Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Costumes and Masks

In our time, more often than not we are wear clothes that we ourselves would not wear in day to day life, this is usually called a Period Style. Back when the cycle plays were originally being performed though, there was nothing period about it, the actors would wear items that their counterparts in real medieval life would. Creativeness would enter when the supernatural characters would, such as angels, God, or devils, because these characters would have things attached to them that people would not, such as wings for the angels, masks to turn the devils into monstrous looking people, or a serene mask for God. There we even choices to put a monk on stage in the dress of Mary Magdalene as an act of social identity construction (Gibb).
The following video has a very nice introduction to what the York Mystery Plays are, and also shows that they are still going on today, and the various Period costumes, wagons and such that they are using.

York Mystery Plays

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