Staging Conventions in Medieval English Theatre by Philip Butterworth (review)

In this long-awaited book, Philip Butterworth seeks to explore ‘the nature of implicit and explicit staging conventions in the performance of medieval and early sixteenth-century English theatre’ (1). The book’s principal source material is based partly on the surviving texts of performances from the period, although Butterworth draws an overwhelming portion of the primary material discussed from civic records, ecclesiastical accounts, and other such material as that found in the Records of Early English Drama volumes. Butterworth’s investigation relies on showing how the extant dramatic records can inform the scholar’s understanding of performers, audiences, and practical elements of the performance including casting, rehearsing, and costumes. While some scholars have addressed most of these concepts in more specific contexts with relation to a particular group of texts, Butterworth’s broad investigation of these elements provides the reader with an overview of these elements across geographical and generic boundaries.

The book begins by problematizing several modern theatrical terms that are often used anachronistically by scholars to describe elements of medieval drama. As Butterworth rightly points out, terms such as ‘character’, ‘stage directions’, and ‘special effects’ are post-medieval and as such should be applied cautiously to medieval theatre, and to highlight this issue these terms are italicized throughout the book. The concern is not, however, with replacing these terms with other, more appropriate ones; rather, Butterworth endeavours to make the reader aware of the problems of using modern theatrical terms anachronistically. This, however, leaves the reader with the unresolved problem of how to discuss these theatrical concepts without a language that is contemporary to the performances themselves.

The strength of the book lies in the sheer volume of primary material that Butterworth presents in each chapter and he offers a careful consideration of how the extant records can provide an indication of the practical elements of medieval performances. The book itself is not predominantly concerned with how to apply the primary sources to modern performances of medieval theatre — there are, indeed, many books that address this issue more specifically, including Margaret Rogerson’s edited collection The York Mystery Plays: Performance in the City (Boydell & Brewer, 2011). Nonetheless, the chapter breakdown implies that the reader can employ the book as a kind of compendium of staging conventions in medieval English theatre. The chapter titles focus on specific elements of theatre from types of performance space (‘Outdoors and Indoors’), actors (‘Casting and Doubling’ and ‘Rehearsing, Memorising and Cueing’), movement (‘Coming and Going’ and ‘Timing and Waiting’), as well as audience (‘Hearing, Seeing, and Responding’). The chapter that presents material related to staging effects (‘Effecting Effects’) is especially helpful as an overview for those who are interested in modern reconstruction or reenactment of medieval drama. Butterworth challenges the modern naturalistic convention that staging effects — using lifting mechanisms, fire, sounds, or other effects to enhance a performance — are employed on stage to ‘create the illusion of reality’ (141). Instead, he approaches the extant records of staging effects with the understanding that these effects ‘promote and affect agreed pretense’ (140), and as such he reminds the reader that the cause (or execution) of these effects did not take place ‘backstage’ or even necessarily out of sight of the audience. This chapter on effects highlights Butterworth’s desire to move beyond traditional approaches that apply the conventions of modern theatre to medieval performance.

The discussion about the varied use of performance space in the chapter titled ‘Outdoors and Indoors’ is also helpful for those interested in practice-as-research through medieval theatre since it addresses some varied forms of indoor and outdoor performance. The chapter lays out a sampling of the different types of performance spaces used in the context of medieval English theatre and some major elements that are characteristic of those performance spaces (such as, for instance, the use of pageant vehicles in Corpus Christi drama and civic processions). While it is crucial that a discussion about staging conventions concern itself with how performance space is employed in practice, the...