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The medieval period gets divided into "...three broad phases: Early-A.D 900 to A.D 1050, High or Mid-A.D 1050 to A.D 1300, [and] Late- A.D 1300 to A.D 1500..." (Brockett et al) which tells that most of the theatre and drama in the medieval period gets split into three categories.
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Hrosvitha, a female dramatist, started writing plays after watching plays from Terence, a playwright from Rome. She has a possible six plays, "...Pafnutius, Dulcitius, Gallicanus, Abraham, Callimachus, and Sapientia..." (Brockett et al), which are most probably written, "...between 963 and 973..." (Brockett et al). Even though she made a statement in her time period, her play was rewritten by males and also acted by males since "...women were viewed as significantly inferior to men..." -
"Le Miracle de Théophile" is a play about "...a priest who sells his soul to the devil and is saved by the virgin..." (Brittanica) which is written by the playwright Rutebeuf. -
The "Body of Christ" festival is a celebration of "...the redemptive power of the sacraments of bread and wine (the body and blood of Christ)..." (Brockett et al). This festival was started in 1311 and has been a tradition since then. "...Observed sixty days after Easter, fell variously from May 21 to June 24..." (Brockett et al), which explains when the festival is held. This is a festival to celebrate the body of Christ and all he had to give. -
Anything that was a religious play was almost always inside the church. "...Around 1200, some religious plays began to be performed outside the church, and by around 1375 a religious drama had developed independently of the liturgy..." (Brockett et al) -
Morality, mystery, and the miracle are the main three types of plays that were in medieval times. Morality is "...moral temptations that beset all human beings..." (Brockett et al). The mystery is stories that are taken out of the bible and played out by the people. The miracle plays are plays that have saints in them. -
"The Castle of Perseverance" was written in the 15th century by an anonymous playwright. Literacy Ocean explains, "...The play describes the whole ontology of man, opening before his birth and ending after his death and his judgment before the throne of God..." (literacy ocean) -
The Wakefield Cycle is set in the English town of Wakefield, England. There were many plays written here in this town, but do not have a known author, which is called, "...the Wakefield Master...". A play that is known from this town is "...Noah and His Sons..." which was written from 1425 to 1450, there isn't an exact date. The cycle included people from the church, the city council, and was "...to honor God, to edify man, and to glorify the city..." (Brockett et al) -
"The Second Shepherd's Play" is a popular mystery play in the Wakefield Cycle. The Early British literature website states, "...This play is about three shepherds who are struggling due to their place in society, but religion ultimately redeems them. The play brilliantly fuses comedy with religious themes to make an entertaining delivery of a didactic message..." (EarlyBritLit) -
Starting in the 1400s and 1500s, morality drama and theatre started to become more common as plays. These types of plays are "...treated the spiritual trials of ordinary persons. They were allegories about the moral temptations that beset all human beings..." (Brockett et al) A play that is famous for morality is "Everyman", written in the 1500s, "...which God orders Death to summon the title character..." (Brockett et al)