The Medieval Stage

The title of the book is as relative as the conception of medieval drama itself, i.e. both proceeding from theatre and rejecting theatre, and also basically liturgical. The point is what exactly was happening to the ancient drama at the dawn of Christianity and in what way drama was appreciated beyond the theatrical system, i.e. within the Christian teaching and ritual and was is has inherited to the further developments of dramatic art. Historically is has been a long-lasting and inconsistent process maintaining most diversified revelations.

 The Latin-Celtiic-German period (since the 10^th century) has been thoroughly looked into, while earlier   periods (since the 4^th century) have been left out of sight. The latter is intended to be called the Greek- Assyrian-Armenian period.

 The word բեմ (bem) being the equivalent for the words stage and scene in English has got a different historic meaning.  It is borrowed from ancient Greek (βήμα) and maintains a clerical and scholastic meaning. It means height altar, pulpit. This is merely the linguistic point of the issue. The subject matter of the current investigation is the Christian liturgy, which retains two origins in historical terms. The Roman theatres are known to have been converted into places punishment in the earlier centuries of Christianity and the carriers of the new faith were tortured to death, comedians among them According to some archaeological data the first church of john the Baptist, the progenitor of Christianity used to be the Alexandria Theatre (2^nd century), and the proscenium of the Theatre of Cyde was converted into a church, and that churches were built of the stones of the ravaged theatres as long as they were said to be consecrated with the sacred blood. Exactly in this period The Apostolic liturgy with choral dialogues was originated, which was later developed by St. Basil obviously influenced by ancient attic drama. He was educated in the late Hellenistic school like most other contemporaries of his and, consequently was deeply inclined towards grammatical and rhetorical interpretations of classical Greek drama. Therefore, Basil’s “Liturgy” can be assumed as a metamorphosis of the ancient tragedy and the religious and ideological basis for the religious drama. Some of the further interpretations of ritual and dramatic character relating to some of the plots described in the New Testament, particularly those with Christian and Easter series tend to be assumed as liturgical, and so in the theatre history they are referred to as liturgical drama. Thus, the Church, beginning from the 4^th and 5^th centuries developed its theatrocracy as  a firm rejection to the pagan theatrical heritage. The critical speeches of the clerics, which had originated since the thing century (Tertullian, Cyprian and others) had their continuation in later centuries. In the fifth century Basil’s “Liturgy” was translated into Armenian, as a canonical rite, as well as Johann Chrisostom’s theatre-rejecting speeches against the theatre and public games (Johann Mairavanetsi, the 7^th century, Simon the Bishop). Having established its theatrocracy, the church quite naturally reviewed the pagan symbols of religious and social nature. The very central symbol appeared to be the theatre and that was to be rejected. The literary pieces of drama though had already been made the property of the libraries and were studied as materials for grammatical and aesthetic interpretation.

 In the late Hellenistic period (beginning from the 1^th century) the ancient drama was pronounced as a monologue and a piece of rhetoric art. This tradition was passed to Byzantine Christian schools together with the Grammar Art by Dionysius Trax, The Rhetoric by Theon of Alexandria, Athenaeus’s    Progymnasmata. All these pieces were translated into Armenian in the 5^th century as textbooks for grammar schools. Dionysius Thrax’ Grammar was interpreted both in Byzantine intellectual circles (Melampodos, Diomedes, Heliodoros, Marcianos , Byzantine) as well as Armenian schools (David, Movses,  Anonymous,  Stephanos). This tradition has continued to survive till the 14-15^th centuries. Since the 10^th century Latin translations and interpretations had become known in Europe as well. In the textbooks of Rhetoric certain elements of theatre aesthetics can be observed. Quite evidently it can be seen in Theon’s Rhetoric. Only two pages in paragraph 13 of Theon’s Rhetoric not available in the original text in Greek have survived in the Armenian translation (5^th century). In it a description of a naturalistic play of a Greek actor Povlos by name is given as a rhetorical criterion. This is an irrefutable evidence of the early medieval existence of the school drama. The some name can be found in Dionysios’s Grammar, and guidelines for acting can be found in Byzantine scholia, Athenaeus’s work and also in medieval Armenian scholia. This means that the churc h-school drama can no longer be considered a phenomenon peculiar to 13-15^th centuries but it goes back to the 4^th and 5^th centuries. Theon’s Rhetoric elucidates not only the early medieval grammatical heritage, but also later periods, such as that of Stratford Grammar School and is presented by Shakespeare’ Hamlet ( “…Tears in the eyes, distraction in‘s aspect, A broken voice, and his whole function suiting…”). Rowse, Shakespeare’s biographer points out Athenaeus’s above-mentioned work as being one of the textbooks of Stratford Grammar School, in the rhetorical guidelines of which Theon’s impact is obvious. It should be mentioned without doubt that the original of Shakespearean understanding of acting presented in Hamlet’s judgements are to be sought for in the criteria of university rhetoric of the time. The interpretations of Dionysius Thrax’ Grammar became known to European philologists due to Alfred Hilgard’s publication (Leipzig, 1901). That was much dealt with on the part of linguists, but it should also be considered to be the literary theory of the time and it has surprisingly been ignored by theorists of drama. While the Armenian scholia (5-14^th centuries) which were duly studied and published by Nikoghayoss  Adonts  (publ. 1915, St. Peterburg) are hardly known to European philologists. The study of in reveals most unexpected evidence, particularly the earlier-developed theory of the school drama.

 Those pieces of literature which are close to drama in terms of their dialogue-type structure are being observed in the light of grammatical scholia. Thus, for instance, the trenodia “Lamentation of Our Lady” is a completely tragic dialogue. Another example of mystic drama is  ”Ode to Resurrection” by Nerses Lambronatsi (12^th century), a funny dialogue. Or, say a comic miracle called “For the Mangled” by Nerses Abegha (Monk Nerses) is said to go back to the 14^th century and, of course, the oratorical drama “Song Annunciation “ by Arakel Baghishetsi (15^th century), some dramatic poems of late medieval period are like morality plays. . To mention a few, “The Wine and the philosopher”, “Earth and Heaven Argument”  etc. Though with religious content they were not involved in official church ceremonies and were written for the sake of education and teaching morale. The creative environment of them cannot be imagined outside church and school. Their relation to grammatical interpretation is mostly common, indirect, sometimes direct relationship is observed.

In medieval original texts the religious drama is not called the art, it has got its own term, and translated into Armenian it sound as katsurd  (presentment) and banagortsution (speech action). The Armenian translation taghavor and khoran for the Greek equivalent deserve special interpretation. One of them implies theatrical, sometimes even ceremonial meaning,  the other one carries a liturgical meaning.

 Some phenomena peculiar to medieval drama regain new values in the context of the present study. Thus, for example, a compilation of  comedies  called   “Anti-Terence” issued by Hrotsvitha, a Benedictine abbess (10^th century) of Gandersheim in Saxony. Hrotsvitha’s plays appear to be the dramatic projection of theatre-rejecting speeches, and in their real sense, they claim to be the rejection of the genre. We tend to believe that they were performed not in the 10^th century (as it is supposed to have been) but after the year 1494 initiated to be performed on a university stage. This is the so-called school theatre which was later developed by Martin Luther against Catholicism, and by Ignatius Loyolla against Protestantism (afther the year 1534). Since that time the school stage became a cathedra for theological debates. Some hints of that are observed in Hamlet’s, the graduate of Wittenberg University words. The theatre of Dutch Deacons’ Readings (rederaykers) was much the same.

 This, the rhetorical apprehension of drama originated in the monastery grammar school and became a propaganda and a debate of a theoretical nature. In the late middle ages it was passed to Jesuitical schools to become the privilege of them, then in penetrated to Easter Europe and through Catholic missionaries was brought into Armenian environment. The Armenian church-school stage in Lvov served to Catholic preaching with “The Martyrdom of St. Hripsime” and other plays (since 1668). The monastery school stage at St. Lazar in Venice principally possessed the same role (since 1730). An incomplete list of the performed plays is known, also some theatrical explication such as “Clerk Emianoss”,”St. Anton Abbot”, “Luther’s Deeds” and others. Eventually, the  aggiographic  ideas gained religious and patriotic meaning, and there appeared the martyred commander Vardan Mamikonyan, having been sanctified in the 5^th century, as a dramatic personage on the monastery stage at St. Lazar. The aggiographic drama continued to the implemented in the 19^th century Armenian theatre and this can be assumed as an emergence of secularization.

 The secularization is not so much a result of historic evolution but an parallel phenomenon and its origins can be found in the early middle Ages as an example of popular religious orientation. It is the ambivalent appreciation of reality in the people’s theatre, where the equilibrist is presented as John the Baptist’s messenger, bringing for-ward his prayers and charms, eminent and fascinating, ready to create a miracle, and his servant, who is mean and mercenary. Here we have the archetypical understanding of spiritual and worldly attitudes. Another expression of secularization can be observed in the monastery environment. It is the play called “Abeghatogh” performed in the very last day of Shrovetide. It is a liturgical parody, feast and fun, a violation of the monastery hierarchy, a mockery which ends up with a most wonderful miracle. It’s the comic scene of Lazar’s resurrection. We shall call this a comic mystery and, draw the curtain of the medieval stage.

                                                                                  Translated by   Astghick H.Hovhannissian