RELIGION AND THE DRAMA

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1684, 26 February 1913, Page 8

RELIGION AND THE DRAMA

' / . SOME INTERESTING FACTS. ■ At Sion. College' recently Mr. W. H. Hudson, ill the first of a scries of addresses entitled "Fi-om Christopher Marlowo to, Milton," outlined tho early history of English drama down to tho time of ■ Shakespeare's , immediate predecessors. Like tho drama of ancient Greece, lie pointed out, tho drama of modern Greece was religious in its origin, the first form of drama arising out of the rich symbolical literature of tho Medieval Church. As the result of a long process of evolution there emerged a great religious' drama, 'having for.its subjects stories- froth the Bible and the lives of tho N Saints, and having for its central purpose tho educating, of the. unlettered mass of tho psoplo with the great trutlis and mysteries of'their religion. Religious drama .reached its fullest development carlv in the fourteenth century with the Corpus Christi play:!. The first play had for its subject tho creation of man. nnd in this connection, Mr: Hudson 1 pointed out, there occurred in a German play tho most extraordinary Stago. instruction that had ever been made—"Hero Adam crosses the stage, going to be created." (Laughter.) In tho distribution of the religious plays amongst tlio guilds or corporations it was found sometimes that tho order selected was curiously appropriate. For example, 111 the Chester series, the ' play dealing with the building of Noah's Ark was.entrusted to tho Company of the Carpenters, the Flood plays was entrusted to tho Company for Water Drawers of the River Dee. The "Last Supper" was entrusted to tho Baleens, and lie did not know whether it was more grotesciue or more tragic to discover that tho Crucifixion was entrusted to. the Butchers. A good deal of comedy was introduced into these religious plays. There was reason to suspect .that Shakespeare witnessed one at least of tho annual Corpus Christi plays'at Coventry, and most likely ho got almost his very first idea of dramatic performance from witnessing ttoss curious and quaint representations. .Mr. Hudson proceeded to refer to tho advent of ancient morality plays, which represented a dramatic advance, 011 the old Miracle Play, and pointed . out that tltti beginnings of regular tragedy and regular comedy were' closely connected with the revival of classical learning which came iu with the Renaissanco. . , • ■