community. Students in the Medieval Drama class partner with community actors and musicians, including Virelai des Bois musicians Aage Nielsen, Corey McKnight, and Gail Vaughan, who bring power and intensity to the play through the versatile and complex music of the era. Director James Orr, drama teacher at Crossroads Middle School, brings extensive experience reshaping medieval material to make it accessible for modern audiences.

The Medieval Drama Guild was formed in 1989 to bring together the university and the community in recreating medieval entertainment for modern audiences. The groups consists of members of the community and the broader university together with students in the Medieval Drama class. Headed by Boise State medievalist Dr. Linda Marie Zaerr, the Medieval Drama Guild mingles drama and music in the exciting and often surprising theatrical productions of the Middle Ages.

For more information, contact Linda Marie Zaerr at 426-1213.