The Nativity Play in Modern Times

Christmas hardly seems like the time of year dedicated to the birth of our savior, unless your savior is capitalism. Today's culture focuses on santa, gifts, and snowball fights at christmas time. Now the nativity to most people is something where figurines get stolen from, not a reminder of the origins of the christmas cheer they are experiencing. I think that while the York cycle was meant to be performed as a set, putting on the set of christmas-related plays in their traditional setting on a simplistic pageant wagon could be very powerful. People might stop and watch something so simple amongst all of the glitter and glitz of the commercialized holiday season. Perhaps the plays could serve their original purpose and awaken some ideas with morality plays. 

"Search Results." Corbis Images. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <http://www.corbisimages.com/Search#cat=21,20,17,15,16,19&p=1&q=nativity>.

The Real Story of Christmas

In their article, a group of authors examines how the evidence and different accounts provided from the time period of the birth of jesus show the inaccuracies in the arguments and ideas point out many flaws. The bigger point in the article, however, is how people don't seem to care about these discrepancies. This story has withstood the test of time, literally, and I think it shows more a matter of faith than anything else. Similar to how other parts of the bible are questioned and taken as untrue, people may see gaping holes in the story of the nativity, but they will still believe that the story happened, one way or another. 

Van Biema, David, et al. "Behind the First NOEL." Time 164.24 (2004): 48-61. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Dec. 2010.

The York Cycle

Several of the York cycle's plays have to do with the story of christmas, as the nativity play only discusses the journey to bethlehem and the actual birth of jesus. The other plays include "Annunciation and Visitation", when the angel tells Mary about her pending motherhood, "Joseph's Trouble about Mary", when an angel explains the situation to Joseph, and then the current play of the nativity. Following this are the "Shepherds", when they are told to find the baby jesus, "The Coming of the Three Kings to Herod", when the kings come to Herod and are told to tell Herod when they find the baby, and lastly the "Coming of the Kings: Adoration" when the kings reach baby jesus and anoint him. In total the York cycle consists of forty-eight plays. 

Woolf, Rosemary. The English Mystery Plays. Berkeley: University of California, 1972. Print.

Medieval Guilds

As mentioned in the previous post, guilds were put in charge of constructing a pageant wagon and sponsoring one of the plays. A medieval guild can be most closely compared to a modern day union for workers. There were two types of guilds, merchant guilds and crafts guilds, and both kinds of guild offered the same benefits and responsibilities. One had to begin as an apprentice, work up to a journeyman or day worker, and then after much time and effort, be promoted to a master. Guilds offered community services, as well as protecting workers from employers. The plays in the York cycle were named after which crafts guild sponsored them. The subject matter of the show quite often tied into which guild was in charge of it. For example, the nativity play's full title is "The Tile Thatchers' Play: The Nativity". This play was sponsored by York's guild of tile thatchers, meaning that the original production most likely had some element involving tile thatching.

"Guilds." ISU Public Homepage Server. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbetcher/373/guilds.htm>.

Now we will be examining the elements of the production being drawn from the time of the original productions, in medieval times. During medieval times, the cycle plays were performed in pageant wagons or carts such as the one illustrated above. These plays were performed over several days, with the individual plays moving instead of the audiences. So, each guild was put in charge of the construction of one wagon for their specific play. As shown in the top right diagram, the wagons offered an "offstage" area, but the main component of these structures was a small acting area. These were generally not elaborate fixtures, as they needed to be easily packed and wheeled to the next location for performance.

"Images Related to Middle English Drama [Theatre History: Medieval Plays, Stages and Actors in England]." Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/medplaypics.htm>.

A Prophecy Unfolds

 Every christmas growing up, I always found the story of the nativity exciting and heartwarming to read. One part always haunted me though, when King Herod ordered the deaths of all of the little boys in the kingdom based on a prophecy that one of them would take over his kingdom. I never understood how someone could base such a horrible act on something that to me was an old man telling a powerful king a story about a little boy. But to people in bible times, prophecies were a viable source of information since a lot of faith was placed in less solid ideas. People did not have access to the amount of knowledge and concrete evidence available to people nowadays. 

"THE ICON OF THE NATIVITY." Web. 06 Dec. 2010.        <http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/outreach/nativity/nativity.pdf>.

The Nativity According to Hollywood

The following movie clip gives audiences an idea of how modern day audiences in Hollywood see the story of the nativity. I think this particular film really strives to capture the historical aspects of the story, as well as showing the fear and danger Joseph and Mary experienced. The nativity play from the York cycle is much calmer and idealized in manner and speaking. While in reality it would have been terrifying trying to find a place for your extremely pregnant wife late at night, in the play, both Mary and Joseph are very relaxed and thankful for their situation. This shows the true purpose of morality plays; to teach the people how to feel towards their god. In particular, the nativity is an example of how one must always have faith and peace in their god.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3phgUh4l65U&feature=related

The Nativity Story. YouTube. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3phgUh4l65U&feature=related>.

What is the Nativity?

During the holiday season, the word "nativity" becomes a popular word synonymous with presents, reindeer, and sugar plums. But what role does the nativity play in the realm of the popular story of the newborn? According to Oxford Reference Online (ORO), the nativity refers to the story of Jesus' birth beginning with the prophecies announcing the birth of jesus, Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem, followed by the struggle to find a place to sleep for the night and the subsequent birth. ORO also states that starting in the 4th century, christmas was celebrated on the 25th of December. 

Christian de Mérindol "Nativity"  Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Ed. André Vauchez. © 2001 by James Clarke & Co. Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (e-reference edition). Distributed by Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  8 December 2010  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t179.e1940>

Christmas According to the Bible

The birth of Jesus is mentioned in several books in the New Testament, but the most thorough and detailed account of the event can be found in the book of Luke. The contents of the Nativity play are recounted in Luke 2:4-7, including a slight prequel about the census requiring Joseph and Mary to come to Bethlehem. The following passage comes from the New International Version.


"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them". 


This primary source offers a simple but matching overview of the tale depicted in the Nativity play. Obviously, this translation would not have been the one used by the author of the York cycle, nor would it have been easily accessible to the majority of the public. As most of the population was illiterate during medieval times, the source for these plays was more likely a story known by the religious. 

Luke. New International Version. Bible Gateway. Web. 5 Dec. 2010. <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A1-20&version=NIV>.

Christmas, The Bible Version

This blog will discuss the fourteenth play from the York cycle, The Tile Thatchers' Play: The Nativity. The play discusses Mary and Joseph's eventual settling into the manger at an Inn in Bethlehem. Both Mary and Joseph thank God for the miracle to come and pray for his protection and help in dealing with the baby. Mary gives birth to baby Jesus while Joseph is away, but when he returns, they rejoice together and lay down the sweet, gentle baby among the animals surrounding and obviously praising him.

"The York Plays." Blackboard Learn. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <https://courses.cwu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_4_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher?type=Course&id=_56297_1&url=>.