The Role of Medieval Theater.

During the Middle Ages, theater was both a part of daily life and a way of celebrating special occasions. It was not limited to scheduled presentations of formally composed and fully scripted plays, and performances were not confined to particular buildings, dependent on a caste of professional actors or a paying clientele. Rather, medieval theater was a means of communication within and between communities, from monasteries to parish churches to princely courts to urban marketplaces. There was a wide array of theatrical styles and genres: musical dramas performed as part of the liturgy of worship; bawdy Latin comedies written for the amusement of students and clerics; biblical dramas that translated sacred stories into familiar languages and scenarios; ballads and tales of heroic deeds chanted and dramatized by professional entertainers; obscene jokes and sketches for late-night entertainment after feasts; royal...