The Chautauquan (Volume 44) - Softcover

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1906. Excerpt: ... his book "The Miracle Play in England" gives this interesting information: In the seaport of Kingston-upon Hull the play of "Noah" was performed annually, for over 300 years, on Plough Monday, the Monday after Twelfth Night, by the members of the Shipmasters' or Mariners' Guild, which still exists as the Trinity House. The performance was preceded by the celebration of Mass in the parish church, which was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and where the "Ark" was kept out of harm's way during the year by being suspended from the roof of the church. This ark was fashioned on the model of an ordinary ship, with mast and rigging, and round the sides of the vessel boards were hung, on which were painted pictures of the animals and birds that were supposed to take refuge within. The records of the Guild for the year 1591 show that in that year a new ark was purchased at a cost of £7 4s. 1 id The staging of the mystery play was crudely realistic. The platform upon which the scene was presented could not of course be of great size for the reason that it was mounted on wheels and had to be moved about through the narrow, ill-paved streets. It was open on three sides and at the back appeared a number of entrances into small box-like structures, which Halliwell-Phillips described as "not unlike decorated sentry boxes," representing the various places demanded by the action of the play. There could be no shifting of scenes, so that change of location was necessarily indicated by the position of the actors upon the stage. In the Trial and Passion, for example, requiring representations of the palaces of Herod and Pilate, the Temple at Jerusalem, the room in which the Last Supper was eaten, etc., the development of the action was indicated by the progress of the acto...