Original, British Museum, courtesy Renascence Editions; computer 3D metallic rendering, Beyond Books

In this woodcut, Death confronts Everyman, the hero of the best-known morality play from the 16th century.

Morality plays were less simplistic. They used allegory to dramatize the struggles between good and evil that Christianity believed went on in each person. Both types of plays, which were presented on religious festival days, indulged in a fair amount of humor.

By the end of the 15th century, mystery and morality plays had evolved into secular pieces that were presented after court dinners, or sometimes in between courses (if they were short enough). These "interludes," as they were called, helped win Elizabethan England the nickname "merry old England." The various devils of the old morality plays became a single, usually comical character named "Vice." Vice was a slapstick sort of guy and very popular at King Henry's court.

Under Elizabeth, interludes ventured into the political arena. In these more serious interludes lay the seeds of the great tragedies and history plays that would follow.

Copyright by David Conway

John Gower was Poet Laureate to Kings Richard II and Henry IV. Today, he is buried in London's Southwark Cathedral.

But the mature drama that more so than colonies or conquests is the real jewel in Britannia's crown might never have arisen had it not been for classical Latin drama. The Renaissance was largely a renaissance of interest in classical writing and thinking. In the 1560s, at about the time of Shakespeare's birth, classical Latin drama began to be read and acted out in English universities. The tragedies of Seneca and the comedies of Plautus and Terence were especially important.

Out of this study came English imitations, the first being Gorboduc, or Ferrex and Porrex, about the trouble that ensues when a country is left without an heir to the throne. It was shown before Queen Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen, who, to her credit, accepted the implied criticism without censorship. The great age of Elizabethan drama had begun.

Drama, unlike poetry and prose, must have a theatre, a troupe, and an audience. Religious drama had the church itself, the clergy, and the congregation. Some mystery and miracle plays were performed on wagons in the streets. But in 1450, only one acting troupe was on tour.

A 1545 statute classified actors as "rogues and vagabonds" subject to arrest. For protection, some troupes attached themselves to noblemen. They could then travel freely when not needed at court, earning income from and providing entertainment for the general public. So arose the first professional companies. They were made up of men and boys only. Women were not allowed. Boys played the female roles until their voices changed.

For public performances, actors first built wooden platforms in the courtyards of enclosed inns. The audience could watch from the inn's windows. This didn't last. The better the play, the rowdier the audience. There were fights, fires, riots, and, according to city officials, "ungodliness." The early thespians were accused of contributing to absence from work and the spread of the plague.

Thomas Sackville was one of the authors of Gorbuduc or Ferrex and Porrex

Things had to move indoors. In 1576, one company built a structure they simply called "The Theater" just outside city limits. It resembled an inn yard, with a roof open to the sky and a platform surrounded by seats. Other theaters followed and structural improvements were made. Shakespeare's plays were performed in a theater with a roof and artificial lighting.

The public, however, was still not as important as the royalty. An invitation to perform at court was worth more in money and prestige than many full houses. The best plays of the 1580s, written by John Lily, were created for and performed at court. And it's been said that Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" was written at the command of Queen Elizabeth, while "Macbeth," set in Scotland, was certainly meant to appeal to the Scottish King James who succeeded her.

English drama has come a long way — from church plays and interludes between dinner courses, to the spectacle, introspection and social commentary that now fill the London stage. And we still have silly interludes, of a sort: TV sit-coms. Bring on the roast mutton.

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