IMC 2024: Sessions

Research about medieval “religious plays” normally concentrates on New Testament plays, that about early modern “biblical drama” on Old Testament plays. The borderline between medieval and early modern theatre has long been questioned. The papers of the proposed sessions reveal connecting links between medieval and early modern dramatic treatments of Old Testament narratives. They ask whether the understanding of typology, exemplarity, and historicity, the audience address, or the offer of identification with the protagonists differs between New and Old Testament plays. The sessions ask for possible reasons why the Old Testament gained new popularity in early modern performance culture, and for possible effects of the „old“ topics.

The papers of the second session concentrate on religious theatre within the frame of a civic space. While saints plays and also New Testament plays can easily establish links to local saints and churches, to crosses and religious images visible in the civic space, the local relevance of figures and scenes from the Old Testament needs to be established through the plays themselves. Paper (a) asks about the purpose of the use of typological references to the Old Testament in medieval English drama. Paper (b) asks about the rationale of the selection of Old Testament play topics in early modern Haarlem. Paper (c) focusses on the exemplary figure of Daniel and his extraordinary popularity in Hasselt.