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N—TOWN MODERNIZED: AN EXPERIMENT IN
THE ADAPTATION OF A MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS TEXT
FOR MODERN PRODUCTION

presented by

ANDREW DAVID , RYDER

has been accepted towards fulfillment
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MSU I. An Afflnnatiw Action/Emmi Oppommlly Institution
Walnut

N-TOWN MODERNIZED: AN EXPERIMENT IN
THE ADAPTATION OF A MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS TEXT
FOR MODERN PRODUCTION

BY

Andrew David Ryder

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Theatre

1994

ABSTRACT
N-TOWN MODERNIZED: AN EXPERIMENT IN

THE ADAPTATION OF A MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS TEXT
FOR MODERN PRODUCTION

BY
Andrew David Ryder

The English drama of the Middle Ages may be adapted for
modern performance. Few scripts documenting medieval
performances exist, and most of these are written in Middle
English, Latin, Medieval French, or some combination of
these. It is valuable to create modernized texts of the
medieval drama, and to document the process through which
modern productions may be made from modern-spelling editions
of medieval plays.

This thesis explores the process of condensing and
adapting the text of the N-town Passion Plays I and II into
a paraphrased, modern English performance script. The
process includes: changes in language and script; various
elements of performance (staging, scenography, costume and

audience relationship); and thematic ideas and expression.

Copyright © by
ANDREW DAVID RYDER
1994

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my appreciation to my major
professor, Frank Rutledge, for his instruction and criticism
which greatly improved this thesis. This study would never
have been possible, however, without the many people who
assisted me in mounting a production of this script. First
I must thank the staff of First Presbyterian Church of
Lansing, Michigan, who not only loaned us a beautiful
performance space but also waived the usual rental fee. Our
budget was provided by the Graduate Showcase Fund of
Michigan State University's Theatre Department, and the
Theatre Department itself was supportive of our production
in every way possible. But the production would not have
happened without our wonderful cast of fifteen Michigan
State University undergraduate students. Their efforts
brought this play to life.

Finally, I must thank my wife Sharon for her continuing
support of my efforts. Her assistance and advice in casting
and managing people is always invaluable. I could not do it

without her encouragement.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction ................................. 1
II. Adaptation of Passion Plays I and II ........ 20
Part A: Structural Outline
and Condensation ...................... 20
Part B: Script Development and Structure:
Specific Examples ..................... 53
Part C: Adaptation of Characters:
Reduction and Combination ............. 59
III. Testing the Adaptation in Production ........ 63
Part A: Scenic Techniques and Staging ...... 63
Part B: Acting ............................. 74
IV. Unique Themes ............................... 77
Part A: Law ................................ 77
Part B: Grace .............................. 86
Part C: Communicating the Message .......... 88
V. Evaluations and Conclusions ................. 90
Appendix A: Script of Law_and_§rage .............. 94
Appendix B: Floorplan of Performance Space ...... 128
Bibliography .................................... 129

iv

I. Introduction
Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this thesis is to experiment with
adapting a specific medieval religious script for a present—
day audience. This thesis describes an attempt to adapt the
N-town Passion Plays I and II for a modern audience, and the
process of testing the adaptation with a contemporary
audience. The study organizes itself into three major
areas: 1) Script adaptation: language and structure; 2)
Script presentation, which includes the challenge of
approximating medieval performance conditions in terms of
staging, scenography, acting, costumes and audience
relationship; and 3) Unique thematic content and means of
expression. It includes the attempt to address contemporary

audience expectations in all three areas.
The Period and Its Drama

The religious drama of the Middle Ages and the
theatrical performances which grew from it have attracted
the attention of hundreds of scholars over the past five
centuries. Twentieth-century studies suggest a general
division into genres: 1) collections of texts and
translations; 2) essays on the content, purpose and dramatic
value of the plays; 3) works of literary history; and

l

2
4) speculations on historical performance. There are many
works in each category. The following are those which are
most significant for this study.
The first group consists of original manuscripts, text

collections and translations. This group includes Karl

Young's monumental two—volume Drama ef the Medieval Chureh
(1933), in which he anthologizes a corpus of important

medieval religious drama. Young organizes his text
according to subject, rather than date, location or other
criteria. David Bevington's 1975 Medieyal_2rama stands out
among the newer works of this genre. He anthologizes many
of the same texts as Young, but organizes his text
chronologically, including brief prefatory sections on each
period. Bevington also collects a Corpus Christi protocycle
which includes the Banns and Passion Play I from N—town.
The most important texts for this study are the editions and
translations of the N-town cycle of R. T. Davies (Totowa:
Rowman, 1972) and Stephen Spector (2 vols. Oxford: Oxford
UP, 1991).

The next group features scholars writing about content,

themes and dramatic potential in medieval plays. Among them
are: Eleanor Prosser, author of Dgama_aad_Religiea_in_Lhe
Englieh_MyeLery_Elaye (1961), in which she argues for the

value and quality Of the religious cycle drama as a drama of
repentance; O. B. Hardison, whose 1965 study gngjggjan BIL:

WW suggests a close

connection between the drama and liturgy of the medieval

3
period; and Arnold Williams, who attempted to bring
medieval drama to a general audience with his Drama of
W (1961).

An intermediate group, loosely defined as "literary
historians," includes two very important works for the study
of medieval drama. They are: E. K. Chambers' classic 1903
Me ' v , still a standard reference work because of
its scope, though the concept of evolutionary development it
suggests from church to drama to cycle has been generally

superseded; and Hardin Craig's response to and elaboration

on Chambers' ideas in the 1955 Englieh Religieae Drama 9f
£h§_MiQQl§_AQ§§- Though he does not completely abandon

Chambers, and suggests that religious drama is more
important as religion than as drama or theatre, Craig's
ideas engender challenging questions about the religious
form and purpose of the cycles.

Glynne Wickham heads the final group, which consists of
theatre historians writing about the conditions of medieval
performance. His Eagly Egglieh Stages ; l3QQ-lfifiQ (1959)
documents performances ranging from tournaments and ridings
to the construction of The Theatre in 1576 and beyond. His
more recent Medieyal_1hea§1e (1987) summarizes European
theatrical activity in the same period. William Tydeman
has written widely on the subject as well. The 1986 book,

English Medieval Theatre; 1409-1599 discusses some of the

medieval English plays and their performance methods, while

Tydeman's broader WW (1978) traces

4

the develOpment of theatre in England from 800 to 1576, and
includes a valuable chronology. Other historians of
performance include: Peter Meredith and Keith Ramsay, who,
with Tydeman, have written Aeging_Medieyal_£laye (1985) in
which they discuss the possibilities of modern performance
of the cycles, with a description of their own efforts; and
Stanley Kahrl and Kenneth Cameron who published a series of
articles on the specifics of staging at Lincoln Cathedral,
suggesting and documenting a possible connection between the

cathedral and the N-town cycle.

The Texts or Scripts

One consideration immediately faces the producer of
medieval cycle drama: few texts remain. Even fewer of these
texts exist in a form which may be directly produced by
modern performers. Only four cycles are relatively
complete: York, Chester, Towneley (Wakefield) and N—town.
There are also manuscripts for plays from Coventry and
Cornwall which appear to have been part of longer cycles.
Each collection uses 20 plays or more (N-town takes 41) to
tell the story of Mankind's Fall, Redemption and Judgment.
It is possible that some of these cycles were performed, on
occasion, all in one day. Their sheer length demands at
least one full summer day of attention (during all available
hours of sunlight) to perform a complete cycle of plays.

Other than the revivals of the York, Lincoln and Chester

5

plays in their towns beginning in the 19503 (see Elliott 71—
156; Wickham, Medieyal Theatte (MT) 234-38), it is nearly
impossible to consider performing an entire cycle at once.
Modern producers must select some plays, scenes and lines
and eliminate others. For a modern American audience
accustomed to spending two or three hours in the theatre, it
is probably not feasible to perform more than ten of these
plays at one time.

The process of text selection involves many decisions.
Some of these are: choosing one cycle; selecting scenes from
that cycle or from each cycle and assembling them into a
script; and determining how to adapt the selection for a
modern audience. For example, this particular attempt used
the Passion sequences from the N-town cycle. In N-town, the
Passion is divided into two groups of plays which were
ostensibly performed in alternating or subsequent years.
This segment of ten plays (approximately 3000 lines of
poetry) was condensed into a continuous script of twenty
short scenes and about 750 lines of prose. The adapted
script begins with Jesus' Triumphal Entry and continues

through the Ascension.

Sources for "N—town": The Name and the Text

The cycle called "N—town" is shrouded in mystery. It

was once known as Ludus Coventriae because an early scribe

mistakenly scribbled that title on a cover of the

6
manuscript. Some call this the "Hegge" cycle because a man
named Robert Hegge once owned the work (Spector xiii-xviii).
These are also known as the Lincoln plays according to the
scholarship of Stanley Kahrl and Kenneth Cameron, which
places them at Lincoln based on performance records from the
cathedral there and references within the N-town script.
William Tydeman and Hardin Craig also accept Lincoln as a
possible home for N-town (Craig 265—80; TMA 160). It is not
known for sure where this cycle might have been performed
(or if it was even ever performed as a cycle (Fletcher
163)), so the designation "N-town" is appropriate to
indicate its anonymity. However, the title comes directly
from the proclamation to the play: "A Sunday next, yf that
we may / at vj [6] of the belle we gynne oure play / In
N.town" (Spector 21). This description might suggest an
itinerant or touring production.

Not only is the name confusing, but the manuscript
itself is inconsistent. There are eight different
watermarks on the paper and at least four different types of
handwriting in the manuscript (Spector xxii-xxiii, xxxix—
xl). Because Passion Play I has a clear beginning, middle
and end, and Passion II at least has a definite beginning,
it appears that they could have been performed separately
and therefore either added to this manuscript or removed
from one which no longer exists. Alan Fletcher argues that
the cycle itself is a compilation, intended as a flexible

basis for production, but not in itself a performance

7
script. He suggests that the additions, deletions and other
changes in the text serve primarily to offer many
possibilities for future interpretations. The Passion Plays
came from some other source in relatively complete form, and
were only altered in small ways, incorporating material from
an earlier "cycle" and blending the end of Passion II into
the remaining plays (172—77).

The plays in the manuscript do not accord completely
with the proclamation, which announces the name and subject
of each play. This introduction contradicts the content of
some portions of the cycle contained within the manuscript,
and shows evidence of at least two different numbering
systems (Spector 417). These conditions have led many to
treat this cycle as discrete units without any unity of plan
and design, which must be analyzed separately according to
their differences. Eleanor Prosser and Martin Stevens,
however, (among others) have argued convincingly that this
script is unified (Stevens, "Genres" 44; Prosser 201—205).
Despite this controversy, such a play seems well-suited to
be a source for a modern selection from a cycle. This
conclusion is supported by Fletcher's perception of the
manuscript as a composite compilation which shifts
"responsibility for the final form that the compilatio takes

to those who use it" (177), which is precisely what

any play script properly does.

8

Definitions

The term "medieval" is used in a very generic sense.
Webster's dictionary defines "medieval" as "of or pertaining
to the Middle Ages," and defines the "Middle Ages" as a
period from approximately 500—1500 A.D. In the history of
the English cycle drama, neither date is so clear or so
early. The chronology listed in Richard Beadle's gamhgidge
W begins in 970. with
the date of the Regala;ie_geheetdia containing the
"Visitatio Sepulchri." And it is not until 1376 that there
is even a mention of the Corpus Christi pageants; in this
case the plays at York, for which the earliest extant text
dates to the 14605. The N—town plays are dated 1468,
perilously close to Webster's ending date for the "medieval"
period.

Glynne Wickham proposes four possible (later) dates for
the conclusion of the medieval period in theatre in England:
1576 (the building of The Theatre in London), 1605 (the
appearance of the first proscenium—arched stage), 1642 (the
closing of the theatres) or 1660 (the 'triumph of the new
style of stagecraft in the public theatres built after
1660') (EES xxvii). Since the N-town cycle may have been
performed as early as 1400 and no later than the 15705 (TMA
249), 1576 will serve to define the close of the medieval
period for the purposes of this paper.

"Liturgy” refers to the services and rituals of the

9
Medieval Catholic church. "Liturgical drama" is drama which
was a part of the rituals of the church and was not
performed independently of those services. Most of this
drama was written in Latin, beginning with the well-known
"Quem Quaeritis" trope (Bevington 21-29; Young 201-369).
The language and indoor performance location distinguish it
from the cycle drama, also referred to here as the "mystery
plays," because they deal, as Dorothy Sayers put it, "with
the central Mystery of Redemption" and ”show forth the Myth,
beginning to end" (qtd. in Elliott ix).

The cycles are also distinguished from "saints' plays"
and "miracle plays" (though Wickham retains the latter
designation for the cycles in EES) which followed them and
dramatized miraculous events and acts by historical
canonized individuals. Neither are they appropriately
classified as "morality plays," of which Eyegymah is the
best-known example. Morality plays usually tell a
temptation story, featuring a human subject who must make
the right choices when faced with the personifications of
such challenges as Death, Goods, Good Deeds and Knowledge.

In this introduction the word “drama" has already been
used as an understood word. Because of its multiplicity of
connotations, this thesis defines "drama" as "the written
script for a theatrical performance." Within this thesis,
"theatre" takes on two definitions as well. A "theater,"
("-er") is the place where such a performance takes place.

The "theater" for these medieval plays may have been a

10
street or a field. In the case of the modern performance of
this adapted script, the "theater" was a church chapel.
"Theatre" ("-re") describes the shared experience of the
performance of one of these plays, then or now. It is the
event for which any drama is but the foundation. It is
assumed that the specific definition will be clear to the
reader from the context.

Within the performer/audience relationship exist a
variety of possible arrangements. The two extremes of this
relationship have often been described as "representation"
and "presentation." These words distinguish between theatre
which is illusionistic and attempts to fool the audience
into believing events on stage are really happening
(Crawford 501) and theatre which is given more directly to
the audience, as in a lecture, an aside or a soliloquy
(500).

"Presentation" implies some attempt or success at
clearly informing the audience of their position and role in
the theatrical contract, and often reminding them of this
role throughout the production, either by direct address,
labels and signs, or visible mechanics. Presentational
theatre is anti—illusion and seeks to maintain the
perception that an audience is nothing more than an audience
in a theater. This distance from the plot or events onstage
is intended to provide them with the separation necessary to
think about the issues raised by the performance. John

Elliott has written, "The English mystery cycles are

11
presentational rather than realistic dramas. . . . the
illusion of scenic verisimilitude plays no essential part in
their meaning" (127). John Marshall concludes that modern
productions have proven that "performance requires acts of
presentation rather than identification" (304). The
production created from this adapted script may be

classified as "Presentational Theatre."

Problems and Challenges of the Drama

There are many problems inherent in the attempt to
communicate this kind of drama to a modern audience. The
English language has changed in many ways since the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries when these plays were
regularly performed (Tydeman, Iheat;e_ih_the_Middle_Agee
(TMA) 248). Our society has changed as well. The most
significant societal change in terms of its effect on modern
productions of these plays concerns the relationship between
"secular" and "religious" life. When these dramas were
being performed, they were an outgrowth of the work of the
church. Even those plays which were performed entirely by
craft guild members and sponsored by the town government
were religious experiences in purpose. In Medieyal_1heat;e
Glynne Wickham asserts,

the drama associated with Corpus Christi was
directed towards the frivolous rich and the
covetous tradesman in an effort to re-dedicate

society to Christ and Christ's service in the
remembrance that Christ had died to save mankind

12

the Corpus Christi Cycle plays were as much
a civic response to this message as an
ecclesiastical initiative. Market-squares were
thus as appropriate a platea or acting-place for
these performances as convent courtyards, laymen
more desirable as actors than clerics, and civic
wealth as necessary to finance productions of
these ludi as clerical scribes to provide the
texts. (67)

The cycle plays were connected with the Catholic Feast
of Corpus Christi, which was celebrated on the Thursday
following Trinity Sunday, or between May 23 and June 24 (TMA
97). They were performed during Corpus Christi and other
summer church festivals such as Whitsun (Pentecost),
approximately two weeks earlier, and St. Anne's Day, July 26
(Woolf 55). The cycles tell the story of Christian history
from the creation of the world to the end of time.

Not only is this story, with its focus on the
crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, a religious story,
but the writing, selection and editing of the story in the
plays utilized liturgical materials and theological ideas

present in the resources and publications of the

contemporary catholic church. Among these resources were

the Meditatignes_yitae_9hristi. the apocryphal gOSPel of
Pseudo-Matthew and the Mirrgur_gf_the_Ble§§ed_fo_gf_lesu
ChLiSL. Nicholas Love's translation of the Meditatiehee.
These commentaries, along with the Merthe1h_£aeeieh and
other contemporary works, supplemented the scribes and
scholars' primary source, the Vulgate Scripture (Spector

xliv).

13
Guild performers, clergy or laity, considered all of
their work, whether farming, preaching or shoeing horses, to
be the work of God. As Wickham has written,

a mentality which regarded toil as itself a
devotional exercise, a return of thanks to the
Creator for the endowments of skill and bodily
health . . . was the unquestioned View of the
guilds, all of which existed in the service of a
Patron Saint as well as for the better conduct of

trade and the regulation of employment. (Eatly
English Stages (EES) 127)

Though being at church was not the same as being at work,
the harsh, black-and-white distinction we make today between
"Church and State" or "Religion and Society" did not exist.
There is another element which distances modern
audiences from this drama: the festive, celebratory
experience of the plays. Meg Twycross acknowledges that:
There was no such thing as casual theatregoing:
each of these plays was the centrepiece of a
special occasion for a close-knit community. The
mystery plays were at the same time a religious
festival and a tourist attraction: their players
could draw on a charge of heightened religious
emotion and civic pride which we can never
recreate. (37)
R. T. Davies describes the "celebratory function" of the
cycles which functioned "as a species of both worship and
self-realization . . . [to act] out the destiny of mankind
under God." The Medieval people who came together for this
experience were enjoying a summer festival which indulged
"an entire community's many-sided and diversely satisfying
activity on a public holiday" (47). And John Marshall has

written, "What distinguishes medieval drama from that of our

own time as much as anything else is its religious sense of

14
festive occasion" (296).

Some of the twentieth—century occasions on which full
cycles have been produced have recreated this kind of
"festival" atmosphere, among them the English town revivals
(see Elliott; Marshall) and the occasional cycle festivals
at the University of Toronto, sponsored by their resident
production company, Poculi Ludique Societas (PLS). This
group of students, faculty and alumni of the UniverSity of
Toronto's Medieval Drama Program produces local and touring
productions of short medieval plays as well as organizing
occasional international festivals at which entire cycles
are produced. For example: the York Cycle was produced
there in 1977 (see Lindebaum); the N-town Passion was
performed there in 1981 (Twycross 59; Walsh 133); and the
Towneley Cycle in 1985 (Walsh 137; Marshall 295). These
festivals feature performance groups from the United States,
Canada and the world. Together they play one whole cycle or
parts of one over a period of days. This shared experience
creates a bond among the participants. Milla Riggio
describes the 1985 Toronto Towneley Cycle performance and
its effect this way:

even when divorced from its religious origins, a
communal event such as this production powerfully
creates its own ambience. The festival transcends
the particularities of production. . . .the event
created a sense of shared community that gave it
momentum to absorb weak productions and dramatic
inconsistencies. (143).

Harvey Cox's study of modern festivity suggests that

our summer concerts and art shows only approximate the

15
experience of these celebrations. He claims that "our
celebrations do not relate us, as they once did, to the
parade of cosmic history or to the great stories of man's
spiritual quest" (4). Cox goes on to define "festivity" as
"the capacity for genuine revelry and joyous celebration"

(7), attributes which seem uncommon today.

Medieval 'Time' in Religious Dramas

Another challenge to the modern producer of medieval
drama is the idea of time. The medieval mind understood
time differently than modern man does. Eleanor Prosser has
described it this way: "the crowds that gathered to watch
the mystery plays were not witnessing a dramatized 'history'
of a dead past, but a living demonstration of present truth"
(53). Time was not linear and causal; but time as presented
in the cycles: time which began because God caused it to
begin in creation and which will end when God causes it to
end at Doomsday. God's "time" is "an eternal present in
which yesterday is as much today as tomorrow, for He is
outside time and knows all always" (Davies 45) and man's
time is only a brief second of eternity. The cycles connect
the audience with eternity by reminding them of the relative
insignificance of human history and achievement. Harvey Cox
says much the same thing about the function of celebrations
(which is what the cycles were) for a society: "Celebration

reminds us that . . . history is not the exclusive or

16

final horizon of life" (46). Man's potential for good is
greater in this View of time, for Man can do anything when
connected with the Eternal Creator. The present is
important because choices made in it will affect eternity.
The past is interesting and valuable not because it
illustrates mankind's achievements or demonstrates the
causes of social conditions, but because it may provide the
impetus to remedy the present. The future is the hoped-for
bliss of Heaven, the Eternal.

This concept of time includes the Seven Ages of Man.
The first five ages include the events of the Old Testament
from Adam through the prophets. The sixth age is the Age of
Grace, which includes Christ's lifetime and ours. The final
age will begin with Doomsday and return time to eternity
(Kolve 119-20).

Related to the medieval concept of time is the lack of
a sense of "historicity" in the Middle Ages. The English
townspeople Who saw these plays had little concern for the
proper historical period of the drama or story. They
considered time to be connected by what was outside of and
superior to it, not by a succession of historical events or
ideas (Kolve 119). As John Marshall asserts, "Medieval
drama presents the biblical past in terms of the medieval

present” (179).

l7

Medieval Staging Practices

There is a form to the staging of the medieval period
and particularly to the N-town Passion Plays. This method
may be described as loca-platea, or place—and-scaffold,
staging. It features two primary acting areas: the platea
(also called the "place"), which refers to the audience—
level performance area and includes the space among and
surrounding the seating area (Twycross 59; Southern 17—49);
the loca, or locations, defined in and around the platea and
raised up on constructed platforms called "scaffolds". A
scaffold may also be called "scaffold, stage, house and
tent" (Twycross 60). The scaffolds can indicate general or
specific loca. In this kind of specified staging
arrangement, there was always a scaffold for Heaven and some
kind of ”Hell," though Anne Cooper Gay finds that in
treating the N-town Passion Play I as a discrete drama, no
Hell is required. She describes a total of six "stations"
for the performance of this play, at least three of them on
elevated stages (136). Other scaffolds might indicate
different locations at different times. For example, in the
N-town Passion, the same "council-house" may have served
both as the "little oratory" where the Jews plot Jesus'
destruction and "the Temple" where Maria Virgo goes to await
the Resurrection at the end of Passion Play I (see Nelson

133-47; Rose, "Staging" 210-19).

18
In the production described within this thesis, almost
all of the locations were used to indicate more than one
setting. For example, the main stage level (B), which
served as the Upper Room for the Last Supper scenes in
Passion Play I became the Mount of Olives and the hill of
the Crucifixion later in the story (see below: fig. 1; p.

64, "Playing Space").

Limitations

The limits of this effort are as follows: this study
describes the process of adapting the script for a
contemporary performance of the Passion I and II segments of
the N-town cycle: second, the paraphrased script is based
upon R. T. Davies' English version, which reflects his own
translation choices for obsolete and archaic words.
Therefore, the performance script contained herein is not "a
new translation of N—town." Finally, while this is not
dramatic or literary criticism, the tools of both were used
in preparing the script and the thesis. This thesis
describes a performance script, the conditions and processes
under which it was developed, and some unique features of a

performance based on that script.

l9

Significance

The performance orientation of this study is a
significant feature. Few studies of this kind exist,
particularly with modern English scripts. One of the
greatest obstacles to the production of these texts is the
length and the language, so this paraphrase and its process
are an important help for potential producers, adapters and
directors. It provides and illustrates a sourCe of texts
for church performances and productions, either for
devotion, celebration or recreation. Additionally, it gives
another script to the theatre which is capable of supporting
a variety of production styles and methods.

Plays, especially medieval ones, "were intended to be
seen and heard, not read . . . they were designed for a
general audience which was more accustomed to hearing its
literature than to reading it silently" (Beadle, Qempahien
xiii). Therefore, it is important to play these dramas in
front of an audience to determine and illustrate their
theatrical viability. As Meg Twycross has written, "if we
take them seriously as theatre, they will work" (37).
Richard Beadle says that "modern revivals . . . propose a
variety of delights, insights, questions and problems which
previous studies . . . have seldom sought to address" (xv).
Such revivals require texts. As mentioned above, the
language, condition and length of the extant texts

necessitates adaptation for modern production.

II. Adaptation of N-town Passion Plays I and II

Part A: Structural Outline and Condensation

The problems of language and script adaptation are
central to this experimental study. Beginning with a modern
English version of the N-town cycle in modern spelling,
actions and dialogue were modified and paraphrased to make
them clearer to a modern audience. This chapter will
provide parallel columns of text. In the left column the
primary actions of each scene in the N-town Passion Plays I
and II are summarized. On the right side stands a brief
indication of how each scene was adapted. The numbers in
parentheses in the left column refer to page numbers in
R. T. Davies' WWW
Ages. In the right column, the references are to page
numbers in the adapted script, found in Appendix A beginning
on page 94. Page numbers preceded by "see" refer to the
section on "Script Development" which follows the parallel
portion of this chapter.

Structurally, N-town's Passion Play I begins with two

prologues addressed directly to the audience.

20

Scene I:

Original N-town Script

21

Prologues

Production Adaptation

 

A . Demon

The first prologue is

delivered by 'Demon,' or
"your Lord, Lucifer, that
out of hell came" (Davies

235). He describes his
fall, his control over the
world, and his goal of
human domination: "I am
nourisher of sin to the
confusion of man/To bring
him to my dungeon there in
fire to dwell" (235).

B. John the Baptist

Demon exits on sight of
John the Baptist, who
delivers a sermon in which
he makes his scriptural
annunciation of the coming
of Christ; "one shall come
after me and not tarry
long,/In many fold more
stronger than I,/Of whose
shoes I am not worthy to
loose the thong," followed
by a sermon on the "ways of
our Lord" (239). In it he
offers a dualistic approach
to life. His listeners
must neither presume nor
despair but rather keep on
"the path between bothen .

hope and dread" (240).
These exhortations by
representatives of 'both
sides' in the ensuing story
immediately place the
audience in a position to
choose.

Paraphrased extensively
(see 53—55) and condensed.
(95-96)

 

22

Scene II:
Council of Jews I

Original

Adaptation

 

The play itself opens at
this point. The first
scene shows Annas, the high
priest ”in his stage,
besein after a bishop of
the old law . . . " With
him are two "doctors" and a
messenger. He describes
the challenge of Jesus, who
"our lawes he destroys
daily with his deed" (241).
On the recommendation of
his counselors, he sends
for Caiphas to discuss this
problem, as well as
summoning Rewfin and Lyon
who are "temporal judges"
(242). All of them meet
and offer their
suggestions, at which time
they conclude that
patience, and sending spies
"to see and record and
testimony" (247) is the
best approach.

 

Condensed; Annas and
Caiphas made just Caiphas;
Rewfin and Lyon made just
Rewfin. (97)

Scene III:
Entry into Jerusalem

Original

Adaptation

 

The scene changes to Palm
Sunday, as Jesus instructs
his disciples on where to
find a mount for him, they
retrieve the ass and foal,
and Jesus "rides out of the
place" (248). Peter and
John remain to offer
additional sermons. Peter
preaches on the spiritual
insensitivity of the
audience/crowd and the
solution, which is Jesus.
John supports this in his
brief paragraphs confirming
Jesus’ approach and the
honor he deserves. The
citizens of the town
discuss this and encourage
one another in the effort
to welcome Jesus to the
town. As he enters on the
donkey they sing, followed
by Jesus' statement on "the
time of mercy" (251), the
healing of two blind men,
and Jesus' weeping over
Jerusalem.

 

Condensed; no sermons from
Peter and John (see 55);
John enters to tell the
people of Jesus' approach
and to encourage them to
welcome him. As Jesus
enters from the back of
the room through the center
aisle, the disciples and
Maries sing to welcome him.
The scene concludes with a
brief message from Jesus.
(98)

24

 

Scene IV:
Maundy I
Original Adaptation
The next scene to be played Condensed. (99)

is the beginning of the
Last Supper. Peter and
John ask Jesus where he
"wilt . keep thy
Maundy?" (253) as if the
Last Supper has already
been established. Jesus
describes the host and
location and the disciples
quickly locate Simon the
Leper, at whose house they
will eat. This is a
combination of the dinner
at the home of Simon in
Bethany and the Last
Supper. The scene ends
with the disciples and
Jesus entering Simon's
house and sitting down to
eat the "paschal lamb"
(255).

 

25

Scene V:
Council of Jews II

Original

Adaptation

 

The scene shifts back to
the conspirators, who have
been frustrated in their
efforts to assemble
concrete charges against
Jesus. They decide that he
must be charged, even if it
must be by false witnesses.
Here we have the first
indication that the
Pharisees and their
followers are less
concerned with the
preservation of 'Law' than
of their own power. (see
below, Chapter Four) Their
discussion continues and
presumably freezes as the
scene "cuts” back to the
Last Supper with the
entrance of Mary Magdalene.

Condensed. (100)

 

26

Scene VI:
Maundy II

Original

Adaptation

 

Mary Magdalene enters,
informing the audience of
her great sin and her
determination to see Jesus
about it. She anoints his
feet with expensive perfume
and begs his forgiveness,
which he offers. He casts
six demons out of her and
declares her forgiven.
Judas objects to this great
expense, but Jesus silences
him and praises Mary.

After the Mary episode (it
is unclear whether she is
still in the room or not),
Jesus predicts his
betrayal. The disciples
react, dumbfounded, and
each offers his assurance
of loyalty, except for
Judas, who asks, "Am I that
person that thee now shall
sell?" "So sayest thyself,"
Jesus answers (261), and
Judas leaves quietly to
meet with the Jewish
plotters, after briefly
explaining his plan to the
audience: "Some money for
him yet would I tell"
(261).

Condensed. (101-2)

 

Scene VII:
Betrayal

Original

Adaptation

 

Judas leaves the Last
Supper "privily" and goes
to the meeting-place of the
Jews. The conspirators
welcome Judas' offer to
betray Jesus to them, and
pay him thirty pieces of
silver. They ask in
addition for "a token.
that must be privy betwixt
us here" because "one
disciple is like thy master
in all parail" (263).
Judas suggests the kiss,
which they agree to. He
moves back to the Last
Supper with this brief
sentence about Jesus'
probable reaction, "I trow
full sore he shall it rue"
(263). The Jews meet
briefly after his exit,
excited by the prospect of
a plan, then disperse to
assemble an arrest squad.

 

Condensed; Judas speaks
only to Rewfin; others
listen in and then respond
after Judas leaves. (103)

28

Scene VIII:
Maundy III

Original

Adaptation

 

The 'Upper Room' is
revealed again and the
establishment of the
Eucharist is played. The
scene consists of a sermon
by Jesus about the
significance of the bread
and wine in relation both
to his body and impending
death, but also as
substitutes, replacements
or fulfillments of the
symbolic Old Testament
Passover meal, which they
have just observed. He
offers them each the bread
with the repeated phrase,
"This is my body, flesh and
blood,/That for thee shall
die upon the rood" (267).
When he reaches Judas he
hesitates, warns him of the
consequences of his
actions, then offers him
the bread as well. Once
Judas has eaten, Christ
once again tells the
disciples that he has been
betrayed by one of their
circle. They repeat the
formula "Lord, it is not I"
until they reach Judas, who
again identifies himself
and is sent away by Jesus

with, "That thou hast
begun, bring to an end"
(268). Continued next page.

Condensed (104-5); Jesus'
prediction of Peter's
denial omitted (see 56).

 

29

Scene VIII:
Continued

Original Adaptation

 

After a brief re—appearance
by 'Demon' who praises
Judas and promises him a
place beside him in Hell,
Jesus continues with the
wine of the Last Supper.

He shares the cup with
them, and explains the
importance and efficacy of
what he has done, "For
mannes love I may do no
mo/Than for love of man to
be dead” (269). He then
washes the disciples' feet
and encourages them to do
likewise. When He is
finished washing their
feet, Jesus is ready to go
on. "The day is come I
must proceed/For to fulfil
the prophecy" (270). After
predicting their flight and
Peter's denial, he calls
them to follow him to the
Mount of Olives.

 

30

Scene Ix:
Agony at Olivet

Original

Adaptation

 

Jesus walks with His
disciples "to Bethany—
ward," then leaves them to
watch as he prays nearby.
In spite of their promise
to watch, the disciples
fall asleep even as Jesus
pleads with God to
reconsider the divine plan
for redemption. He returns
to the disciples three
times (three is an
important symbolic number
parallel to Peter's triple
denial and the three days
His body will spend in the
tomb). Finally an angel,
bearing "a chalice with an
host therein" relieves
Jesus' sufferings and
renews His dedication to
his purpose: "I shall
fulfil the prophecy,/ And
suffer death for mannes
trespass" (274). Jesus
returns to the disciples a
final time, and this time
asks them to come with Him,
since Judas and the Jews
are approaching. He
encourages Peter to be an
example to the other
disciples.

Condensed; Jesus prays
continuously, then comes
once to the disciples,
wakes them and leads them
into the place of his
arrest. (107)

 

31

Scene X:
Taking of Jesus

Original

Adaptation

 

The Agony continues
directly into the arrest,
which also takes place in
the garden near the Mount
of Olives. The arrest
party enters armed with
"swords, glaives, and other
strange weapons," but Jesus
offers no resistance. Even
when He tells them "I am
He, Jesus of Nazareth, that
same man" and the force of
His words causes them to
"fall suddenly to the
earth" (275), they do not
believe Him. They only
identify Jesus when Judas
kisses Him. Peter
immediately defends Jesus,
cutting off Malcus' ear.
Jesus restores the ear, and
then is led away to Caiphas
accompanied by the haughty
taunts of the Jews.

Condensed; Fall of arrest
party on, "I am He!"
attempted in rehearsal but
eliminated (it played as
humor rather than power).
Malcus' ear episode
omitted. (108)

 

32

Mary Magdalene and Maria Virgo

Original

Adaptation

 

The next section concludes
Passion Play I. In it,
Mary Magdalene enters and
informs Maria Virgo of
Jesus' arrest. The Blessed
Mother reacts first with
shock, then incredulity,
then shame that "I suppose
verily it is for the .
trespass of me!" After a
paragraph of questioning
and weeping, she steels
herself quietly to the
necessity of this suffering
because "May man not elles
be saved by no other kind"
(278).

 

Omitted (see 55).

33

Passion Play II

Procession of the Saints/
Prologue

Original

Adaptation

 

Passion Play II is
structured similarly to
Passion I, and does not
immediately pick up where
the first play leaves off.
The preliminary scene is a
procession of the saints
(incomplete in the
manuscript) followed by
another prologue. This
time the speaker is "an
expositor in doctor's weed"
named Contemplatio (279).
He summarizes in very brief
description the primary
action of the first part
and offers to "proceed how
he was brought then/Before
Annas and Caiphas, and sith
before Pilate" (280).

Omitted.

 

34

Herod I

Original

Adaptation

 

The first action scene is
played by King Herod and
two of his soldiers, and is
similar to the Annas and
Caiphas introductions in
Passion I. Herod describes
himself as a persecutor of
Christians in graphic
detail; "To see them hangen
or burnt to me is very
p1easance,/To driven them
into dungeones, dragones to
gnaw,/And to rend their
flesh and bones unto their
sustenance" (280-81). He
brags of his murder of John
the Baptist and is
determined to do the same
to Jesus. The soldiers
begin a search for Jesus at
his request as Herod
retires to rest.

 

Omitted.

Scene XI:
Before Annas and Caiphas

Original

Adaptation

 

The action begins with a
messenger who enters,
running and shouting "Jesus
of Nazareth is taken!"
(282). He comes to Annas
and Caiphas to announce
Jesus' impending arrival
and briefly describes the
scene of the arrest. Jesus
is brought in and the trial
begins. Annas and Caiphas
ask about his disciples,
doctrine and teaching, to
which he simply answers,
"All times that I have
preached, open it was
done/. where that all
Jewes come./Ask them what I
have said and also what I
have done" (284). One of
the soldiers assaults Jesus
for his effrontery to "a
bishop" and the counselors
offer the usual
justifications for Jesus'
death; He claimed He could
rebuild the temple in three
days, and He claimed to be
the Son of God. When He
finally answers repeated
questioning by Caiphas with
"Godes Son I am, I say not
nay” they are convinced
that His blasphemy is
sufficient and the entire
group shouts "Yes, yes, yes
. . . he is worthy to die"
(285). Four Jews then beat
Him at Caiphas' request.

 

Condensed; No messenger; No
Annas. (109-10)

36

Peter's Denial

Original

Adaptation

 

Peter's denial is played
next, possibly concurrent
with the end of the
beating. A woman comes and
reacts in shock to such
treatment of Jesus when one
of his own disciples is
watching (she indicates
Peter, who is somewhere in
sight). A woman with Peter
asks if he is one of Jesus'
disciples, which he denies.
Even when the soldiers
participate in the
questioning, witnessing
that he is the one who cut
off Malcus' ear, Peter
denies knowing Jesus. The
rooster crows, and Jesus
looks across to Peter, who
weeps and offers a sad,
shameful monologue on his
regret.

 

Omitted (see 56).

37

Scene XII:
Before Pilate II

Original

Adaptation

 

The trials continue as
Caiphas sends word to
Pilate that he must meet
them at once. Judas enters
and throws down the money
in disgust at his sin, then
runs out to hang himself,
according to the stage
direction. The Pharisees
are unsympathetic to Judas,
and continue with their
plan to take Jesus unto
Pilate. The Jews make
their case, and Pilate asks
Jesus to respond, which He
does, explaining that he
must fulfill His Father's
will and that "all that me
hearen and in me believen/
And keepen their faith
steadfastly,/ Though they
were dead I shall them
recuren,/ And shall them
bring to bliss endlessly"
(290). Pilate seems
convinced by this, to the
amazement and disgust of
the Pharisees. He
encourages them to punish
Jesus themselves if they
are so convinced He
deserves it. Then Pilate
conceives of a possible
solution: Jesus was born in
Galilee, part of Herod's
jurisdiction, and
therefore, Jesus is sent to
Herod for judgment.

Condensed; No messenger.
(111—12)

 

38

Scene XIII :
Before Herod

Original

Adaptation

 

Herod appears to have been
awakened for this audience
suddenly and is both
surprised and thrilled to
have Jesus before him. The
Jews again offer their
justifications for Jesus'
punishment, to which Herod
reacts, "all these matteres
I have heard said,/ And
much more than you me
tell./ All together they
shall be laid,/ And I will
take thereon my counsel"
(294). Then he addresses
all of his comments to
Jesus, referring to His
great miracles and
ultimately requesting a
personal miracle. Jesus
refuses to respond, which
infuriates Herod, who also
has Him beaten. When
Jesus' silence persists,
Herod determines that his
efforts are futile and
sends Jesus back to Pilate.

Condensed. (113-14)

 

39

Dream of Pilate's Wife

Original

Adaptation

 

Satan enters as Jesus is
being led from Herod back
to Pilate. It is unclear
whether this is to be the
same 'Demon' of the
Prologue to Passion I or
not. He brags of his
abilities and his apparent
victory over Jesus until he
considers the possible
havoc Jesus could wreak in
hell. He warns hell to
make ready, to which a
demon answers, "and he ones
in hell be,/ He shall our
power burst" (298). Satan
decides that his plan is
about to backfire, so he
appears to Pilate's wife in
a dream, warning her that
Pilate will be damned if he
allows Jesus to be killed,
hoping that he will release
Jesus and hell will be
saved from destruction.
When she tells him of this
dream, Pilate is more
determined than ever to
avoid condemning Jesus.

 

Omitted (see 56).

Scene XIV:
Before Pilate II

Original

Adaptation

 

The Jews return with their
prisoner and Pilate chides
them. His next idea is to
use the legendary free—day
of the Passover to release
a Jewish prisoner. He
chooses Jesus, but the
Pharisees insist on
releasing "the thief
Barabbas,/ That for
manslaught prisoned was,"
while for Jesus they
insist: "Crucifigatur [Let
him be crucifiedJ” (300).
Pilate's last resort is to
plead with Jesus to
understand his situation
and possibly offer a
solution. Instead Jesus
offers absolution of sorts,
"He that has betrayed me to
thee at this time,/His
trespass is more than is
thine" (301). Pilate asks
the Pharisees once more
what they will have him do,
and they insist on
crucifixion, threatening to
report Pilate as a traitor
to Rome if he refuses to
comply. After washing his
hands of the
responsibility, which the
Jews gladly assume, Pilate
pronounces sentence:
freeing Barabbas and
condemning Jesus and the
two thieves, Dismas and
Jesmas.

 

Condensed; Barabbas not
portrayed, Dismas and
Jesmas eliminated. (115-16)

41

Way of the Cross

Original

Adaptation

 

The scene that follows is
the "Way of the Cross" in
which Jesus is led to the
place of Crucifixion. He
again weeps for Jerusalem,
is taunted by the soldiers,
and has His cross carried
by Simon. Also included is
a unique scene with a woman
named Veronica who wipes
Jesus face with her
kerchief, which
miraculously retains the
image of the suffering
Jesus, an apt object for
medieval devotion.

 

Omitted

(see 57).

Scene XV:
Crucifixion

Original

Adaptation

 

Upon reaching the hill, the
soldiers roughly lay Jesus
down, stretch His body to
fit mis—bored nail holes,
and secure Him to the
cross. They stand Him up
and then make fun of Him,
dancing about and mocking
His "Kingship." They
convince others to crucify
the two thieves while they
gamble for Jesus' clothes.
In contrast to this
playful, sadistic melee,
Mary Magdalene, Maria
Virgo, and John come before
the cross. Maria Virgo
pleads with Jesus to speak
with her and faints. He
forgives His persecutors
who continue to mock him,
along with the thieves,
except for Dismas, who
defends Jesus and is
promised paradise. Now
Maria revives and Jesus
places her in the care of
John, encouraging her that
"this is the will, and my
Fatheres intent" (310).
John and Mary Magdalene
comfort her and lead her
off, as the Jews enter to
mock Jesus themselves.
When Pilate places the sign
which reads, "Here is
Jesus, King of the Jews,"
they protest but Pilate
stands firm against them,
saying, "That I have
written, written it is"
Continued next page.

 

Condensed; Added speech by
Demon at foot of cross
boasting of his success; no
vinegar episode; temple not
mentioned by Maria Virgo;
no thieves (Dismas and
Jesmas). (117—18)

43

Crucifixion:

Original

Continued

Adaptation

 

(311). Jesus calls out to
God, is offered vinegar by
the soldiers, and then left
by them to die, which he
does with the traditional
'Nunc consummatum est [Now
it is finished]" (312).
Maria Virgo and John
reenter and she falls
weeping at Jesus' feet.
Eventually John convinces
her that this is for the
best and they exit to go to
the Temple, where she will
occupy herself in order to
forget her sorrow until
Jesus rises again.

 

44

narrowing of Hell I

Original Adaptation

 

Following Jesus' death, His Omitted (see 56-57).
spirit, presumably played
by another actor as His
body remains on the cross,
introduces himself to the
audience and crosses to
Hell, opening its gates
with His word.

 

45

Longeus and Burial

Original

Adaptation

 

Before this action is
finished, the scene shifts
back to the cross, where a
Centurion confesses Jesus'
deity along with his
soldiers. Nicodemus enters
and condemns the Jews'
destruction of Jesus, as
the centurion continues as
if uninterrupted in his
devotional monologue.
Joseph of Arimathea enters
and determines to ask for
the body from Pilate. He
crosses briefly and is
granted permission and the'
assistance of two of
Pilate's "knights." These
knights decide that Jesus
is most certainly dead, yet
they ask a blind knight
named Longeus to help them
to be sure. They trick him
into thrusting a spear into
Jesus' side, at which the
blood floods over his eyes
and miraculously restores
his sight. Though happy to
see, he begs forgiveness
for his unwitting part in
the Crucifixion.

Joseph and Nicodemus
take Jesus down and lay him
in the lap of Maria Virgo,
who kisses Him, begs mercy
for Him and blesses Joseph
for his efforts. They
quickly place Jesus in the
tomb and close it,
"leav[ing] the Maries at
the sepulchre" (322).
Apparently the other Maries
have accompanied Maria
Continued next page.

Omitted (see 57); Burial

performed instead in dumb

show by Pilate, Rewfin and
two soldiers. (119)

 

46

Longeus and Burial:
Continued

Original Adaptation

 

Virgo to the foot of the
cross and thus to the tomb.
They will move away from
the tomb somehow during the
next scene, as Caiphas,
Pilate, and their four
soldiers come to seal the
tomb, but they will still
be in the area when Christ
rises and appears to Maria
Virgo.

 

47

Scene XVI:
Setting of the watch

Original

Adaptation

 

Caiphas enters to Pilate,
concerned that Jesus'
disciples may steal his
body in order to validate
his predicted resurrection.
Pilate is in agreement, and
they take four soldiers and
some wax and go to seal the
grave and place the men in
guard over it. The
soldiers brag of their
strength and ability and
promise to kill any who
approach. Yet after
Caiphas, Annas and Pilate
leave them, they are
mysteriously put to sleep.

Condensed; Rewfin added;
only two soldiers take
part; connected to dumb
show of Burial. (120—21)

 

Harrowing
Scene XVII:

Original

48

of Hell II/
Resurrection

Adaptation

 

Here the Harrowing of Hell
resumes. 'Anima Christi'
leads forth the characters
of the earlier drama,
including Adam and Eve,
John Baptist, and Abraham.
'Belial' bewails his lonely
position: "In hell lodge I
lie alone I shall
never come from hell"
(330). Jesus proclaims
victory and then returns
out of hell to re-animate
His body. Upon coming out
of the grave, He describes
His suffering and victory,
then appears to His mother,
who has apparently remained
weeping near the grave.

She praises his strength
and grace and "thy precious
blood,/That mankind thus
does save!" (331).

Both Jesus and Maria Virgo
exit or move away.

Harrowing omitted (see 56-
57); Resurrection
condensed. (122)

 

49

Scene XVIII:
Story of the Watch

Original

Adaptation

 

The soldiers awaken and
realize the tomb is open.
They go to Pilate and they
tell him the truth, at
which he reacts with rage
and disgust to their
failure. They explain the
irresistible nature of
Jesus' power, and then
suggest that they tell
everyone else the story to
see how they receive it.

At this, Pilate becomes
conciliatory and asks them
to wait as he consults "my
council.” Caiphas is
angry, but Annas suggests
they bribe the soldiers to
tell another story. Pilate
agrees and asks them to say
the disciples stole him.
They gladly agree to accept
the food and money offered
them in exchange for their
dishonesty.

Condensed; Rewfin and
Caiphas alone are the
"Council." (123-24)

 

50

Scene XVIX:
At the Tomb

Original

Adaptation

 

Now that the tomb is empty
and abandoned, the three
Maries come to it,
presumably just after the
soldiers have left. This
is the 'Quem quaeritis'
scene which began the
medieval drama in some
form. The Maries in this
scene are Mary Magdalene
and Jesus' aunts, Maria
Jacobi and Maria Salome.
Magdalene looks into the
tomb and finds it empty.
After they have described
the situation, an angel
appears and tells them to
go out into the streets to
find Jesus, who is alive,
after going to the
disciples to tell them the
news. They express their
joy then go directly to the
disciples. Peter and John
react with excitement and
doubt and run to the tomb
to see for themselves.
They return to assure the
other disciples that it is
true. Mary Magdalene is
unrelieved because she has
not yet seen Jesus. As she
weeps at the tomb, Jesus
appears as the gardener and
then reveals his identity
to her. When she realizes
who he is, he tells her to
tell the disciples of her
experience, which she
proceeds to do.

Condensed; Mary Magdalene
only one to approach tomb.
(125—26)

 

51

Other Appearances

Original

Adaptation

 

Subsequently, Jesus appears
to Cleopas and Luke, two
travelers on their way to
Emmaus, making himself
known only when they stop
for the night and then
disappearing. They go to
tell the rest of the
disciples, and while
together, Jesus appears to
all of them, allowing
Thomas to see his hands and
feet and believe. When he
does, Thomas offers a hymn
or litany of apology,
confession and devotion,
with the repeated response,
"Quod mortuus et sepultus
nunc resurrexit [That, dead
and buried, now he is
risen]" (358-59).

 

Omitted.

52

Scene XX:
The Ascension

Original

Adaptation

 

Following Thomas'
confession, the Ascension
is played. Jesus offers the
disciples peace, encourages
them to wait for the
promised holy spirit,
commands them to "My
witness only be" (360) and
then ascends out of sight.
The angels send them on
their way with the promise
that Jesus will return in
judgment.

Condensed (127); Ends with
reprise of song from
"Entry" scene (see 57—58).

 

53

Part B: From Script to Performance

1. Script Development

The genesis of the production script for this
experiment was selecting R. T. Davies' version of N-town and
the Passion sequence. The writing of the script involved
two steps for most sections. First, each scene was
shortened to its essential lines, updating archaic or
unknown words and maintaining much of the poetry. Next, for
some sections, a complete prose paraphrase summarized the
meaning in modern English. While William Marx argues that
complete modernization of the language ”would destroy the
medieval character, meanings, and poetry of the play“ (13),
costume, music, and other elements of spectacle may provide
a sense of the Middle Ages for an audience unfamiliar with
Middle English and Latin, while shrinking the distance
between the auditors and the script.

The Demon's Prologue may be taken as an example of this
process, as it is the only section which was entirely
rewritten. It was adapted through a process of three steps.
Lucifer's original introduction is this:

I am your lord, Lucifer, that out of hell came,
Prince of this world and great duke of hell.
Wherefore my name is cleped Sir Satan,

Which appeareth among you a matter to spell.

I am nourisher of sin to the confusion of man,

To bring him to my dungeon there in fire to
dwell.

54

For I began in heaven sin for to sow

Among all the angeles that weren there so bright

And therefore I was cast out into hell full

low,Notwithstanding I was the fairest and bearer

of light.

Yet I drew in my tail of those angeles bright

With me into hell, taketh good heed what I say.

I left but twain against one to abide there in
light, '

But the third part came with me--this may not be
said nay. . . .

Behold the diversity of my disguised variance:

Each thing set of due natural disposition,

And each part according to his resemblance,

From the sole of the foot to the highest
ascension. (Davies 235-37)

The first attempt at modifying the language, maintaining the
poetry, produced the following:

I am your lord, Lucifer, that out of hell came,

Prince of this world and great duke of hell.

I encourage sin to keep humans confused

To bring them to my dungeon there in fire to
dwell.

I introduced sin to the sweetness of heaven

Among all the angels that were there so bright.

And therefore I was cast far down into hell,

Though I was most beautiful and shining with
light.

But I took my share of those angels bright

With me into hell-—pay attention to me here--

I left just two against one to live there in
light,

But the third part came with me-—this truth is
clear. .

Look how diverse my disguise may be seen:

Each thing perfect for its own occasion,

And each part according to my present need,

From the sole of my foot to the top of my crown.

The initial prose paraphrase of this introduction was:

Hello. I am Lucifer, ruler of Hell. My goal
is to bring all humans to Hell with me. I created
sin in Heaven where there was none: for that I was
cast down into Hell. But I am not alone there--I
took one-third of the angels with me!

See how common my costume may seem? Perfect
to the occasion, convincing and disarming—-all
according to my purpose.

55

Finally, the paraphrase of the entire speech was revised
into its performance form, which began:

Good evening. Allow me to introduce myself.
I am Lucifer, king of hell. Oh! I see some of you
have heard of me. Good! My goal in life is to
lure all of you to come and live here with me.

See how normal I look? I always suit my clothes
and appearance to the occasion, whatever it may
be. I must seem convincing, disarming-- all
according to my own purposes.

Yes, it was I who first introduced sin, there
in the dull holiness of Heaven. That's what got
me thrown out. Seems I wasn't appreciated there.
But I was: one-third of the angels came with me to
Hell. They work with me there now. (91)

There were minor changes in the speech during rehearsal, but
the sentences printed above remained practically unchanged
from that step to production.

Condensing scenes was a similar process. Some of this
process has been clear from the parallel descriptions of the
production text and where it differs from Davies. Initially
the performance was only to include Passion I. It would be
maintained relatively intact, only omitting the sermons of
John and Peter. In final production form only those sermons
and the epilogue of the Maries were completely left out of
Passion Play I.

Passion Play II was added in order to provide scenes
which would complete the Passion story and Resurrection.
Therefore, the Crucifixion and Resurrection had to be
included. Beyond that, the four trial scenes (Before
Caiphas, Before Pilate I and II, and Before Herod) were

important and inter—related enough to include. Peter's

denial was eliminated for the sake of time.

56

The Dream of Pilate's wife sequence was eliminated
early, considering time and shortening the cast of
characters. The change this made in Pilate's character
became clear later. If Pilate's effort on Jesus' behalf is
not motivated by the warning from Satan that he will suffer
for killing the Christ, then he must be acting out of
conscience. The reasons for this change are due more to the
characterization of Demon than they are to Pilate, however.
In the play, the reason that Demon comes to Pilate's wife is
that he has decided that killing Jesus is going too far and
that if Jesus ends up in Hell, He will destroy it. Demon
hopes to use Pilate's wife to reverse Pilate's decision to
support the Jews' complaints.

Of the four canonical Gospels, only Matthew includes
the dream of Pilate's wife, and in his account she simply
says, "I have suffered many things this day in a dream
because of [Jesus]" (27:19). Overall, the Gospels'
characterization of Pilate is clearer and simpler. Pilate
is unconvinced by the Jews, but "the voices of them and of
the chief priests prevailed" (Lk. 23:23). According to the
Gospels, Pilate may not be a good man, but he is not as bad
as the high priests. Demon's efforts on his own behalf
occupy time which may be used to continue the trials. A
melodramatic sensibility is added when Pilate struggles with
his own conscience over Jesus' fate. Jesus' assurance to

Pilate suggests that he will not suffer so harsh a fate as

Demon has predicted: "The one who betrayed me to you is more

 

at

W116

 

 

nus
Y a

57

at fault than you" (Scene XII, 111). In this arrangement,
when Pilate delivers the sentence at the end of the scene he
is reluctant but forced by the Jews to do so.

The Harrowing of Hell scenes were eliminated for a
related reason. Jesus' victory over Demon is clear as soon
as He rises from the dead. It is not necessary to see Jesus
physically defeat him at this point when the focus is on the
audience's response to Jesus' success.

The Way of the Cross contains the account of Simon, who
carries the cross for the weakened Christ in Mark and Luke,
and the legendary story of Veronica, who offers to wipe
Jesus' face and retains his image in her kerchief. These
episodes were left out in part because they featured
characters who only appeared once, whose actions did not
significantly advance the plot. Demon's speech of victory
before the cross replaces these scenes, using the text of
his message from the introduction to the Dream of Pilate's
Wife. The speech functions as a reminder of Demon's goals
and presence.

Initially the script cut from the Crucifixion straight
to the Resurrection without any Burial. Instead of adding
the scene with the Centurion, Joseph and Nicodemus, the
production presents the Burial in dumb show using Pilate,
the soldiers and the other leaders. It connects directly
to the Setting of the Watch.

From this point on no scene was completely eliminated,

though each was condensed drastically. At first the play

58

ended with Mary Magdalene's message to the disciples that
Jesus was alive, though an epilogue from John the Baptist
about the importance of repentance was intended to frame the
story. The Ascension scene was added as a conclusion
instead.

Passion Play II does not conclude so neatly as does
Passion I. In the N-town text, the story continues with the
calling of Matthias to replace Judas, the Assumption of
Maria Virgo into Heaven, and Doomsday. Davies' text stops
labeling scenes as ”Passion II" after Setting of the Watch,
just before the second Harrowing of Hell scene. Because of
the unity of the entire story, it is difficult to find any
clear ending of Passion II's action before the end of the
Doomsday play. Stephen Spector suggests that Passion II
"dovetails" into the remainder of the cycle near the end of
the Crucifixion scene in Play 32, where two sheets of
dissimilar paper have been inserted into the manuscript
(540). A portion of Play 34, which includes the Burial,
also appears to be similar to the remainder of Passion II in
terms of paper and stanzaic form (506). There is no
question that Passion Play II ends without a clear break
such as there is with the Maria Virgo speech at the end of
Passion I. The brief 'Ascension' piece provided an end for
the production text, concluding with a reprise of the

" Hosanna . "

59

2. Changes in the Cast of Characters

Producing a complete cycle play requires an immense
cast. This is probably one reason why the production of the
cycles was a shared enterprise. Even a section of a cycle
takes a number of actors to perform. Meg Twycross notes
that in the N-town Passion I alone there are 56 speaking
parts (64). However, a production script may adjust the
cast of characters to a manageable size, omit partial or
entire scenes, cut or combine characters and double-cast.

Unnecessary characters may be eliminated first. There
are many bit parts in the N-town Passion, such as First
through Fourth Citizens and First and Second Poor Men. Most
of these roles were eliminated for the purposes of
production, and just two soldiers were cast, instead of
four. There is minor unique characterization among these
characters. The dramatist/compiler has divided his message
or story into equal parts for each character.

Jesus' disciples are not unnecessary characters, but
the Passion may be performed without all twelve of them.
Each disciple speaks twice during the Last Supper, but only
to ask "Is it I, Lord?" Only John, Peter and Judas speak
elsewhere. The production utilized just two disciples
beyond these principal three.

Within the group of the conspirators there are other
duplicate or non-essential characters. In production, the

Jewish leader Gamaliel was cut, and his lines from the

6O

arrest scene given to Rewfin or the other plotters. Rewfin
and Lyon, the judges, were combined into one character, as
were Annas and Caiphas (see below). The script also
includes a number of witnesses who testify to Jesus'
blasphemy or heresy in his trials. These roles were
eliminated in favor of having the conspirators themselves
voice these complaints.

Jesus' aunts, Maria Jacobi and Maria Salome, who
accompany Mary Magdalene to the tomb, are unfamiliar today.
In spite of the tradition of the three women at the tomb and
the "Quem Quaeritis" trope, the aunts were left out and Mary
Magdalene visited the tomb alone twice.

Annas and Caiphas became just Caiphas, the high priest.
Though some of the cycles play them as very different
characters (see Rose, Wakefield 359-72), N-town portrays
them as two Jewish priests with similar desires and methods.
Caiphas, in introducing himself, tells how "Christ
perverts the people with his preaching ill. / We must seek a
mean unto him reproovable, / for if he proceed our lawes he
will spill" (Davies 243). In a similar vein Annas calls the
gathered plotters to consider a course of action against
Jesus because, ”If he proceed soon see you shall / That our
lawes he will destroy. / It is our part this to deny" (246).
Combining these two characters also shortens the play by
eliminating the need for each character's long introduction
before the initial conspiracy. In a similar fashion, Rewfin

and Lyon, the secular judges, were combined into just

61

Rewfin, though the characterization took on some of
Gamaliel's aggressive role as well, as when Rewfin taunts
Jesus in the Garden (Scene X, 104).

One character adaptation decision which reduced the
number of actors and gave diabolical motivation for the
actions of the Pharisees in the play was to cast "Demon" as
one of the conspirators, or "doctors" (i.e., legal advisors)
as well. He became part of the story as well as introducing
it. John the Baptist, Demon's counterpart of the Prologues,
was part of the action in a similar fashion. The same actor
played John the disciple and John the Baptist. This
doubling suggested that representatives of both Prologue
arguments were working within the play to see the audience
convinced of their veracity.

Additional deletions which grew out of the experience
of actualizing the script also proved effective. They were
necessary because of actor commitments, and were made
according to staging feasibility. First, the same actor was
cast as Peter and Pilate. The fact that the denial was not
played helped to make this possible, as Peter was offstage
early in the arrest and Pilate did not enter until after the
entire Annas trial was finished. But the actor playing
Pilate was in fact the only one who was not already onstage
during the Pilate scenes. No statement about a silent
connection between the two characters was intended by this
necessary decision. Additionally, the same woman was cast

as one of the soldiers and the voice of the angel speaking

62

to Mary Magdalene. There was no real conflict here, as the
angel spoke from offstage and was not seen by the audience.

The final consideration under this matter of character
adaptation is gender. Working within a university theatre
department, the great percentage of those who auditioned
were women, while the majority of the Passion Play roles are
male. This production simply ignored gender in auditions
and casting. The result was a mixed cast in which there
were about an equal number of women and men in each group
(disciples and Jews). The roles maintained as male included
Jesus, Peter and John, while the Maries were played by
women. The remaining roles were divided up based on

ability.

III. Testing the Adaptation in Production

Part A: Scenic Techniques and Staging

One of the earliest questions the producer of the
medieval drama must answer is how much she or he will
attempt to recreate the conditions and conventions of
medieval performances in a modern context. The producer
must decide how much the play will be updated to the
conventions of modern stage practice and how much it will be
treated as a sample of its own stagecraft. Between the
extremes of complete re-creation and total modernization lie
infinite possibilities. A modern sense of openness to many
production methods, techniques and styles permits many
different kinds of plays and performances. Though
proscenium staging is the most common and familiar, modern
American audiences are not baffled by arena, thrust, and
"found-space” performances.

The performance of the N-town Passion based on the
adapted script drew on a basic knowledge of medieval staging
and the interesting and complete stage directions of the N—
town Passion, but developed a blend of modern and medieval
methods best suited to space, script and audience. The
production attempted to communicate the flavor of the

performance as medieval audiences experienced it.

63

64

Stage Directions

Most of the stage directions in N—town's Passion I and
II are in English, though a few are in Latin. Elsewhere in
the N—town manuscript, the overwhelming majority of the
stage directions are given in Latin. For example, in the
Noah play, after Noah agrees to build the ark, the stage
direction follows: "Hic transit Noe cum familia sua pro novi
[Here Noah crosses with his family to get the ship]" (Davies
96). Many directions simply introduce scenes or describe
entrances and exits, such as "Hic incipit de suscitatione
Lazari [Here begins the raising of Lazarus]" (221) and
"Introitus 'Moyses' [Enter 'Moses'J" (109). These are
sparse and simple directions which give little indication of
the specific arrangements of the playing area.

The stage directions in English of the Passion Plays
are much different. They are longer, more specific and more
descriptive than the other comments. Alan Fletcher calls
them, "after Chester . . . the next richest in English
mystery drama" (178). For example, R. T. Davies renders the
stage direction preceding Annas' first line in Passion Play
I as follows:

Here shall Annas show himself in his stage, besein
after a bishop of the old law, in a scarlet gown
and over that a blue tabard, furred with white,
and a mitre on his head after the old law, two
doctors standing by him in furred hoods, and one
before them with his staff of estate, and each of
them on their heads a furred cap with a great knop

in the crown, and one standing before as a
Saracen, the which shall be his messenger. (241)

65
This stage direction provides a general description of where
Annas will appear, tells us who is with him, and describes
his clothing very specifically. The issue of why they would
be dressed as bishops rather than Jews will be addressed
below (see Section 2, "Acting").

The most important feature of the stage directions in
English in the N-town Passion plays is the locations they
describe. As seen above, Annas appears "in his stage,"
presumably some sort of scaffold or platform. Anne Cooper
Gay argues that "the use of the word ‘stage' must, in
connection with this cycle [N-town] be limited to refer to a
scaffold" (140). When Annas and Caiphas meet with Rewfin
and Lyon, the stage direction says: "Here the bishops with
their clerks and the Pharisees meet at the midplace and
there shall be a little oratory with stools and cushions
cleanly besein like as it were a council-house" (245). This
describes not only the position ("the midplace") and the
location ("a little oratory"), but also suggests the
furnishings ("with stools and cushions... like as it were a
council house").

These stage directions can also suggest something about
the staging and the "cues" of the production. Having
established the "council-house" and Simon's house, the play
alternates between these two loca, suggesting the action is
continuous in both places. It was not necessary consciously
to ignore the actors in the inactive location, because these

settings were somehow equipped with curtains to open or

66
close. After Jesus and his disciples have entered Simon's
house for the Passover supper, the stage direction says, "in
the meantime the council-house before-said shall suddenly
unclose showing the bishops, priests and judges sitting in
their estate like as it were a convocation" (255, italics
mine). Similar directions accompany the subsequent shifts

from one place to the other.

Playing Space

The production space was a circular church chapel with
a flat, hard floor and ceiling and a raised stage at one
side, with steps leading up to it (see fig.1, Appendix B).
The Last Supper was performed on this stage (B), as were the
Setting and Story of the Watch, and the Resurrection. The
tomb was placed at the upstage left corner of this stage
(F). An extension of this stage at the center (C), jutted
approximately eight feet out into the audience area (A—-
described here as the "place" or platea). On this extended
stage the Agony, the "scaffold" of Pilate, the Crucifixion
and Ascension were staged. The downstage left corner of the
stage itself (E) served to suggest Herod's "scaffold" for
the trial there, while the "council-house" of the Jews was
played on a standard 4 x 8 platform in "the place" at stage
right (D). Several characters, as described above, made
entrances from the rear of the chapel, and it was here (G)

that the disciples were gathered when they received the news

67
that Jesus had risen. Most of the remaining action happened
in the "place," also called the platea, at floor—level (A).
Even the scenes which were located primarily in another area
made use of the platea as an extension of their location.
Meg Twycross describes the "place" as the "No Man's Land
into which the characters descend to converse, fight or
otherwise interact" (58). For example, at the opening of
Scene II, Caiphas introduces himself from the "scaffold"
(D), but then steps from it to greet Rewfin near the center

of "the place" (A).
Scenography

The production design for staging this script was based
largely on the concept of alternating locations. The
location where the Pharisees did their plotting was always
in sight of the audience. Similarly, the Last Supper
tableau was visible even when the Jews were arguing among
themselves over what to do with Jesus. Limited access to
the performance space prior to the performance precluded the
construction of complicated built scenery, which is what
scaffolds enclosed by curtains would be. Standard 4' x 8'
platforms were chosen as a simplified alternative, using
light to isolate the areas. (Lighting proved more complex
and less successful than expected. See below, "Lighting.")

The control of focus in this type of theatre, where the

action takes place in front of, among, beside and behind the

_ 7"

68
audience, must be achieved primarily by action or sound. For
example, in the transition mentioned above between the first
Last Supper scene and the second Conspiracy scene, Jesus
finishes with the words to Simon, "This reward I shall grant
thee present" at which the curtain around the council—house
set would open, making a noise and drawing attention as
Annas immediately began speaking with "Behold! It is
nought, all that we do!" (255).

The production made use of this technique to a small
degree. Because of the close proximity of the different
areas to one another, the speaker drew most of the
attention, especially if she or he spoke from behind or
otherwise out of the sight of the audience. On those
occasions when the focus changed from the front of the room
to another location, it was the attention of the speaker to
the new character or the change of speaker to the entering
actor which drew the attention of the audience, even though
they were forced to sit facing the front. The transition of
the Prologues will serve as an example. When Demon finished
speaking and noticed John the Baptist, she looked at him in
disgust, then walked off. It was just as she turned and
John spoke that the audience shifted their attention from

her to John.

69

Staging Miracles

The central actions of any Passion play are Christ's
Crucifixion and Resurrection. The method of staging these
miracles is therefore a vital consideration for any
producer. Both actions are described in the stage
directions, but they are not specific and do not make clear
just how realistic the indications of these actions were.
The Crucifixion calls for the soldiers to “pull Jesu out of
his clothes, and lay them together. And there they shall
pull him down, and lay him along on the cross, and after
that nail him thereon" (306). The dialogue indicates the
soldiers have to stretch Jesus to fit the nail holes. The
cross may have had nails already pounded into it, so the
actor portraying Jesus could hold onto them as the soldiers
pounded on them, making it look as if they were being
pounded through him. The soldiers might have carried the
nails and then placed them in pre-drilled holes in the
cross. It seems likely that the actor playing Jesus would
have in reality been roped to the cross beam (Beadle, Yeah
211) with a platform for his feet, but none of these
speculations may be confirmed. In such cases, pantomimic
action can be powerfully suggestive in ancient and modern
drama for the performance of familiar mythic actions.

In the interest of simplification this production chose
to pantomime the action of the Crucifixion, creating an

imaginary hammer, nails, and cross. The cross was

70

"presented" by a six-foot long wooden dowel, painted black,
which Jesus held across his shoulders and on which He
supported his arms. The effect was to show Jesus standing
in a cross—like position without creating a realistic first-
century Judeaean or fifteenth-century English cross.

For the Resurrection, the production took on an even
more stylized approach. The tomb was placed offstage. The
Resurrection was cued by a recorded brass fanfare and a
bright white light on "the tomb." Jesus walked on
triumphantly with his hands held high. He strode to center
stage and began his speech to the audience from there.

The final miracle in the production version was Jesus'
Ascension into Heaven from the Mount of Olives. Alan
Nelson's article "Some Configurations of Staging" suggests
that beneath the scaffold for Heaven a hill was constructed
which represented the Mount of Olives, where Jesus goes to
pray during the Agony. He appears in the same place for the
Ascension. During the Agony, an angel descends to Jesus to
offer him the host and chalice, and at the end of the
Ascension, Jesus rises into heaven out of sight: "Hic
ascendit ob oculis eorum" (Davies 360). Nelson suggests
that a winch arrangement was permanently installed in the
Heaven scaffold and that it was used to lower the angel,
remove the angel, and finally to accomplish Jesus' Ascension
(134-35).

For this production, the Ascension was left largely to

the imagination of the audience. Jesus stood at center

71

stage with the disciples and Maries gathered around him in
the platea, or floor level, looking up. After He gave them
the Great Commission and promised to always be with them,
the play concluded with a reprise of the song which had

welcomed him in the Entry to Jerusalem.

Lighting

There was a system of floodlights installed in the ceiling
and controlled by a two-scene preset light board. During
the planning stage, it appeared that the lighting control
would be flexible enough to isolate areas using light.
However, the floodlights proved to be too general, and the
control less flexible than necessary, calling for a number
of adjustments. That experience, combined with the
knowledge that the medieval performances took place in
daylight, suggest that full light is preferable, controlling
the focus by hiding rooms with curtains or attracting
attention with sound, as described above (see

"Scenography").

Sound

Recorded sound was another modern production technique
employed for this production. The recordings included
period and modern religious music, which was played to

emphasize the suffering of Christ upon the cross and to

72

punctuate His exit from the tomb. Instrumental recordings
accompanied the entrance and departure of the audience, the
sleep of the soldiers at the tomb, and the scene in which
Jesus washed the disciples' feet. Recorded thunder when
Jesus died indicated something of the earthquake and
darkness which apparently coincided with his death. Though
these phenomena are not specified in the stage directions,
the soldiers refer to the earthquake when talking with
Pilate after the resurrection (Scene XVIII, 119).

The use of any music in connection with Jesus' death
would have been taboo to the early producers according to
John Stevens. He says that for the medieval audience and
mind "Heaven is music" (Dutka 3). Therefore, it is only
during those moments in which Heaven is represented as
victorious that there would have been liturgical musical

accompaniment.
Audience

The audience was seated facing the raised stage (B).
The floor level playing area (A) between the audience and
the stage was the variable "place" where many actions took
place. The "place" included the aisles through the center
and around the outside of the seating area. As many scenes
as possible were staged in this platea in order to connect
the audience with the action of the play. Both Prologues

and much of the Conspiracy were played here, as were Jesus'

73

Arrest and His four Trials. Those who came before the cross
stood in the "place" too. In the Ascension scene, the
disciples stood on the floor looking up at Jesus on the
platform (C) as he spoke. When He finished, they all joined
in the "Hosanna," facing the audience. Even the actors who
were not onstage came on and finished the song; then they
all walked out the back through the center aisle.

The audience is an important character in this play.
Demon's Prologue is addressed directly to the crowd, as is
the sermon of John the Baptist. Jesus (or Jesus' Spirit)
talks to the audience about His work of Resurrection
following His suffering, and the need for repentance: "Man,
and thou let me thus gone /. . . Such a friend findest thou
never none, / To help thee at thy need" (Davies 331-32) ["If
you let me go today without following, you will miss the
friend who knows your need" (Scene XVII, 118)]. Jesus also
includes the audience when He speaks to his disciples both
at the Last Supper and at the Ascension. In staging the
Ascension, the disciples faced toward Jesus and the actor
playing Jesus addressed them and the crowd. Meg Twycross
described the value of this device, suggesting that, among
other things the production of medieval drama has taught.
that "it is possible to look the audience full in the face"

(37).

74

Part B: Acting

1. Characterization by Costume

A primary aspect of theatrical presentation is acting.
Intimately connected with acting, especially in this kind of
theatre, is costume. As Glynne Wickham has observed,

Costume was designed to assist recognition of the
characters rather than to disguise the actors
representing them . . . such evidence as I have
gathered leads me to believe that .
contemporary costume was used to dress all
historical characters, including figures from
Biblical history. (EES 103)
As indicated above ("Stage Directions"), Annas and Caiphas
were dressed as Catholic bishops. This immediately gave the
audience a sense of the ecclesiastical authority which these
high priests wielded. Eleanor Prosser describes medieval
costuming as "basically contemporary" and states that such
costumes "create the impact of immediacy" (53). However,
she argues that the phrase "after the old law" in the
description of Annas' dress indicates liturgical vestments
which were slightly out-of-date in relation to the medieval
audience. Alan Fletcher concurs with this idea. He has
phrased it this way:
The thrust of the stage direction is clearly
towards producing a sense of difference, of the
exotic. Familiar things may be present, but are
often combined in unfamiliar ways, or yet with
things themselves unfamiliar, and noticeably when

the divine or infernal are in view. (179)

Prosser concludes that such costuming would therefore only

75

indicate the position of Annas and Caiphas, and that the
"archaic bishop's habit would . . . [prevent] identification
with the contemporary church" (124). It is unclear whether
or not such characterization had an overall negative effect
on the audience's perception of the church or its leaders.

George Trevelyan's Ehglish_§ggial_flistg;y cites
occasional attacks on specific bishops in the work of
medieval friars (46) and describes other clergy as church
critics (41). There were many levels in the church
hierarchy, and if local secular clergy, described by
Trevelyan as "unbeneficed priests, deacons and clerks in
holy orders" (51), were writing and producing the cycles,
they may have satirized the abuses or eccentricities of
bishops and other church leaders without undermining the
audience's acceptance of the doctrine contained in the
plays. It seems fairly certain, however, that the Jews of
N-town were dressed as medieval bishops rather than Jewish
priests or rabbis.

In addition to their appearance, characters were
understood to possess certain basic characteristics related
to their names alone. An actor portraying Judas, for
example, would not develop a personal interpretation of the
part. He would, in a sense, assume a mask which identified
him as Judas and deliver the lines the audience expected

"Judas" to say.

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2. Modern Possibilities

There are three possible approaches a modern producer
may take to costuming the Jewish conspirators. First, they
may be clothed as Catholic bishops, as they were for
medieval performances. That is how they were dressed for
the production of this experimental script. Second, Annas
and Caiphas might appear as Jewish priests of the first
century according to the latest historical research in order
to place them accurately in the time of Jesus. Third, it is
possible to dress them in something entirely different. This
could mean putting them in generic black robes like the
"Doctor of Laws" and "Demon" wore. One might also dress
them as their modern equivalents in terms of power and
authority, either within the church, the government, or the
judicial system. Also within this range of possibilities is
the chance to portray them as anything or anyone else at
all, as Shakespeare and other playwrights are often updated
or uprooted to such locations as Nazi Germany or the
American West.

The intent of updating costumes is placing the drama in
a context which is familiar to the contemporary audience, if
there are contemporary parallels to the characters and the
costume clearly indicates what the parallel is. Alan
Fletcher takes the concept a step farther and says that the
familiarity is really just a "hook" to draw the audience

into the world of the play and to accept it on its own

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terms. By incorporating contemporary references, the play
"defamiliarises the here and now," making it an apt subject
of and location for criticism and change. The audience is
aware of this illusion and follows the arguments of the
drama more clearly because of this awareness. A variety of
arguments is employed in order to explain the single Divine
purpose in ways which the entire audience may understand.
The potential problem with keeping the Jews and the
soldiers in the medieval age is the possibility of creating
a work which will be perceived and valued only as a "museum
piece" or a social document. Such a danger can be averted
by the use of modern language and the undated religious
robes worn by Caiphas, Herod, and Pilate. John Marshall
indicates that this may not be a danger at all. He suggests
that fully modernized productions of any play seem to be "a
consequence of directors either underestimating their
audience or failing to trust their material" (297). It
would seem that what he is trying to say is that directors
may doubt their own abilities to communicate a trusted text

to an audience.

3. Lucifer's "disguised variance."

Lucifer presents a unique problem. The prologue itself
includes a long description of Lucifer's clothing, which is
gaudy and excessive. He introduces this with the sentence

"Behold the diversity of my disguised variance" (237). This

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suggests that the actor playing the role was dressed much as
the gentlemen of the day, rather than in a red suit with
horns and a tail. I translated this image to modern times
by dressing the woman I had cast as 'Demon' in a modern
black pants suit in which she appeared to be herself. Her
entrance in this outfit was an attempt to have her seem to
be a modern person beginning or narrating the play until she
introduced herself as Lucifer. This kind of shock for the
audience was intended to jolt the audience from modern times
to the world of the play.

It is not clear whether the Lucifer prologue of Passion
Play I had the same effect in its original. Lucifer may
have been dressed in layers, and taken on a variety of
disguises. And even if he was dressed more like the
audience than the characters, his line "that out of hell
came" (235) combined with the presence of the hell-mouth or
hell scaffold on the setting, may suggest that he makes his
entrance from hell, immediately indicating his identity to
the audience. Though the costume choice was appropriate and
effective, it is not clear whether or not it was entirely

true to the original production style.

IV. Unique Themes

The primary conflict in the Passion Plays of the N-town
cycle stands between Law, represented by the Jews, and
Grace, represented by God through Jesus. The final
performance script for this contemporary production was
therefore titled Law_ahd_ggage. There are two primary views
of law contained in this text. The conservative View of the
Pharisees venerates Law above all else: "It is far better
for one person to die to preserve our law, than to see the
law destroyed, along with our society" (Caiphas, Scene V,
100). Opposing this position is the image of the merciful
Christ as the fulfillment of the Law. Christ's Grace,
offered as an alternative and successor to the Law, is not
considered by the Jewish religious leaders. What Jesus
calls redemption or forgiveness, "perfect peace between God
and Man" (Scene III, 98), is seen by the Pharisees as a

threat to their power and control.

Part A: Law

1. 'Law' of the N-town Pharisees

The N-town Pharisees concern themselves almost
exclusively with the legality of Jesus' actions. Caiphas
warns as he introduces himself and the problem, "If nothing

is done to silence his false preaching, our ancient holy law

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80

will be made meaningless." When Rewfin is summoned, he
immediately finds Jesus "a traitor to Rome and Caesar".
Even more frantic, the Doctor laments that "our law is
losing respect," and Caiphas fears, "our ancient holy law
will be made meaningless" (Scene II, 97). More important,
however, are the potential consequences: "The Romans will
take away what little power we have if we do not act
quickly" (Scene V, 100).

The N-town conspirators hunt for a legal means to
silence Jesus, but when that approach is slow and
ineffective, they decide to concoct "a secret plan to trap
him" (Scene V, 100). Judas offers them the key to this
secret plan when he betrays Jesus for thirty pieces of
silver and arranges the signal. They assemble their party
and arrest Jesus in the garden that night, accusing Him of
blasphemy, treason and heresy. But Jesus points out their
own lack of concern for legal means: "You are wrong to
unkindly bind me here, and to fall on me by night, as if I
were a common thief" (Scene X, 108). In front of Pilate the
first time, the Jews timidly admit the reason they have
brought Jesus into a secular court, "It is not lawful for us
to make any sort of execution. This is the reason we have
brought him to you" (Scene XII, 111). From this admission
it is clear that the N-town Pharisees' purpose all along has
been to destroy Jesus by whatever legal means possible.

They want Jesus dead but they do not want to kill Him

themselves. Their legality is based on human Law wherein

vi

L—C

O\

In

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violations exist only when they are discovered.

2. 'Law' in Jewish Theology

The Pharisees were the conservators and teachers of the
Law of Moses. This Law included the Ten Commandments and
the five books of Moses, or the Torah, "the unalterable rule
and absolute standard or all religious life" (Guignebert
64). By the time of Jesus, this Law also included Pharisaic
writings and a tradition of "supplementary prescriptions

called the Oral Law" (27), providing interpretation of

strict, specific rights and wrongs. This oral tradition
existed not to accomodate secular thinking, but to maintain
the "life" of the Law. The Pharisees believed that
contemporary interpretations could keep the Law connected
with contemporary society rather than becoming dull and
outmoded. "It could go through whatever alteration,
revision and expansion was necessary to keep it . . . in
harmony with the various requirements of successive
generations" (63). The Pharisees were responsible for
knowing the Law, keeping the Law "with exactitude" and
imposing its standards on others (165—66). These Pharisees
would "rather perish than disobey one jot," but they
believed that repentance was the key to restoration when one
broke the Law. The action of the individual could return
him or her to favor ”by a changed life or altered behavior"

(166).

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Keeping the Law was of great importance in the Jewish
society. The Old Testament legal system required absolute
compliance to every part of the Law, which "was accorded
supreme and absolute authority” (66). There was no
difference between making a tiny error and breaking a major
commandment. The punishment was just as severe. It was
understood, at least to a degree, that no one could possible
keep the whole Law, but it was absolutely vital that they
respect it: I

The piety of Israel was measured in terms of its
extreme veneration for the Law even more than by

the exactness of its observance. . . .any member
of a Jewish community who failed in the necessary
reverence might be dealt with very severely. (64)

Every individual beginning with Adam had sinned, and
the only way to restore one's position of forgiveness was by
sacrifice. Contained within the Law and its interpretations
were specific instructions about what were acceptable
sacrifices for certain sins, to be offered in the temple at
specified times of year (see Exodus and Leviticus). The
sacrificial animal symbolically took on the sin of the
supplicant, who was then considered clean. The sacrifice
was "both symbolic of the relation between Jahweh and
Israel, and a manifestation of God's actual presence" (61).
The Law was a barrier between man and God because of man's
inability to keep it. Only the sacrifices could bridge the
distance between man and God. The Jews depended on the Law
not only for guidelines of conduct, but also for penalties

and means of restoration. According to Guignebert, the

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Pharisees viewed the Law as "the perfect expression of what
man himself would choose, if he had perfect knowledge"

(164).

3. 'Law' in Pauline Christianity

Christ's message was one of fulfillment. He would be
the sacrifice given once for all sin (failure to meet the
requirements of the Law) for all people for all time. He
would open up a new relationship between man and God,
restoring the connection severed by sin and Law. But He did
not do away with the law or its rules. His death offered
mankind something to fill the gap between them and their
fallibility and God with His perfection. Man's relationship
to God was not the only relationship changed by Christ's
sacrifice. His death also altered man's relationship to the
Law. Paul interpreted and described it this way in
Galatians: "the law was a schoolmaster to bring us to
Christ" (Galatians 3:24-25). In Hebrews, Paul writes:
The law having a shadow of good things to come,
and not the very image of the things, can never
with those sacrifices which they offered year by
year continually make the comers thereunto
perfect. (10:1)

Paul's epistles were a part of the Vulgate Scriptures which

served as one of the sources for these plays. His

Christology was an important element of Christianity.

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4. Law and the N-town Jesus

In the N-town Passion, the establishment of the
Eucharist at the Last Supper symbolizes the establishment of
a New Covenant. The Eucharistic meal typifies the new law
in Jesus which accepts human beings as they are when they
are willing to accept its terms. Paul encourages the
Hebrews, "Let us draw near . . . [and] hold fast the
profession of our faith" (10:22—23). He characterizes the
early Christians this way: "We are of them that believe to
the saving of the soul" (10:39). Similarly, the old
Passover meal, which commemorated the liberation of Moses
and the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, was a type or
symbol of this new Passover with the new Lamb who offers
liberation to all. Jesus explicates this connection in His
sermon at the Last Supper:

My brothers, we have eaten the Passover lamb
tonight just as the children of Israel did when
God commanded it to Moses and Aaron. That

symbol's use is finished. Tonight I establish a
new one. The sign is my body, represented by

bread. . . . as in the old law the lamb was used
for sacrifice, so I, as the new lamb, shall make
the greatest sacrifice. (Scene VIII, 104)

In this exegesis, Jesus "initiates another transformation,
as the rites of the old law cede to the new" (Fletcher 183).
Jesus goes on to describe specifically how the method of the

Passover feast relates symbolically to the Christian life:

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Do not eat this lamb with the bitter bread of
hatred and envy, but instead eat with the sweet
bread of love and charity . . . the bitter herbs

. are like the contrition you should have for

your sin . . . Hold your staff in your hand;

that is to say, Be prepared to be an example and

teach these things to others. (104)

Jesus' subsequent appearances all include some
mention of the removal of the distance between man and God.
As He revives and emerges from the tomb, Jesus tells the
audience, "I left my Father's throne to save man's soul

Through death I have brought bliss--Man now may go to
Heaven" (Scene XVII, 122). R. T. Davies' complete treatment
of this speech includes the following segment:

For mannes love I tholed [suffered] dead,

And for mannes love I am risen up red,

For man I have made my body in bread,

His soul to feed .

Through my death man do I save,

For now I am risen out of my grave,

In heaven man shall now dwell. (330-31)

Before His Ascension, He admonishes the disciples to tell
everyone about this new forgiveness, "Go . . . spread the

good news of my salvation to the ends of the earth" (Scene

XX, 127).
Part B: Grace
1. A Christian Theology of Grace

Christianity pictures the Grace of God as the currency

for a business transaction in which Mankind has become a

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slave to sin and cannot possibly purchase his freedom. God
provides the necessary ransom in Jesus Christ through His
death and Resurrection. Jesus fulfills the Law, which
required a sacrifice in order to permanently restore the
divine-human relationship. Jesus' sacrifice is the "anti-
dote" to Adam's (and humanity's) sin. The sacrifice of
Jesus is "once for all," (Hebrews 10:10): an eternal effect.
His death allows all mankind to live. In that one
historical (and historic) moment on Calvary, Jesus died
bearing the sin and failure of the entire world: past,
present and future.

This can only be because God exists beyond time. God
sees and experiences time as simultaneous or continuous.
This is a part of the medieval concept of time discussed
above. God created Man and Man failed God. God instituted
the Law, and the Patriarchs and Prophets attempted to live
by it. Their attempts prefigured and predicted the coming
of a Messiah or Christ who would take the blame for Man's
sin. That Messiah was Jesus, who was born, killed, and
resurrected in order that Man would not have to live
separate from God in eternity. His sacrifice had to be

accepted in order to avoid the judgment at the end of time.

2. Law and Grace in the N—town Passion

God's Grace stands in direct opposition to the

Pharisees' Law. Much of their Law was human Law; rules and

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regulations agreed upon by a community to maintain order and
civility. This kind of Law is not concerned with Grace. It
is strict and inflexible, interpreted in human terms. It
fails to recognize the wisdom of Portia's speech to Shylock
in Shakespeare's Merghant gf Venice:

Mercy . . .

becomes the throned monarch better than his crown,

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty.

Wherein doth sit the awe and fear of kings:

But mercy is above this sceptred sway,

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show most like God's,

When mercy seasons justice. (IV:1:188-97)
Ignoring mercy causes reactions like the Pharisees'. They
considered it to be their Law, something of their own
creation to be protected and maintained at all cost. This
desire led them into a fierce defense of their own power and
control under the guise of maintaining Law for the good of
the community.

Jesus' redemptive view does not do away with Law. In
the gospel of John, Christ says, "I did not come into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through me
might be saved" (John 3). Paul, again in Hebrews, says, "He
taketh away the first [the Law with its sacrifices and
offerings] that he may establish the second [the New
Covenant of His sacrifice]" (10:9). Jesus' death did do

away with some of the rules of sacrifice the Jews had been

living under for hundreds of years.

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Part C: Communicating the Message

Redemption or Grace in this Passion Play is a divine
action which provides restoration of the relationship
between man and God. Audiences will react in different ways
to this message. The initiated, who have accepted the
message, find relief, reassurance and peace. Medieval
audiences for the cycles found such religious instructions
as the Ten Commandments, the Seven Deadly Sins, the Creed
and the Seven Sacraments emphasized in the actions and
"sermons” of the plays. These basic concepts were required
material for parish priests "to teach the penitent the
correct way to examine his conscience and to present his
confession" (Prosser 20). For an uninitiated audience, the
didactic purpose made use of the devotional material of the
Passion story to strive for a sympathetic reaction.

A producer hopes to convince the audience that this is
the truth and that they will therefore learn what is
necessary to bridge the gap between them and God. It is a
mistake, according to John Marshall, to completely ignore
the religious elements of the plays simply because the
audience might not see things quite that way anymore. "A
production of medieval religious drama must treat its
audience as intelligent Christian adults, whether they are
or not" (297). While this may be overstating the case
somewhat, it is important not to substitute modern

skepticism into the plays themselves simply for the sake of

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making them "accessible."

The fact remains that a modern audience is less likely
to be an initiated or sympathetic audience. They may become
convinced that the Pharisees' efforts are illegal and that
Jesus is telling the truth. A thoroughly skeptical audience
can still relate to the epic nature and scale of the story
of the Divine becoming human and being oppressed, even
killed, especially when he comes back to life. K. P. Roddy
has written on the "Epic Quality of the Cycles" and defines
the genre this way: "An epic subject is determined by the
momentous impact of the action upon men's lives" (155).
These plays were constructed so that even their performance
created a "momentous impact." Meg Twycross notes, "one of
the main theatrical features of the plays was their sheer
impressiveness of scale. They were conceived on heroic
lines, a marathon for the audience as well as the actors"
(65). These definitions allow for both the sympathetic
effect of the message and a more detached, "aesthetic"

response to the grand telling of an epic story.

V. Evaluations and Conclusions

General Evaluation

The process of developing and producing a performance
script from a medieval religious play has led to a number of
conclusions. Paraphrasing and updating language is not as
simple as it first appears, because there exist a nearly
infinite number of possibilities when one attempts to make
medieval references sensible and meaningful today. The loss
of poetry by modern paraphrase is worth the sacrifice if the
audience can relate the play as a somewhat contemporary
experience, rather than a relic of an unknown age.

N-town's Passion sequence presents a unified story with
a coherent conflict between Law and Grace. The protagonist
is Jesus, with the Pharisees as antagonists. Jesus offers
new life and new Law by coming to Earth, dying and rising
from the dead. His victory over death becomes Man's victory
over sin. But the language of the plays provides different
levels of understanding which allow for repeated productions
with different emphases. For example, this particular
production emphasized the ideas of Law and Grace, while
another might point up the commercial considerations of the

Pharisees in the N-town Passion.

9O

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Production Methods

Concerning presentation, again many modes are possible.
It is best, however, to base any production design or
technique on the loca-platea staging described in Passion
Plays I and II, which is an effective, interesting and
flexible plan. To prevent the production from becoming too
archaic, costumes should be updated for at least some of the
characters, such as Rewfin and Lyon, the judges, for
example. Characters like these were touchstones for the
audience of their day and may be rewritten or at least
reclothed to illustrate their role in modern society. And
miracles may be effectively staged without expensive special
effects, particularly in an age of film when theatrical

effects often appear inferior to those in the movie theater.

Audience Relationships

The production audience was similar to the medieval one
in another important way: most of the audience members knew
one or more of the actors personally. Certainly when the
cycles were put on by a town and its guilds, most of the
audience members knew the performers from everyday life. R.
T. Davies has written:

Medieval folk were more used than we are to
reesponding to the role a man was performing as
distinct from . . . the man himself, more used

than we are to responding to a priest or a king
than to Robert or Richard. (49)

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Acquaintance with the performers was not the only
connection the audience made with the performers, then or
now. In terms of physical contact, the Prologues brought
the actors into direct relationship with the audience. Demon
moved all the way around the audience; John walked up and
down the center aisle. Elsewhere in the play, characters
entered from behind, around and through the audience, as if
the observers were a part of the action or the acting-place,
the platea. For example, before His Crucifixion Jesus was
led out the center aisle of the church. The arrest party in
an earlier scene entered from the back of the room and
approached Jesus and His disciples through all three aisles.

This audience-performer connection might have been made
clearer and stronger in a number of ways. First, the entire
performance could have been turned into a worship service,
framed by liturgical readings and responses. In a similar
manner, the "Hosannas" which welcomed Jesus and praised Him
at His Ascension could have included audience participation,
requiring effort on the part of the audience members and
identification with the actors and their characters who
welcome Jesus, condemn Him, and then praise Him as they say
goodbye.

Finding the sense of unity with a modern audience
requires some of the techniques of staging, technology and
script organization delineated above. Updated contemporary
references and costumes may help in this regard, and a

modernized script is necessary, though the degree of

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modernization will vary from one production to another.
William Marx writes that he attempted to make as much as
possible of his modern performances clear to the audience
through actions, in order to retain most of the Middle

English and some of the Latin words.

Conclusions

This production provided a valuable theatrical
experience in three primary ways for different groups of
people. For the initiated, it was a religious experience.
Those who did not care for or agree with the message might
be interested by the medieval staging ideas or the epic
qualities of the story itself. And for those who did not
accept the message initially, but became convinced, the play
functioned as a dialectic, sermon or argument which
concluded with a "conversion."

Whatever the methods, this drama can be significant and
interesting to a modern audience. If its message is true,
it will continue to be an important story unti the
"Doomsday" it describes comes to pass. It is important as
well in that it provides a glimpse into the life of another
age. Performing medieval plays illustrates} as Meg Twycross
has written, that "medieval theatre" is "different, and

often highly sophisticated."

APPENDIX A

Lflflv AJUD GHUNCE:

A Play of the Passion of Jesus Christ

Adapted by Andrew Ryder
Based upon Passion Plays I and II of the
Medieval English Plays of N-town
as contained in R. T. Davies'

Corpus Christi Play of the English.Middle Ages

for production
in the Molly Grove Chapel of
First Presbyterian Church, Lansing, Michigan,
March 19, 1994

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Scene I: PROLOGUES

(Demon enters from the door stage left, crosses to the
center of "the place" and begins to speak. As Demon
delivers this address, he/she walks around the audience.)

‘Demgna Good evening. Allow me to introduce myself. I
am Lucifer, king of Hell. Oh! I see some of you have heard
of me! Good. My goal in life is to lure all of you to come
and live here with me. See how normal I look? I always
suit my clothes and my appearance to the occasion, whatever
it may be. I must seem convincing, disarming--all according
to my own purposes.

Yes, it was I who first introduced sin, there in the
dull holiness of Heaven. That's what got me thrown out.
Seems I wasn't appreciated there. But I was: ~one—third of
the angels came with me to Hell. They work with me there
now.

At the moment, my mind is filled with thoughts of
Jesus. You know, the baby born to Mary and Joseph in the
stable about thirty years ago? Recently I tried to tempt
him with all of the things which so easily draw you humans
in; food, money, power--but he wouldn't budge. Right now he
is traveling the countryside preaching, with twelve
disciples doing his work. The people all love him because
he heals them and makes them feel good. You know that he
raised his friend Lazarus from the dead after four days!!
Why, he even forgave that harlot Mary Magdalene!

He claims to be God's son as well as Mary's, and that
he is going to die just to save all of you from me! That's
a laugh! When he is dead we'll see who was right--when his
precious soul is separated from that human body! When the
time is right I will turn all of the people against Jesus--
even the happy people he healed. False witnesses will
accuse him of all sorts of crimes: even his disciples will
desert him. Because I control this world. How? By
redefining sin as 'pleasure.'I mean, what is 'pride' but
honest self worth? Isn't coveting wise when you stand to
lose money? Well, I haven't got the time to review every
sin. But each one shares my ability to appear good; and no
matter what tricks Jesus may try, they will always be mine!

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(John the Baptist enters from the back of the room and walks
toward the front through the center aisle.)

Here comes Jesus' trouble making cousin, John the
Baptist. Do not forget about me, but right now I have other
business to attend to. But anytime you call I will be sure
to listen and respond!

(When John reaches the front, he turns to the audience and
begins to speak. As he preaches, he moves up and down the
center aisle, gesturing broadly.)

fighn_flaptista Greetings, brothers and sisters! I am
John the Baptist and I speak the truth!

There is another coming after me who I am barely worthy
to speak about. He will bring the Kingdom of Heaven.
Prepare the way for him! Repent of your sin and cleanse your
souls!

The one who is coming is the Lord God; you must make
straight paths for him! Do not lean too far to the right or
too far to the left. The right stands for mercy and the
left for despair. The middle ground--where you must always
walk--is a healthy mix of both hope and holy fear. Here is
what I mean--Do not lean only on God's mercy, sinning in the
hope of infinite forgiveness. And if you do commit 'deadly'
sin, do not despair! Confess the sin and do your penance:
God forgives.

The only way to God's heaven lies in combining hope and
holy fear:

Hope without fear is a type of presumption;
And fear without hope is a kind of desperation;
Neither is complete without the other.

Follow my advice and you will prepare straight paths for the
Lord!

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Scene II: COUNCIL OF JEWS I

(Caiphas and Demon/Doctor enter to the platform stage right.
Caiphas speaksz)

.thnhasr I am Caiphas, High Priest of the Jewish Council.

I am responsible for Justice and Peace in Jerusalem. Jesus
Christ has ignored the laws of Moses we uphold. If nothing
is done to silence his false preaching, our ancient holy law
will be made meaningless.

‘Qemgna Do not take your responsibility lightly! Send for
Rewfin, the judge. He'll know the legal ways and means by
which Jesus may be punished. Jesus must be arrested if he
refuses to change!

ggiphag; You are surely correct! Go and bring Rewfin at
once!

(Dr. exits, crosses stage left to meet Rewfin.)
As for Jesus--he will be sorry he angered me!

(The doctor returns with Rewfin and Doctor of Laws. The
four of them.meet near the center of "the place.")

gziphasi Welcome, Judge Rewfin! This is the situation.
Jesus, who calls himself God's Son, is doing miracles and
even claiming to be God! He is so popular with the people
that our Law will soon be completely forgotten! What can be
done?!

Begfiig; He is clearly a heretic, as well as a traitor to
Rome and Caesar.

.Qaiphasi There is proof for the charge of treason: He
claims to be King of the Jews, knowing we Jews have no King
but Caesar!

‘Demgn; Gentlemen, you have to do something! I think he
ought to be executed! Make it public, make it painful and
make it soon! He has broken your law and you must act!

Renting Let's take the next few days to send out spies to
watch and follow him and his disciples. When they report
back to us, we can use his own words against him!

gaiphas; Your caution is wise. We will put your plan into
action.
(They all exit stage right.)

98
Scene III: ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM

(John enters from the stage, followed by Judas, Peter,
Philip, Simon and the Maries. As he shouts, he gestures
them to him at the center of "the place.")

define Brothers and Sisters! Our Lord is almost here!
Let's go and meet him!

.2egnle_1a11_gthersla Let us welcome him with branches of
the tree; he will be pleased with them!

SONG (all sing): "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna"
(to tune of 'Ellacombe')

(as they sing, Jesus walks in through the center aisle.)

Hosanna, Loud Hosanna, We sing to Christ, Our King!

Through pillared court and Temple this lovely anthem
rings!

The God of men and angels rides on in lowly state;

Blessed He who comes in God's Name; Here for your Word
we wait. '

(They all kneel; Jesus enters)

.Jesgga My friends, now is the time of mercy. Man's soul
will be saved, and the ruler of this world defeated! The

truth of truths will now be known--perfect peace between God
and Man!

99

Scene IV: MAUNDY I

(The disciples and others walk off, humming the song. John
and Peter approach Jesus)

gang; Lord, where would you like to eat your Passover
meal? Tell us now, so we can prepare for you.

gegns; Here in Jerusalem you will meet Simon, whom you
know. Tell him I am coming that way and would like to eat
at his house. He will not object, but do everything that
you ask.

jgggug_ We will do exactly as you have told us.
(They cross stage left, where they see Simon entering his
house. Peter speaks:)

.Eetez; Simon! Jesus wants to share his Last Supper in
your house tonight.

gang; Yes; Arrange for a Passover supper for him and
his disciples.

.simgna With me? In my house? I am honored beyond words!
It will take but a few moments for me to prepare. Come in
and see the room .

I have never been so happy in all my life!

(Simon, Peter and John walk into "the room" on stage at
center. They set up the furniture for the Last Supper)

13135; This is the way that things must be. The
preparations are nearly complete. When they are, we shall
continue. I take this path for love of man, for only a man
can save mankind.

(Peter leaves the room to summon Jesus)
Eater; Everything is ready! Simon is ready to meet you.

(Jesus walks into the room and is greeted by Simon, who
kneels in reverence. Jesus raises him.up.)

° Lord, welcome to my house!
All honor and reverence to you who are both God and Man!

QEEHEL All joy unto you, Simon, because your heart is pure.
Surely you will see me again in Heaven.

(Here Christ enters into the house with his disciples and
eats the paschal supper.)

100
Scene V: COUNCIL OF JEWS II

(The scene is the platform SR. Caiphas and Rewfin are
already in place, and Demon/Doctor and Doctor of Laws enter
to them:)

211 We must do more! Jesus continues corrupting the
people, and our law is losing respect! The Romans will
take away what little power we have if we do not act
quickly!

.Qlinhifli It is far better for one person die to preserve
our law, than to see the law destroyed, along with our
society. We must find a crime to accuse Jesus of.

Begfina I heard him say he was King of Jews, which,
As I have said, is treason to Caesar and to Rome.

Lug, He said to one group that he would destroy the temple,
And build it again in three days! He claims Heaven is his
home and that he is God as well as man!

lasagna Let's not wait any longer! Jesus ought to be
arrested and thrown in prison! Since he has spoken against
our Law, we should try him quickly and condemn him to death!

fleeting We could spend all day arguing possibilities,
And still not succeed in saving our law.

What we must do is develop a secret plan to trap him--
He is rarely alone and unprotected.

.Clinhdfii We must all agree on a plan to bring him in!

101
Scene VI: MAUNDY II

(Mary Magdalene enters SL and kneels on the floor.)

W Alas. alas. I ought to die.

For the great sins that I have done.

Unless my God some way spare and receive me into his great
mercy. Mary Magdalene is my name.

Now I go to Christ Jesus to ask for some of his great grace,
For I am greatly shamed.

(Mary rises and crosses onto the stage where Jesus is eating
the Passover with his disciples)

Have mercy, Lord, and take my sin.
There was never a woman so full of evil.
Therefore, King of Grace, with this ointment that is so
sweet, Let me anoint your holy foot,
So for my ills I win some remedy, and mercy for my sin.

(She anoints his feet from the bottle she has brought)

£31251 (rising) Woman, for your weeping heart some relief
God will send. I have good reason to save you; a sorrowful
heart can sin amend. I will answer all your prayers and
save you from your sin, And from the seven devils who
possess you.

(He places one hand on her head and raises the other:)

Fiends! Go your way and leave her; she is mine!
In my grace she will ever flower!

W I thank you Lord for this great grace,
I will never return to sinful ways

Blessed the time I came here, and this ointment that I did
bear, For now my heart is cleansed from care.

fiydasa (standing, accusing) Lord, I think you do quite ill
To let this ointment like this be wasted.
Had it been sold we could have bought food for poor men.

.iesns; (rebuking him) Poor men will remain. You are
wrong to say anything against this woman--
And I'll be gone in a short time.

(To Mary)
Woman, go your way in peace--your sin has been forgiven.

(Mary exits as she came in.)

102

Here Christ rests and eats a little and says sitting to his
disciples:)

My heart is full of sorrow, for soon I go to death
though I never sinned. But this is what grieves my heart
the most--One of my brothers shall work this menace.

.getera My dear Lord, I ask that you tell the whole truth:
Which of us shall do this treason?

flfiflflfii One of you who shares my dish will betray me.
Woe shall come to him for this work of dread.

ghfiasa Am I the one?

.Jesgs; So you have said. You ask if you shall do this
treason; It is up to you: You are old enough to know what

is right.

103
Scene VII: BETRAYAL

(Here Judas rises privately and goes into 'the place.')

‘indasa (to audience) I have arranged a private treason,
to destroy my master's power. By some excuse I shall
attempt to sell Jesus unto the Jews. The council of priests
is gathered--I think they will be pleased with my offer.
(Judas meets Rewfin)

Hail, Rewfin! I have good news! My master, Jesus, I
will sell, For I no longer will follow his law.
How much is he worth to you?

Begfina Judas, how much do you want for betraying him?
guess; Show me the money, and I will say if it is enough.

fiegfina Here are thirty pieces of silver, If we may have
your master tonight.

- I will make this bargain with you. Shake hands!
You shall have what you want; For money I will not fail.

gently; Now this bargain is made, Neither part may break
it. But we need a secret sign, to be sure we arrest the
right man.

Judas; As for that, have no doubt! When you come and
surround him about, Take the man that I will kiss.

(Judas bows, leaving Rewfin, and speaks to the audience)

Now I will go to my master again, And make it look as if I
knew nothing. I have sold him to pain: he will be angry.

(Here Judas leaves subtly as he came.)
‘Qemgnnggtgra (in the council room: they have heard
everything) Now we have the beginning of our plan! All we

need now is a group willing to fight to make this arrest.
Let each of us recruit his party and meet again tonight!

gaiphasa No more delays! Hurry, each of you to his place,
so we may carry out this plan tonight!

(They all exit in opposite directions.)

 

104
Scene VIII: MAUNDY III

(Jesus rises and speaks to the disciples:)

Jesus; My brothers, we have eaten the Passover lamb
tonight just as the children of Israel did when God
commanded it to Moses and Aaron. That symbol's use is
finished. Tonight I establish a new one.

The sign is my body, represented by bread.

I sincerely wanted to share this with you before I die;

This will be our last meal together here on earth.

And as in the Old Law the lamb was used for sacrifice, so I,
as the new lamb, shall make the greatest sacrifice.

(Jesus takes the bread and looks into heaven.)

Father in Heaven, I honor you with thanks.
I, who am equal to you in Godhead but less as humankind.
As man I worship your deity.

Thank you, Father, for the illumination of this
mystery. Through your power, and my blessing, this bread
becomes my body.

(Again to his disciples.)

Brothers, what appears to be bread is now my body. This is
the lamb without sin whom John the Baptist spoke about.

Here is how you shall eat the lamb--According to the rules
of the old law:

Do not eat this lamb with the bitter bread of hatred
and envy--but instead eat with the sweet bread of love and
charity which feeds the soul. The bitter herbs the children
of Israel ate are the contrition you should have for your
sin, as Mary did and was forgiven. Eating the head with the
feet symbolizes the mixture of humanity and Godhead in me,
the new Passover Lamb. And, as they burned the uneaten
meat, so do not be concerned with what you do not
understand. Rely on your faith!Hold your staff in your
hand; that is to say, Be prepared to be an example and teach
these things to others.

Now that you know how to eat, I will feed you according to
this new covenant.

Eater; Lord, I don't know how to take this. No man can be
worthy to receive of your own body! I ask your forgiveness
of all my sin. (Peter kneels)

issue; (to each) This is my body, broken for you.

 

105

.Jesgs; (to Judas) Judas, do you understand what you are
doing?

Judas; Lord, I will not forsake your body.

.fleagga I will not deny you my body. But if you take
without faith, you will be damned. You hear my warning in
advance. (Judas indicates he understands.) This is my
body, broken for you.

(After Judas receives it...)
Jeans; One of you who has eaten with me has betrayed me.

(Each will look at the others...)
.EQEQEL Lord, is it I? (Others repeat)

Judas; Could it be me?

.fiesgga Judas, you have said it. You have sold your
friend. Go! What you've begun, now complete.

(Judas goes into "the place," where Demon meets him)

‘Qemgna Judas, my dear Judas! You are the best I have
ever known! Not only have you sold your Master, you have
eaten his body! I wish you could bring him all the way to
Hell. Speed on your way--I go there now to prepare for both
of you; There you will sit beside me.

(Judas exits SR, Demon exits SL)

(Jesus resumes his sermon)

.flesgs; Now the Son of God is glorified--and God in Him.
I am sorry Judas has traded his bliss for sorrow.

But now in memory of my Passion, You shall drink my blood
with devotion, as I shed it for love of man. Take this cup
of my New Testament and whenever you do it will defend you
from Satan and his servants.

It runs out from my heart to you.

(Jesus passes the cup to each of them. When all of them
have drunkz)

Pay attention to what I've done. I've fed you with my body
and blood. I can do no more than give my life for love of
man.

As you love me, feed my sheep. Share my body with them too.
I will be with you--and them--until the world's end.

Whoever takes this blood and body shall be safe from the
devil's wiles.

But whoever does not take this meal will be alone without my
love.

106

(Here Jesus washes the disciples' feet, one by one, wipes
them.and sits down again.)

(1353;; Friends, this washing shall prevail.

Though I am your Master I have washed you all.
Remember this night and do likewise.

Nothing pleases me so well as those who live lives of
charity.

My time has come--I shall fulfill the prophecy

I will be taken and led away; all of you shall run in fear.
For you I will die and rise again--on the third day you will
see.

Let us go from this place; the day approaches.

107
Scene IX: AGONY AT OLIVET

(They go to Olivet (on the steps SL). Jesus tells the
disciples to wait, then says to Peter:)

.lfifiufii Wait here. Watch and pray. I must make my prayers
to the Father.

‘Eetez; Lord, we wait.
(Jesus goes to center and prays.)

flfiflnfii My body trembles with suffering, fear and pain.
Please, my Father, let me pass from this suffering, since I
have never sinned! Father God, remove from me this passion
that I must suffer for man's sin. With your grace take away
my pain and let me escape death! Water and blood flow mixed
from my face in searing pain; my body shakes with fear.
Please think of me, Father! You must relieve me, for I have
never done wrong!

(Jesus is silently encouraged by the Spirit.)

Father, I shall fulfill your will and suffer death for the
sin of man. These tears and blood are not for me, but for
the sake of man.

(Here Christ goes again to his disciples and finds them
sleeping.)

Awake! How could you sleep when I was in anguish? Your
rest is long enough. Judas is coming with a crowd of people
to arrest me.

Peter, when you see I am forsaken and stand alone,
Give all the cheer that you can unto your brothers.

108
Scene X: TAKING OF JESUS

(Here Jesus and his disciples go into "the place." The
arrest party enters from the aisles right, left and center
led by Rewfin.)

.Jesgsa Gentlemen, you seem in quite a hurry to arrest
someone who will not run away.
Tell, me, whom seek ye?

fiegfina I'll tell you who--A traitor, worthy to suffer
death! We know he is here: His name is Jesus of Nazareth.

issue; In truth I tell you, I AM HE!
fienfina Jesus of Nazareth is the one we want!

.léflnfii I have just finished calmly telling you that it
was I.

gages; (entering center and crossing to Jesus)

Jesus, my dear Master and Teacher! I have been looking for
you. I am so glad to find you here at last!

(Here Judas kisses Jesus. The soldiers arrest him”)

.iesns; Judas, you have performed this treason, and for
that you will be sorry! It would have been better if you
had not been born, for now your soul and body go to hell.
(Judas runs out SR.)

333113: Jesus, you may not deny that you are guilty of
treason and heresy. Think quickly on your defense, as you
are tightly bound. You say you are King--Now let me see
your great power. Rescue yourself from this danger!

Unto Caiaphas your judge we lead you.

.flesgs: Friends, take heed--you are wrong to unkindly bind
me here, and to fall on me by night, as if I were a common
thief. Many times I appeared before you: Why did you not
refute me then? Now you start to rave, and do things that
you do not know.

Begiin: Not one more word this night! Lead him quickly to
Caiphas. Treat him like the criminal he is, and pay no
attention to what he says.

(Here the Jews lead Christ out of "the place," around the
room.and back to the front where Caiphas is waiting.)

109
Scene XI: BEFORE CAIAPHAS

(The soldiers leading Jesus place him upstage of Caiphas,
who stands on his platfomm.)

.Cd12h323 Jesus, you are welcome here to our presence.

So many times we have busily searched for you.

Then we paid your disciple thirty pence, And bought you
like an ox. Now you are ours, as surely as you stand there.
Say why you have troubled us and subverted our law.

Who are the disciples that follow you about? And what is
the doctrine that you preach?

Tell me now, so we can teach your message plainly to others.

JEEBEL Every time I preached, it was done openly in the
Synagogue or in the Temple, where all of the Jews come. Ask
them what I have said and done: They can tell you my words.

.figldie;_1i Who do you think you are! To whom do you
speak? You should not talk back to a bishop!

For doing that I'll give you a good knock.

(Here he shall hit Jesus on the cheek.)

issue; If I have said something false--You must give
witness to the words; You do wrong to wish me harm.

.caiphag; Sires, take heed now to this man
That he destroys not our law, And bring witness against him
(those who can), So that he may be put to death.

.Qggtgz; Sir, this I heard him say this with his own mouth:
'Break down this temple without delay,

And I shall set it up again

As whole as it was by the third day.’

.Qemgna Yes! And I heard him say that he was the Son of
God, Yet many fools believe that of themselves!

inphas; (circling Jesus) What do you say now, Jesus? Why
so quiet? Do you hear what is said against you? Speak you
fool! Are you too good to speak to me?

Don't you hear how many things you are accused of?

JBEHEL (quietly) I am God's Son; I do not deny it. You
all shall see that at Doomsday, when the Son shall come in
great power and majesty to redeem the living and the dead.

Chinhasi What is this? Do you hear how he's blaspheming
God? Why should we need any other witnesses? You have
heard his own words--Don't you think he is worthy to die?
(And they shall all cryz) '

Yes, yes, yes, he is worthy to die!

110
.Clinhdfii Take him to you and beat him for his blaspheming.

(Here the soldiers shall beat Jesus about the head and the
body, and pull him.down, and blindfold himm)

‘Eizat_figldie;; Fellows, beware what you do to this man, for
he can prophesy well. Now Jesus, who gave you that?

(And he shall strike him with his spear.)

.fiegggd_figld1e;a Ah! And now I will begin a new game,
Wheel and pill, wheel and pill, Who was that?

(The soldiers continue to beat him, blindfolded. As the
scene ends, they leave off tormenting him and remove the
blindfold, laying him on the ground.)

111
Scene XII: BEFORE PILATE

(Here Judas enters to the Jews, meeting at SR.)

Judas; I, Judas, have sinned in doing this treason.
I have betrayed the righteous blood. Here is your money
back, and more, From sorrow and thought I am grown mad.

.Qdinhflfii What is that to us? You made an agreement; You
sold him to us like a horse.

Take responsibility for your own actions.

(Judas casts down the money and goes and hangs himself.)

QBIEDQEL The night is passed, and day is come. It is time
this man had his judgment.

Pilate waits at the meeting for us to present this Jesus.
(Here they lead Jesus about the place till they come to
Pilate, whose court is at center stage. Jesus is placed SL
of Pilate, who sits on the center platform, and the Jews
gather about Pilate on the floor, accusing Him.)

gainhas; Sir Pilate, take heed to this man! We have
brought Jesus who condemns our law.
He has caused us much shame.

Begfina From this city into the land of Galilee he has
brought our laws to confusion with his crafty, devilish

ways. He tricks the people with clever deception.
'Demgna Yet, sir, another crime, worst of all--against
Caesar, our Emperor, who-is supreme; 'King of Jews' he

calls himself, As if our Emperor's power is nothing.

.Eilatea What do you say to these complaints, Jesus?
These people have accused you seriously.

JEEHEL Their accusations do not concern me so long as
they do not hurt their souls. I have not yet accomplished
what I came for; For my Father's will I must go on.

‘Eilate; Jesus, by this I think you are a king, and the Son
of God, Lord of earth and of all things--
Tell me the truth, if it is so.

JBEHEI In heaven is known my Father's will, And in this
world I was born: I was sent to seek that which was lost.
All who hear me, believe, and keep their faith,

shall be brought to eternal bliss.

‘Ellatea Well, now you have heard this man, what do you
think? Do you not find it reasonable that what he says may
well be true? I find in him no transgression, treason, or
any guilt. The law will, under no condition, allow him to
be put to death without offence.

112

.Qemgna Sir Pilate, the law rests in you, and we truly
know his trespass: The Emperor shall hear about it if you
let Jesus pass from you.

'Ellate; Tell me one thing: Of what crime do you accuse
this man?

‘Begfina Sir, we tell you all together, if he were not a
known evil-doer, We would not have brought him to you.

lgilatea Take him, then, according to this charge, And
punish him under your law.

Qaiphas; It is not lawful for us to make any sort of
execution: This is the reason we have brought him to you.
He could not possibly be our King.

You know we have no king except our Emperor.

'Ellatea Jesus, you are King of Jewry.
1353:; So you say now to me.
Bilatea Tell me, then, Where is your kingdom?

JEEHEL My kingdom is not in this world. If my kingdom had
been on earth, I would not have been delivered unto you.

fillets; Think what you can, I find no fault in him.

.Qaiphas; Sir, here is the record, acknowledge it!

We know of great mischief in this man, not only in one day-
-it is years since he began! These people here can tell you;
why, everyone knows, From here into the land of Galilee.

‘Ellate; Verify one thing, then: That Jesus was truly born
in the land of Galilee, For we have no power or
jurisdiction over anyone of that country.

If Jesus was born there he must be judged by Herod.

.Qaiphas; Sir, as I am truly sworn unto the Law, I have no
fear to tell the truth. In Galilee I know that he was born:
in Bethlehem of Judea, which stands in the land of Galilee.

'Ellatea I understand now what I must do: The judgement of
Jesus lies not with me! Herod is king of that country, and
he must have jurisdiction over Jesus.

Lead him to Herod as quickly you can. Say I commend myself
with word and deed,

And that I have sent Jesus to him.

'Qggtgca We shall take him to Herod at once.

113
Scene XIII: BEFORE HEROD

(Here they shall take Jesus and lead him.in great haste to
Herod (across "the place.") All the Jews kneel except
Caiphas.)

‘Qggtgzzpemgn: Hail! Herod, most excellent King! We are
commanded to your presence. Pilate sends you greeting, And
charges us that we should bring Jesus of Nazareth to you
because he was born in this country.

‘Qaiphas: We know he has done great evil against the law, as
we have shown. So Pilate sent him unto you, that you should
give him judgement.

‘flezgd: Now, by St. Mahomet! My god of grace! This is a
kind deed, rare for Pilate. I shall be his friend until the
end, Since he has sent Jesus to me. I have wanted so much
to see this man! Jesus, you are welcome to me.

.EQldi§I_IIi My sovereign lord, this is the case: The
falseness of Jesus is openly known. There was never a man
who committed such sins; he has almost destroyed our law.

Qaiphas: Most excellent King, you must take heed!

He will destroy all this country, both old and young, by his
miracles and false preaching. He brings the people to great
mistaking, saying daily among them all that he is Lord, and
King of Jews, and Son of God.

HEIQQ: Sires, all these matters I have heard said, And
much more than you tell me. All together they shall be laid,
And I will take from them my counsel.

Jesus, you are welcome! I thank Pilate for sending you. I
have desired so long to see you. It is said you do many
wondrous things: Make crooked men walk and blind men see.
These are wondrous works. How are they done? What do they
mean?

Now Jesus, I pray you, let me see one miracle done in my
presence. Quickly, perhaps I will show favor to you. For
now you are in my court; Your life and death shall be
judged by me. Jesus, why don't you speak to your King? For
what reason do you stand so still? You know I shall decide
all things: Your life and death lie at my will. Speak,
Jesus and tell me why these people so loudly accuse you.
Stop stalling, and tell me right now how you can excuse
yourself!

.Qaiphas: Sire, this is one of his false subtleties: He
will not speak but when he chooses. This is how he deceives

114

the people so completely. He is fully false, you mark my
words!

.fleggd: What! You unhanged harlot, why will you not
speak? Do you scorn to speak unto your King?
Because you've broken our laws, I think you fear answering.

Chinhdfl= No, he is not afraid, but tries a cunning trick
hoping we cannot accuse him. He knows there is no good
excuse to offer.

.HEEQd: What! Speak I say, you fouling, go to hell! Look
up! The devil comes to take you! Go! Beat his body with
whips; Maybe that will convince him to speak.

£91d1££_111 It shall be done without delay. Come on,
traitor, see where real evil lies. If you will not speak
unto our King, we'll teach you a lesson.

(Here they beat Jesus with whips. Jesus does not respond or
react.)

.flezgd: Jesus, do you enjoy this? You are strong to suffer
shame! You would rather be beaten than admit your own
faults. But I will not completely destroy you; Sires, take
Jesus at your own will, And lead him to Pilate once again.
Greet him well--I give him the power over Jesus to save or
damn.

‘Dggtgza Sir, at your request it shall be done. We shall
lead Jesus to Pilate once again, And tell him all you say.

115
Scene XIV: BEFORE PILATE II

(The Jews return to Pilate leading Jesus.)

.Qemgna Pilate! I have good news for you! Herod sends
you Jesus once again! You must choose to save or to kill.

‘Ellate; Certainly it is you priests who are to blame,
beating him and putting him to shame. I cannot find a fault
in him. And Herod couldn't either, because he sent him back
to me! Here is what I am going to do. Every year we
release a prisoner. I will let Jesus go.

(Here they all shall cry, ”NOII")

,QQQLQI1 Give us Barabbas the murderer instead!
‘Ellate; What shall I do with Jesus?

,fiegfin; Let him be crucified!

.Eiliifii But what wrong has Jesus done?

ALL; Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him! .....

.Eilatea Since you wish Jesus nothing but pain, I will
take him aside with me a moment.

(Here Pilate takes Jesus aside.)

Jesus, what do you have to say? You would be a free man if
it were up to me; But your countrymen would have you
killed! These bishops and priests, and even the common
people, are all against you! Why don't you answer me?

Don't you know the power I have over you? What do you say?

JEEHEL You have no power over me, except what my Father
has given. I came to fulfill His will, and save mankind
from sin. The one who betrayed me to you is more at fault
than you.

Begiin; Princes, look and see how favorable Pilate is to
Jesus! If he does not change his mind, our laws will be
eternally destroyed!

(Here Pilate returns to the Jews.)

ffllatea Well, what would you have me do? I can find no
fault. It is my desire to let him go.

gaiphas; No, Pilate! You would be making a grave mistake
to go against our Law! If you let Jesus go, you will answer
to the Emperor as a traitor!

116

.Eildfifii Very well, since you will have it no other way, I
wash my hands of this! As I wash my hands clean with water,
So shall I be guiltless of his death.

(Easter; His blood shall be on us and on our children!
[Bilatea Bring Jesus, that he may have his sentence.
(Here the soldiers shall bring Jesus.)

'Ellatea What say you of Jesus of Nazareth?

‘fiegfina We say he shall be put to death.

‘Ellate; Can you accuse him of any violation of the law?

.gaiphasi Sir, we all agree that he must at once be
crucified.

(And all shall cheer, and shout, 'Crucify HimJ')

‘Ellatea Jesus, your own people have denied all attempts to
save you. Here are my instructions, since you insist on
crucifying him: First bind him to a pillar;

Then beat him where everyone can see. Once beaten, crown
him as your King: At that time you may bring him to the
cross. He shall be nailed upon the cross upon three nails:
One through his right hand, another through the left; the
third right through both feet. Thus Jesus shall hang upon
the Mount of Calvary that everyone may see. Go now!

(They all exit through the center aisle, leading Jesus.)

117

Demon's Speech Before the Cross

(Demon enters to center, where the cross will be.)

‘Qemgn; Now my plan is coming into focus. You see that it
is I who am truly in control. Thousands of devils bow to
me, ruling in flame! Whoever works for me can look forward
to tortures far worse than dungeons and chains. Even on
earth I will torment the onew who have played games with
Jesus, the one Judas sold. But Jesus is the one who really
upset me! No matter the temptation, he always overcame me--
until now. I have prepared this cross just for him. No
matter how holy, he will be no match for this pain! Soon he
shall come into my Hell! Hell, make ready! We're expecting
a guest; the one who called himself the son of God! By noon
he will be there, you mark my words! Soon he will join us
in eternal suffering!

XV. CRUCIPIXION

(The two soldiers lead Jesus in from backstage right, and
lay Jesus down on the "cross.")

.591d1££_1£ Come on! Let's see if the cross will fit!
Well, lay him down! He can't stand here all day!

.591d1e:_111 Give me his arms! You take his feet!
Now we can see if the holes line up.

‘figldie;_1a This one does. Pull him so that one fits.

‘figldiez_11; Fasten a rope and we'll pull him out longer.
Then all the holes will match.

[£91d1e:_11 Just drive a nail here.

[£91d1e1_111 Ha! That one should hold!
.Egldiez_1a Now the feet!This one will go through both feet!

(They laugh and dance around him,)
Here he lies, tacked on a tree!

.Egldiez_11; You are indeed a worthy king!
.Sgldiez_1a Stand up the cross so we can see his face.
[£91d1e;;111 Then we can kneel and worship the great King!

(They set him up; then mock him, saying:)
- Hail! King of the Jews! (If you are?!)

.Efild1§I_II£ Come down from that tree and we'll all
worship together!

118

(Mary Magdalene, Maria Virgo, and John all come to the
cross:)

uh;1a_21;gga My Son! What could you have done that you
are left to hang on a cross, like a thief? My heart will
burst! I don't know how to go on living without you.

(She faints.)

Jesus; Father, Creator. Forgive these Jews. They do not
know what they have done.

(The soldiers mock Jesus from the ground.)
£91d1££_li There he is--the one who said he would
destroy the temple and raise it in 3 days.

£91d1§£_I11 Yes, if you're God's Son, Help yourself!
Come off the cross!

(Mazia_zizggi My son, what have I done wrong? You've
spoken to everyone else but me. You have even forgiven the
Jews. Will you not speak to me, your own suffering mother?
My heart will break!

13531; Woman, this is your son! John, Care for her as

your mother! Mother, you know God sent me here to ransom

mankind for Adam's sin. If this is God's will, why should
you be unhappy? This is the reason I was born to you--

to restore man's bliss!

,Mazyguagfialehea Good lady, why? Your sadness makes ours
worse; And Jesus suffers more for seeing yours.

:M§;1a_21;gga Will you all please just let me stay here
with my own Son!

Jenn; Gentle lady, stop your mourning and come with us.
It is almost over.

(Caiphas and the others come before the cross.)
Chinhafi; Look! Here hangs the one who helped so many--
helpless!

Begflna If you're the king, come down and let your God
save you!

(Pilate enters with a sign, "Here is Jesus, King of the
Jews." He places it beside Jesus.)

Chinhdfii Sir Pilate, we'd rather have you write, "He called
himself the King of Jews."

‘Ellatea What I have written, I have written.
(All of the Leaders exit.)

 

119

.fiesga; My Father in Heaven, why do you abandon me?
My human weakness feels great pain! Please look on me and
relieve my pain with death!

.figldiegala Well, sir, now you are ready to go. We'll
take our leave of you and wish you well.

.figldiaz_11; We leave you with our scorn--Keep watch in
the corn and scare away the crows! (laughs)

‘Qesgs; Father in Heaven above, I commend my spirit to
you. My suffering is over: It is finished.

luggia_zizgga I have lived too long if I am forced to look
upon my own son in such suffering! He hangs there like a
thief though he never once sinned!

‘fighn; Blessed woman, change this thought! Even though
Jesus is in pain, it is of his own choice. He asked me to
take care of you; please cheer yourself and know that this
is what he wanted.

n311a_zizgga Even if he were not my own son, I would have
to mourn to find my friend so beaten and so punished by his
enemies.

.flfihni Lady, I have told you, as he did, he has died so
we may live! Because he has taken our sin, we may live with
him in heaven! This is reason to rejoice!

.erin_!1£flgi My mind knows, but my heart cannot forget this
sight.

Jenna Since that is the case, let's go from here. If
you do not see him, it may be easier to cheer your heart.
(Mary kisses Jesus' feet then falls at the foot of the cross
weeping again.)

1938; Blessed Mother, come with me! You should not
look upon his pain any longer.
(They exit. After a few moments, the soldiers enter to
remove Jesus from the cross.)

: I think that he is surely dead. We need not
break his legs to finish him. Do you agree that he will not
move or speak again?

.figldieralla You are right, my brother. He has suffered
much, and passed away quickly. His pain is past. Let us
place him in his tomb. _
(The two soldiers and the leaders take Jesus down and carry
him.to the grave.)

 

120
Scene XVI: SETTING OF THE WATCH

(Pilate, Caiphas and Rewfin meet at center stage.)
.Qiinhdfii Pilate, listen here; We have to be careful;
Jesus said he would rise in three days,

So his disciples may well try to steal his body. We ought
to set a guard over his grave.

Bilate; Caiphas, it shall be done! If what you suggest
were to happen, All our laws would be destroyed.

(Calling to the soldiers.)

Come, I have a job for you to do. You shall guard the grave
of Jesus until three days have passed. Let no one near the
grave--If his disciples try to steal the body do not
hesitate to kill them. If his body is taken, your own lives
and posessions will be taken from you.

‘fielfiiez_1a We will not fail! If a hundred come upon us,
They will surely die!

.591d1e;_11a Even if there are a hundred thousand--or
more! I will take them on myself.

‘Ellatea Simply do your part--and tell no one else.

(Caiphas and Pilate step off to the side.)
‘Ellate; Well, Caiphas; what do you think? Are we
prepared?

.Qaiphas; Surely we are! I have no doubt.
‘Ellate; Now come with me to seal the grave.

Qgiphas; Yes. When it is sealed we'll rest more easily
and know our plan is secure.

(They all shall go to the tomb.)

(Bantin; Once the grave is closed, we will know that he
cannot rise again!

.Eilatea (as Rewfin and Soldier II close the door)
Across the door we roll this stone. He shall never come out
of this grave!

.thnhdfii The tomb is closed securely, now place your seal.
Then we can go our way and let the soldiers do their job.

fifllfiifli I've sealed the door and placed this guard. No
one can take him away now!

We shall all go home relieved--You soldiers remain in
charge.

(They exit.)

121

.Efild12£_11 Now he is sealed in the ground--His claims
were false. I'll guard this left side--

If anyone tries to steal the corpse I'll slide my own sword
into his own side!

.EQld1§£_IIL I will guard the head and feet; None shall
get by me. His disciples would be mad to attempt to
overcome me!

(The soldiers slowly fall asleep on the ground, in spite of
their best efforts at remaining awake.)

122
Scene XVII: RESURRECTION

jgesgsa (coming out of the tomb and crossing to center)

I have gone through much suffering and many pains for three
and thirty years. I left my Father's throne to save man's
soul; and gave my flesh and blood.

For you I died, then rose--I made my body into bread to
feed the soul. If you let me go today without following,
You will miss the friend who knows your need.

(Mary his mother is sitting weeping near the tomb.)

Greetings my dearest mother! Your son has returned to life.
It is the third day, and here I am! Cry no more.

M§£1d_!1£12i Welcome! All worship to you, great Lord my God!
My joy is all the greater because my sorrow was so deep!

132221 This world will honor you for bringing me to die
for mankind's sin. Through death I now have brought bliss--
Man now may go to Heaven.

M§;1a_21;gga Son, your words comfort me. Blessed be your
saving blood! Now death is dead and life goes on eternally
(Maria and Jesus exit together at stage left.)

123
Scene XVIII: STORY OF THE WATCH

(The soldiers wake up and notice the tomb is open.)
£91d1££_11 Wake up! He is gone! He rose under his own
strength!! What are we going to say to Pilate in our
defense?!?

.SQld1££_IIL Let's go to him and tell the truth.
(crossing to center as Pilate comes in) Pilate! The one
you sentenced has risen!

‘Ellatea What!? How can you say such a thing? You must be
lying. How could a dead man come out of the grave?

.Egldiez_11 Please--don't be so angry with us. Believe
our words to be the truth.
If you had been there you would know.

.Eildfifii When I left you, you swore to fight without fail!
It is clear that you were lying then, too!

.figldiez_11a You do not understand! His power overcame us.
It was as if we were trapped beneath a great weight!

'Ellate; Oh, stop it! Who is going to believe that? No one
will ever trust you.
You will be ridiculed in every town as worthless scarecrows.

' Any man's heart would fail him there. This
spirit would have frightened the bravest of knights.

.591d12:;111 We were there !! Let us go and tell everyone
what we know.

.Sgldie:_la (beginning to move away from Pilate as if to go

away and tell everyone what happened) It is clear that he
rose up of his own-~No one else was ever close by!

.Eilatea (quickly) Wait just a moment. Let uus call the
judges to council.

We will consider what they say to this news.

.Sgldiez_la At your request we will stay a little while.
.Eilatea (to Caiphas and Rewfin) What do you think?
Chinhasi Nothing but evil can come of this!

Begfin; Here is my suggestion--Let them suppress their
story and pay them well. We must keep this just between us.

124

gziphas; It will work! Just ask them to look honestly at
the situation.

Pay them, feed them, and they will see it our way.

(fillets; As you say, so we will do.

Good knights--come here! Stay with us awhile. Let's think
of a better report.

Tell everyone he was stolen by his disciples!

Then take the gold we'll give you and return to Rome.

.521d1§£_11; Sir Pilate--we will do as you say. We won't
say a word, but go on (with your gold!)
Our promise is made to you.

'Ellatea Just be sure this time your words remain true.

125
Scene XIX: AT THE TOMB

(Mary Magdalene enters, weeping, and moves to the tomb. She
notices the stone is moved and becomes frantic.)

:uegzaueggaleee; Where is my Lord? He died for me and

was laid here--Murdered by the Jews--
But his body is taken away!

Angel; Go out into the streets! That's where you'll find
him. He is alive--go to Him! First, go and tell his
disciples. Believe it! He who died has risen and lives

again!

MBIILMhflddlfinfii Oh!! My joy has returned, Now that

Jesus has risen to life.

(She goes to the apostles, who are across the stage.)

Brothers--be glad--I have news of Jesus: HE HAS RISEN
AGAIN!!! An angel told me and said I must be sure to tell
you that Christ is alive!

.Eetez; I have to ask carefully--Can this be true?
Is he really alive who was buried, dead and cold?

Magdalene; Trust it is true.

.Jfihni This is wondrous news! I must run and see.

fetez; I run with you, my brother. Let us hurry to his
grave.

(They race to the tomb.)

Jenn; Here is the sheet that wrapped him--but he himself
is gone!

(fieteg; The graveclothes lie here. They are surely the
ones he was wrapped in at Calvary.

Jenn; Now we know with our own eyes that this is true.
Let us go to our brothers and tell them Our Lord Lives!

(Eetez; They will be joyful as we are at this news!
(They cross down the center aisle to the other disciples.)
Brothers! Cheer up! Our Lord is no longer dead! He lives!

Themes; You saw the stone! How could that be moved?!

‘Eetez; There is no way to explain--we don't know how it
happened. But HE IS NOT ANY LONGER IN THE GRAVE!!!

126
(Mary Magdalene moves back to the grave.)

Wane; Shall I remain in sorrow? My Lord is
gone! He has been stolen from his grave!

Jeane; Woman, why are you crying?

.MBIZLMhflddlfingi For the greatest cause--My Lord who forgave
me has been taken. I have no words but tears.

Jesus; Mary!
W My Lord and master!

.JEEHEI Cure my brothers' concern with good words of my
life. Tell my friends to meet me at the Mount of Olives. I
will ascend to my father and prepare places in Heaven for
you!

.MBIILMBQddlfinfii I will do as you ask. (And he is gone.)
My great sorrow has been turned to greater joy! (Mary

crosses back to the disciples) Brothers--be joyful! I have
seen the Lord alive! I tell you it is true!
We must go to the mountain and meet him.

(They all run up the center aisle and meet Jesus, who has
crossed to center stage.)

127
Scene XX: ASCENSION

gases; Peace unto you! I know it has been difficult for
you to understand my words. Today I shall speak plainly.
Brothers, do not leave Jerusalem, but stay and await God's
promise. John baptized with water, but soon you will be
baptized by the holy spirit. When you have received this
power, you must go and make disciples in every country.
Begin here, and spread the good news of my salvation to the
ends of the earth. I promise to always be present with you,
until the end of the age.

Reprise of Song: "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna"

Hosanna, Loud Hosanna, we sing to Christ Our King!

Through pillared court and Temple this lovely anthem
rings!

O may we ever praise Him with heart and life and voice!

And in His blissful Presence eternally rejoice!

(The full cast comes out to finish the song. At the end of
the song they exit to the back through the center aisle.)

APPENDIX B

+18”

 

+18"

 

 

     

SEATING

 

 

 

Figure 1 * The "place" (A) includes
' all of the floor—level
playing area, as well as
the_seating!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

B I BL IOGRAPHY

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