Medieval English Drama provides a fresh introduction to thedramatic and festive practices of England in the late Middle Ages.The book places particular emphasis on the importance of theperformance contexts of these events, bringing to life a periodbefore permanent theatre buildings when performances took place ina wide variety of locations and had to fight to attract andmaintain the attention of an audience. Showing the interplaybetween dramatic and everyday life, the book covers performances inconvents, churches, parishes, street processions and parades, andin particular distinguishes between modes of outdoor and indoorperformance.
Katie Normington aids the reader to a fuller understanding ofthese early English dramatic practices by explaining thesignificance of the place of performance, the particularities ofspectatorship for each event and how the conventions of the form ofdrama were manipulated to address its reception. Audiencesconsidered range from cloistered members, congregations and parishmembers to urban citizens, nobles and royalty.
Undergraduate students of literature of this period will findthis an approachable and illuminating guide.