What Special Effects Were Used To Stage The Medieval Mystery Play Noahs Ark - Essay Example

WHAT SPECIAL EFFECT S WERE USED TO STAGE THE MEDIEVAL MYSTERY PLAY "NOAH'S ARK" Medieval plays like "Noah's Ark" served as pedagogical toolsthat provided teaching of the Scripture rather than a tool of entertainment.1 Despite this fact however, its staging and production design also involved special effects. These special effects were meant to aid the production to be wholly creative. There were varied usage of the methods of production alongside the complexity of the plays from place to place, but the creation of theatrical, imaginary space was a notable characteristic of "Noah's Ark."2 In "Noah's Ark," processional staging was used and was considered an important aspect of the play. Processional staging was considered an extremely taxing task as compared with other theatrical forms, but was a distinctive physical feature of "Noah's Ark," being a medieval play. The play involved planning a clearly defined circuit, which can be pushed through a synchronized schedule and traversed in a reasonable amount of time. The actors and actresses were also faced with several difficulties, such as the rigors of continuously staging a single episode repeatedly throughout the day. Revivifying "Noah's Ark" entailed experiments different from the traditional mobile pageantry stations or theatre-in-the round which used to characterise past presentations. A mobile is an important part of the special effects of "Noah's Ark," which involved the creation of a convincing scene.3 An isolated staging place was needed when the play was finally staged. The pageant wagons, which were also known as carriages, were considered a high place, constructed into a house with two rooms, being open in its upper floor. The lower room served as the dressing room while the higher room served as the stage on which the actors performed. The pageant stood upon six wheels.4 These details were important when constructing the wagon which would be used for "Noah's Ark." The wagons were taken around the city in a proper sequence and in a fixed route. In staging "Noah's Ark," there was a need to take the wagons in a proper sequence around a particular vicinity (i. e. city) in a fixed route. They will then be halted at a series of predetermined stations, usually comprising of twelve. The audiences would be waiting in advance at the time the wagons arrived, wherein the most well-off people were seated in specially constructed scaffolds.5 When the first pageants proceeded to the first station, which was at 4:30 in the morning, it was a signal that the performance would then start. It is noteworthy to mention in this paper that the medieval cycle, in which "Noah's Ark" was part, involved 48 plays, indicating that the last play would end at the last station until after midnight. There must be 19 hours of uninterrupted attention that the entire cycle required of its audience.6 The pageant master took care of matters pertaining to costumes, which were predominantly with little attempts at historical accuracy and did not bear any distinctions of race or rank. The outfits of soldiers, peasants, and tradesmen may be described as visually anachronistic, which provided a frame of reference against which the audience may determine the rest of the action.7 It was necessary that "Noah's Ark" use mask as part of the costume, as all other medieval plays of this time. The costume of the angels includes a half-gold mask, a large, tall golden hat crown and a blue robe with dash of gold. Specificity to the social status was essential feature of some characters, such as slouchy robes and hats for the male characters, while the female ones wore robes and short hats. Year after year, the play loaned some garments from members of the public, such as showy cloaks, dresses belonging to the ampler women of the community, or rich mantles characteristic of theatrical impression. Cast-off clothing of richer people was used as costumes, cunningly worked together to form slashed garments of masters and mistresses.8 "Noah's Ark" did not employ outright reliance to music. Rather, the play assigned this aspect (musical effects) to a more auxiliary role in the actors' performances. It then became a means to herald the arrival of divine figures or miracles with high aural characteristics. The manuscripts contained little actual music and it was common that the staging directions included the singing of a specific hymn, in which it was presumed that they were delivered in a capella plainsong.9 Moreover, the "Noah's Ark" employed vague instrumental music, as in the rest of the medieval plays in the cycle. The entire cycle had included trumpeters, musicians and clarks for singing, whose number was considered a rather small outlay, considering its magnitude.10 It was presumed that the "Noah's Ark" also employed a small number of trumpeters, musicians, and clarks. In the building of the ark, which was prevalent in the play, the special effects needed were installed on the wagon. Wagon builders had to produce an image of God or an angel on an elevated seat of the wagon, which stayed in that place at all times in a fashion like that of a tableau. The wagon itself was the ark. Singing in a capella mode was involved in the play. Special effects were kept behind the carts or in the lower stage covered with curtains in order not to distract the actors' performance and the audience's dramatic experience. There was also a crankable barrel winch called windlass, which allowed actors to defy gravity in actions requiring such performance through a rope fastened securely around the waists. Various levels of heaven, earth, and hell were also emphasised through multiple-tiered wagons, which were considered an important aspect of staging the "Noah's Ark."11 The usage of pageant wagons in staging "Noah's Ark" solicited a close actor-audience relationship in the York cycle. The pageant wagon was utilised for scene changes and backstage, and was characteristic of a stage that was on the ground in front of the audience.12 The booming thunder was used as special effects for the creation of sound. Bringing live animals onstage was part of the staging of "Noah's Ark.," considered a difficult but an important feat to conduct. Thus, efforts were undertaken to indeed conduct the boarding of different animals in a big ark in a realistic fashion. Apes, leopards, and lions were herded onto a narrow staging venue at Norwich, of which more sizable, exotic, ferocious, and dangerous animals needed to be represented only by painted cards or some other forms of representation.13 In 1607, live animals were substituted practically by purely painted cards which were help up in emphasis for the audience' edification before handed to Noah who in turn would stow the animals away on board.14 In the medieval plays, as in "Noah's Ark," efforts were undertaken to limit the role of actors to only one, since if an actor would play two separate pageants, it would mean that he would be playing a role that did not belong to his guild. Directors were made to ensure that only a single role was portrayed by every actor for each pageant due to this purpose.15 Each participating guild enjoyed autonomy with the construction of its pageant wagon, as in the guild of "Noah's Ark," although there was no instituted real standard that must be followed for the construction of the pageant wagons. Pageant wagons were a necessity for a medieval play, which "Noah's Ark" likewise undertook. They were considerably inexpensive and easy to either construct or acquire according to what necessitated the play. It is likewise important to mention that had to be costume-fitted for its assigned purpose in that the wagon for "Noah's Ark" might not fit that of the wagon required for the play "Resurrection of Jesus." Wagons must also be spacious enough to accommodate actors and actresses, props, sceneries and machineries for special effects. Having to accommodate all these, the wagon must not be too long, too high, or too unwieldy while navigating through the city streets.16 Records have it that the medieval plays, which includes "Noah's Ark," were staged at the stations as tableaux vivant, a sort of pantomime performed to substitute the dialog, enabling the pageants to act out away from the procession in a single location. There was a competition among the guilds to produce the best play, motivated by the fact that each play - in which "Noah's Ark" was part - was produced by a guild. The guilds may be described as economic, social, and often religious, emphasizing certain mercantile messages. The wainwrights or shipbuilders produced the construction of Noah's Ark and it was essential that the special effects must be able to go alongside with this feature. The character Noah was portrayed by a well-known shipbuilder, employing his craft from God-given talent. Parts of the production style were miniature angels running around the heavens in circles, costumes, and music wherein a choir of voices was presented through a capella, as earlier mentioned.17 The music used fell into two categories; one which accompanied the choristers and another which provided heavenly sound, usually sang in a capella fashion.18 The stage utilised mechanical devises such as used trap doors to produce special effects, including floods of water and flying angels as in the case of "Noah's Ark." The flood was shown by creating a cardboard with drawn waves on it in front of the wagon wheels, which was automatically flipped by people on the backstage.19 Canvas and frame screens were joined together for the water, which were erected swiftly on the spot.20 The medieval play like "Noah's Ark" could be elaborate through its production design and special effects.21 Above the stage were representations of heaven/paradise while beneath it was the representation of hell, and the stage itself represented earthly scenes. The elevation of the set was an important feature of the wagon, since characters had to stand according to hierarchy and such must be emphasised through stage elevation.22 Having the upper floor of the wagon being referred to as the "top," the wagon could have functioned as a thrust stage, which was surrounded by the audience on at least three sides, and staged the play according to the orientation of the procession. At the end of the play, Noah and the villagers climb down the pageant and a semi-circle is formed in front. It may be inferred that the use of special effects was an aspect of significance to medieval plays like the "Noah's Ark" since employing these allows for engaging their audience. Since the "Noah's Ark" was staged on streets by ordinary citizens called Guilds rather than professional actors or priests, it thus doubly engaged its audience.23 Surviving guild documents aided the staging of the Corpus Christi plays of which "Noah's Ark" was part, enabling the plays to be presented in a processional fashion through the streets in pageant wagons.24 At the Guild of St. Anne, a single religious organisation performed the plays presented through the Ludus Coventriae, known as the N-Town cycle in which the "Noah's Ark" was acted on a standing group of wagons arranged around a central viewing area.25 It may be concluded that special effects employed in "The Noah's Ark" were limited, as in other medieval plays of Corpus Christi due to the very nature of the play being mobile. Such may likewise be attributed to its pedagogical character whose focus was to teach the Salvation History to the masses, rather than to entertain the people and provide artistically theatrical pursuits. The "Noah's Ark," being a medieval play, employed limited special effects and production design, as shown by how these special effects were carried out throughout the entirety of the play. The limitation of these special effects was pushed by the character of the play being mobile. Focus was given to the performance and dialogues of the actors, since the play's goal was to instill among Christians the importance of Sacred History.26 It may be inferred that the staging of the "Noah's Ark" as part of the Corpus Christi plays was a hallmark in the larger Catholic movement of the medieval ages, which represented the Gothic style even in its special effects.27 Critique of Sources The book by Barnet, et al titled "Types of Drama: Plays and Contexts" written in 1997 is able to provide a good source of information for medieval plays like Noah's Ark. Its comprehensive contents about drama and plays is able to aid in the writing of this paper, specifically on the medieval theatre and its characteristics, setting, purpose, and technical nature. Harris' "Medieval Theatre in Context: An Introduction" written in1992 contains theater-religious aspects of drama, Christianity and literature, Christian drama, theater and society, medieval- history and criticism. It presents the medieval plays including the social and religious backgrounds of the times for which they were conducted, and allows the viewer to see the holistic view of medieval theater alongside other genres of theatre in their entirety. Wilson and Goldfarb's "Anthology of Living Theatre" written in 2001 is a good source material that aids in bringing a production to life like "Noah's Ark" and presents the ways stories are constructed and how they develop. The book generally provides analytical and technical learning experiences for the reader as well as derives necessary sources for the purposes of this paper on the medieval play "Noah's Ark." Meanwhile, the electronic article "Religious, Political, Economic, and Artistic Contexts" by Dennis Jerz published in 1997 presents good and detailed source of information about how a medieval play is conducted. Its visual discussion of the technical aspects of the Corpus Christi play of which "Noah's Ark" is part provides rich sources for which this paper may be written aptly. Images of the Medieval Play "Noah's Ark" Below are illustrations of medieval pageant wagons which give an idea of how the medieval play "Noah's Ark was staged during the Middle Ages."28 Below is the manuscript of the Second Shepherd's Pageant which is part of the Wakefield Cycle of the Extant Medieval Mystery Play of the Middle Ages, of which "Noah's Ark" is part.29 The illustration below shows garments worn by the actors in the medieval play.30 It is noteworthy to mention that cast-off clothing of richer people was used as costumes while the outfits of soldiers, peasants, and tradesmen were described as visually anachronistic. The musicians of "Noah's Ark" as all other medieval plays are depicted in the illustration below:31 References Barnet, Sylvan, Berman, Morton, Burto, William, and Draya, Ren. Types of Drama: Plays and Contexts. Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1997. Harris, John Wesley. Medieval Theatre in Context: An Introduction. Routledge, 1992. Jerz, D. Religious, Political, Economic, and Artistic Contexts, 1997. http://jerz.setonhill.edu/resources/PSim/yorkintro.html, Date Accessed 2/11/09. Wilson, Edwin and Goldfarb, Alvin. Anthology of Living Theatre. Second Edition. McGraw-Hill Companies, 2001. Read More