Contemporary performances of medieval mystery plays: The effect of mentalities on performance

Abstract

This thesis examines contemporary British productions of medieval mystery plays, specifically questioning how cultural mentality affects such productions. Because of the distance between the medieval and contemporary British mentalities, a cultural gap exists between original texts and contemporary productions. This gap creates, for audiences, a "double vision," a perception of both the medieval mentality that informed the original text and the contemporary mentality that performs it. Contemporary productions tend to attempt to diminish this inherent "double vision" in a variety of ways, including making the production authentic to medieval practice or by adapting the medieval texts. This thesis analyzes two contemporary productions of medieval mystery plays, the 1998 revival of the York Mysteries, directed by Jane Oakshott, and The Mysteries, a contemporary adaptation of several medieval cycles, written by Tony Harrison and directed by Bill Bryden, exploring the methods used by both to tackle the mentality gap.