Easter Drama - Passion Plays

Passion Plays

The Easter Plays represented in their day the highest development of the secular drama; nevertheless this most important event in the life of Jesus did not suffice: the people wished to see his whole life, particularly the story of the Passion. Thus a series of dramas originated, which were called Passion Plays, the sufferings of Jesus being their principal subject. Some of them end with the entombment of Christ; in others the Easter Play was added, in order to show the Saviour in His glory; others again close with the Ascension or with the dispersion of the Apostles. But, since the persecution of the Saviour is intelligible only in the light of His work as teacher, this part of the life of Christ was also added, while some authors of these plays went back to the Old Testament for symbolical scenes, which they added to the Passion Plays as "prefigurations"; or the plays begin with the Creation, the sin of Adam and Eve, and the fall of the Angels. Again two short dramas were inserted: the Lament of Mary and the Mary Magdalene Play. The sequence "Planctus ante nescia", which was brought to Germany from France during the latter half of the 12th century, is the basis for the Lamentations of Mary. This sequence is merely a monologue of Mary at the foot of the Cross; by the introduction of John, the Saviour, and the bystanders as taking part in the lamentations, a dramatic scene was developed which became a part of almost all Passion Plays and has been retained even in their latest survivor. The Magdalene Play represents the seduction of Mary Magdalene by the devil and her sinful life up to her conversion. In Magdalene's sinfulness the people saw a picture of the depraved condition of mankind after the sin of the Garden of Eden, from which it could be redeemed only through the sacrifice of Christ. This profound thought, which could not be effaced even by the coarse reproduction of Magdalene's life, explains the presence of this little drama in the Passion Play.