Medieval theatre became popular in the 1350s and ended around the 16th century with the rise of Shakespeare and acting troupes. Productions were not held in theaters, they were often performed outside of churches, on top of pageant wagons, or in the middle of towns, taverns, houses, or halls. Women were not often allowed to act in plays in most counties except for France. As time progressed, medieval theatres became more and more secular. But the real factor that led to a boom in medieval theatre was the emergence of guilds.
The actors were originally nuns and priests. However, they were not good actors, which is why guilds started to form. Guilds are small groups of actors in charge of a specific scene. With the emergence of guilds came the rise of pageant wagons. Pageant wagons were a train of wagons that were strung together in a line. Each wagon would have its own guild of actors performing a specific scene on top of the wagon and would be wheeled forward as the scenes progressed. Today, Germany still has pageant wagon festivals.
Sources cited:
No Author, xx-xx-xxxx, “,” No Publication, https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/36286731/Symes_-_History_of_Theatre-Theatre_of_History__History_Compass_-_2009-with-cover-page-v2.pdf?
Melissa Snell, 2-17-2021, “Defining the Middle Ages,” ThoughtCo, https://www.thoughtco.com/defining-the-middle-ages-part-6-1788883
No Author, xx-xx-xxxx, “Medieval Drama,” No Publication, https://u.osu.edu/scott.322/theatre-1-theatre-history/mideval-drama/
Wickham, Glynne. The medieval theatre. Kiribati, Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Medieval Chronicles, xx-xx-xxxx, “Medieval Theatre,” https://www.medievalchronicles.com/medieval-life/medieval-theatre-images/
Victoria and Albert Museum, xx-xx-xxxx, “V&A · The story of theatre,” https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-story-of-theatre
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