The Second Shepherds' Play - Links

The "Second Shepherds' Play" is the second of the pageants concerning the shepherds' role in the Nativity recorded for performance as part of the mystery plays in medieval Wakefield (England). One of the most famous and often-revived of the medieval mysteries, it is commonly attributed to the "Wakefield Master," an anonymous author whose identity (and technical brilliance) have been deduced (or perhaps presumed) on the basis of the quality of the work.

Here are links to two versions of the text. The first, located at Bibliotecha Augustana, is in the original (medieval) English. The second, an adaptation edited by Adrian Guthrie (PDF version or as a web page), modifies the original for contemporary audiences and readers. We have a performed version in our library (PR 1261 .Y67 M97 1993 - four VHS tapes) of an entire cycle of mystery plays as adapted by Tony Harrison and directed by Bill Bryden at the National Theatre of Great Britain. (Of the available versions, I recommend the video; this play is on Part 1 (Nativity), Tape 2.)

This is simply one instance of surviving comic drama from the Middle Ages. There are texts from various periods of more secular plays (for example, a romance about Robin and Marian) indicating that comic performance and comedy resurfaced often throughout Europe well before the widespread success of Italian comedy in the Renaissance.

Link to "The Mythos of Spring: Comedy"

To access the excerpt from Northrop Frye's book The Anatomy of Criticism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1957), click on the title for this post or this link.

You can also paste the following address into your browser:
http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/carts/
keverist/ClassFiles/Frye%20-%20Mythos%20of%20Spring.pdf

Note that you can turn the title of any post into a hyperlink; just paste the address into the "link" box (under the "title" box in the "create post" screen) and it becomes an active hyperlink.

KAE

Link to The Frogs

The public domain translation of The Frogs that I mentioned is available here (or click the title, which is also an active hyperlink).

You can also paste the following address into your browser:
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/aristophanes/frogs.htm

Here's a link to a review of the recent Susan Stroman production of Frogs starring Nathan Lane.

We'll discuss the play in detail next Thursday, Feb. 16.

KAE

Welcome to Comic Theory

Welcome to the blog/discussion board for THEA 250: Comedy, part of a course at Austin College that explores the theory of comedy with the tools and perspective of theatre studies. Please feel free to distribute the address for this blog among any and all interested parties; only students at AC will be permitted to post entries, but anyone is welcome to post comments.

For more information about this blog or the course, contact Dr. Kirk Andrew Everist, Assistant Professor of Communication Arts at Austin College, (903) 813 - 2542.