A BA course aimed at 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students.
‘Medieval drama’ includes scriptural mystery cycles, allegorical morality plays, and early humanist debate plays. Theatrically, medieval plays can be highly innovative, particularly in their self-conscious exploration of the nature of performance and the relationship between actors and audiences. But, in England at least, it is a commonplace that women were not allowed to perform in plays; instead, female roles were performed by male actors. This course will consider the significance of this in relation to the way female roles were constructed, interpreted, and experienced by the audience. It will also consider evidence for particular contexts in which female performance was, in fact, permitted.
- Docente: Elisabeth Dutton