Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the emotional dimension of modern performances of medieval plays. It explores ways in which the emotional scripts of plays of the Massacre of the Innocents are re-written for contemporary audiences and what is at stake in such re-imaginings.

Paper long abstract:

Performing medieval drama has become increasingly popular in England since the 1950s: revivals regularly draw large crowds. Performances are no longer purely a research tool for medieval drama scholars, but become living theatre through the modernisation, re-appropriation and re-reading of extant medieval play texts.

Drawing on affect and performance theory (Ahmed, 2004; Schechner, 2003), and the history of emotions (Reddy, 2001; Rosenwein, 2006), this paper seeks to explore how modern performances of medieval plays seek to evoke and enhance emotions and feelings in their audiences. It focuses on performances of a biblical event which was popular in the medieval drama and which has become a 'staple' in modern productions: the Massacre of the Innocents.

Examining the performances of the Massacre of the Innocents in the Chester and York Mystery Plays in 2013 and 2014 against the extant medieval play texts, the paper investigates the following questions: how do gesture, sound, silence, music, choreography, props, staging and spatial arrangements, or other visual and textual elements generate the kinds of affective resonances that circulate about, between bodies, sometimes sticking to them? How are these resonances employed to enhance or complicate emotional responses in spectators? What is at stake in such emotional productions?

The larger aim of this paper is to contribute not only to our understanding of the popularity of modern performances of medieval plays but also the afterlife of plays which sought to create and shape a sense of community and identity by fostering a community of feeling.