Processional game
Procession games (also dealing Games ) are a type of religious drama , which in the late Middle Ages developed. They were created during processions on Christian feast days. The most important historical form is the Corpus Christi game , which was mainly performed in the British cultural area at the Corpus Christi festival. A related species are the Italian Laude drammatiche (cf. Lauda ). Other examples known to the present day are the Lumeçon of Mons and the Zerbster processional play. In addition, there were Paradise , Christmas and other legend games to celebrate local saints.
Usually the processional company carried a wagon stage with them - which is typical in England also for other gaming opportunities . From the tableaux vivants , which depicted scenes from the Bible or legend and thus conveyed the history of salvation to the believers, short dialogue scenes developed that were played at the stops of the procession, for example at the stations of the cross . To make the believers understand, the performers wore symbolic props such as B. Isaac the sacrificial instrument sword, wood and fire; the carriages were designed with elaborate structures in the manner of a stage set . Since processional plays did not take place as a continuous dramatic plot, but showed thematic individual scenes, the roles were each cast several times, in individual cases with central characters such as Mary and Christ , six times or more.
Since 1979, Italian immigrants in various German cities, such as Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt , Bensheim , Saarlouis and Ulm / Neu-Ulm , have introduced processional games on Good Friday based on the southern Italian model, which dramatically shape the Way of the Cross.
literature
- Wolfgang F. Michael: The spiritual processional games in Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1947.
- Elizabeth Wainwright: Studies on the German procession play. The tradition of the Corpus Christi games in Künzelsau and Freiburg and their textual development. Munich 1974.
- Vintila Ivanceanu, Johannes C. Hoflehner: Procession theater. Traces and elements from antiquity to the present. Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 1995, ISBN 3-412-12794-9 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Hansjürgen Linke: Freiburg Corpus Christi Games. In: Wolfgang Stammler, Karl Langosch (Hrsgg.): The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. Berlin 1978. Vol. 2, Col. 895
- ↑ Diane Dingeldein gives a descriptive overview of these new games: Das Bensheimer Passionspiel . Studies on an Italian-German cultural transfer. (Mainz contributions to cultural anthropology / folklore, vol. 7). Waxmann, Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2013, pp. 182–190