The Second Shepherd's Play in The Wakefield Cycle.
© 1998 by David W. Dwyer

This page originally appeared at http://www.msu.edu/user/dwyerdav/papers/reconstuction.htm
and has been retrieved using the Wayback Machine© at www.archive.org.


 Introduction.
    The purpose of this project is to historically reconstruct the performance of The Second Shepherd's Play as a part of The Wakefield Cycle as it would have appeared in medieval times. Thus, by way of background, we shall begin with a discussion of The Wakefield Cycle, and its most accomplished author, then an examination of The Second Shepherd's Play, followed by a look at the mode of production including pageant wagons, and costumes. The culmination of this project will the application of these principles to in a narritive describing the events on Corpus Christi in Wakefield, England in medieval times.

The Wakefield Cycle.
    In a town in northern England an interesting episode in a long series of events assisted in the reemergence of the theatre after the dark ages. This episode is known as the Wakefield Cycle. It is, by no means, the single most important event of this period of theatre history, but it is typical of cycle plays of the time. Wakefield was not the only town to employ the use of cycle plays, there are several other well know and equally celebrated cycles. Along with Wakefield, the cycles at York and Chester are the principle English collections, as well as many more on the continent proper. These are only a portion of the large mass of cycle plays presumably lost.
    A cycle play, by definition, is a sequence of individual dramas of biblical themes. They are sometimes known as Mystery Cycles, Biblical Pageants or Cyclic Pageants, and Corpus Christi Plays or Pageants. They were performed successively "before the same audience either on a single day from dawn to dusk, or on two or three days, according to local custom." (Hopper, pp 10-11). The Wakefield Cycle were given on a single day beginning at 4:30 or 5:00 A.M. and continued until nightfall. The plays were considered big business by the city since they drew big crowds from the surrounding townlands. Innkeepers and others benefited from the sale of food and drink as well as lodgings. The revenue generated was even greater in the towns where the festivals lasted for several days.

    In the year 1264 Pope Urban instituted a festival in honor of the Holy Sacrament known as the Feast of the Corpus Christi. The Feast was celebrated about eight weeks after Easter usually falling in late May or early June. The late spring weather made it optimum for an outdoor performance to coincide with the festival. From this sprang the Wakefield and other great cycles often times referred to as Corpus Christi Cycles. Many of the local guilds or corporations adopted this season for dramatic and other festivals. Often times a number of the guilds would take over the performance of individual plays with in the cycles.
    With the suppression of the theatre by the Christian Church throughout the dark ages, it seems ironic that the church would be the vehicle for the reemergence of drama. Priests, in an effort to help parishioners understand biblical stories, developed tropes, a dramatic addition to the church service. The best examples of these being the Quem Quaeritis and the Concordia. Eventually, these tropes evolved into pageants produced in the church. Due to opposition on the grounds of the sacred nature of the church buildings, the performances were moved to out door locations in meadows, public greens, and market places. This lead to the sponsoring of the cycles by craft guilds. The effect of the transfer of sponsorship is best described by Hopper who states: "The passing of the drama from the hands of the clergy to the laity led to the use of the spoken vernacular, to the introduction of a more worldly, comic, often farcical tone but without displacing the essentially serious and reverent intention of the earlier liturgical playlets." (p. 14). It can be rather humorous when one examines the correlation between the guild-trade, and the scene they produced. For example, one of the cycles included the following plays; listed with them are their respective sponsors.      As has been indicated, the Wakefield Cycle was performed during the feast of Corpus Christi beginning early in the morning, about 4:30 or 5:00 A.M. They were performed on what is called pageant wagons (To be discussed in further detail at a later time), pulled by horse, oxen, etc. There were two main methods of production, stationary and processional. In the stationary method a meadow with a fence, ditch or wall enclosure provided a perimeter by which the wagons would align themselves creating a type of theatre in the round. In the processional, the more usual one, the townsmen assembled themselves along a main route through the town at different stations. The plays were then brought to them in succession. This is the method of production use in Wakefield when they produced their cycle plays every year at the feast of Corpus Christi. Below is the order of presentation for the Wakefield Cycle:     A medieval spectator at Wakefield, beginning at 4:30 A.M., would view The Creation, and by nightfall would wrap-up with The Hanging of Judas. Thus obtaining an overview of the major biblical stories from creation day to judgment day, all from sunrise to sunset. Indications of the types of locations chosen as stations for the presentation of the plays can be gathered when we study the York Cycle. Some of the stations in this cycle include: Robert Harpham door, at the gates of St. Peter's minister, end of Coney Street opposite Castlegate, and on the pavement. It can then be assumed that the stations at Wakefield would have been similar in type to that of York.

The Wakefield Master.
    Five or six of the plays in the Wakefield Cycle are attributed to a hypothetical single author known simply as the Wakefield Master. His identity being unknown. The technical contributions of the Wakefield author are: plot, characterization, humor, and realism. There is some dispute among scholars as to the number of plays attributed to the Wakefield Master. They range from four, to all of , or parts of ten plays. However, it can be said with certainty that Mactacio Abel, Processus Noe, Prima Pastorum, Secunda Pastorum, and Magnus Herodes, are under the authorship of the Wakefield Master. In speaking of The Second Shepherd's Play, Kahrl in his book Traditions of Medieval English Drama states: "Here is a supreme example of a playwright who could take his conventions and adapt them perfectly to his vision." (p. 71). Such is the Wakefield Master.

The Second Shepherds Play.
    There are at least six extant medieval plays dealing with the adoration of the Christ child by the shepherds. Of these six, one, The Second Shepherd's Play, is attributed to the Wakefield master. The others are parts of the cycles at York, Chester, N. town, and Coventry.  Among other acclaim, The Second Shepherd's Play is the most widely anthologized, intensely studied play of its kind. It is regarded as the "finest single achievement of the English cycle drama." It has been said that this play represents the high-water mark of medieval drama. The play can be best understood within the environment for which it was written: the confines of the pageant wagon stage. Some critics speculate that this The First Shepherd's Play is merely a first draft of The Second Shepherd's Play. However, the whole scene between Mak and Gill and the sheep stealing belongs solely to the second play. Most scolors now agree the second play is stands on its own and is far superior. Most modern productions of the play are theatrically effective due to the comic elements and spectacle evolved.
    Often critics deem this play blasphemous due to the comic treatment given to religious subject matter. "The play is hardly blasphemous in the juxtaposition of the two worlds, a juxtaposition so often found on the restricted stage of the pageant wagon." (Kahrl p. 71). However, A.C. Baugh as quoted in Tailor's Medieval English Drama has this to say on the subject: "The length of the Mak episode is hopelessly out of proportion to the proper matter of the play. The Second Shepherd's Play, as a shepherd's play, is an artistic absurdity; as a farce of Mak the sheepstealer, it is the masterpiece of English religious drama." It does seem strange that the main portion of the play has nothing to do with the nativity, however, as a piece of medieval literature, it is an excellent work.
    It has been suggested by some scholars that The Second Shepherd's Play is in a sense an exploration of the Christian significance of the number three. For example, it focuses on three shepherds that begin the play with three soliloquies. "It treats three motifs appropriate to the nativity story- law, charity, and wonder- and associates these motifs with the parts of the Holy Trinity." (Gardner, p. 85). The play also contains three distinct movements, and closes with three adorations of the Christ child to whom they give three gifts.

Pageant Wagons.
    The configuration of pageant wagons was about as variant as the towns producing cycle plays. They ranged form simple carts to elaborate two-story structures complete with dressing rooms and complicated scene effects. John Westley Harris offers the following invaluable description of a pageant of the Nativity presented in Brussels.

    Considering the size of the wagons in the preceding description, it is clear to see that they often became cumbersome. Other accounts describe the wagons having a second story, while another account shows at least nine people aboard thus contributing to its mass adn weight. Still other accounts report a dressing room on the first level, with the stage area on the second.
    There was a definite effort towards realism where the scenery and effects of the cycle plays are concerned. There are accounts of smoke and the rattling of pots and pans when the devil appeared. Scenes in the Garden of Eden were complete with hung silks, fruits, flowers, and leafy branches. Linens sometimes served as white clouds, and burning alters and bladders of blood served for dramatic moments.

Costume.
    Like the scenery, there was an effort towards realism in costuming. In a cycle play which required the devil to appear, he did so complete with black leather, horns, hoofs, tail, and wooden fork. God on the other hand, wore white leather, had white hair and beard. In keeping with the religious nature of the society, Adam and Eve were only visible from behind a curtain from the shoulders up. Otherwise they wore white leather to symbolize nudity. It can then be assumed from these references that in the Wakefield Cycle, and more specifically, The Second Shepherd's Play, every attempt was made at realistic costumes. However, due to the fact that the medieval society had no concept of historical period, one can also assume Mak, and the other shepherds would be dressed in clothing appropriate to shepherds in the medieval period.

Performance Reconstruction.
    It's 3:30 A.M. as you are awakened from your sleep by someone you recognize as being a guild member. He mumbles something and rushes out the door in a panic. You roll out of your bed and take note of the unusually brisk morning in early June. Stretching your back always helps to relieve some of the knots caused by the lumpy straw mattress over a webbing of rope. This is no common June morning, ordinarily you would gain the benefit of another hour and a half of sleep before you staggered into your weaver's shop to begin the days work. You search for your tunic and almost have it belted securely about your waist when slowly the thoughts begin randomly returning to your head. Something about the Nativity, a costume, and preparing the horses... Ah, yes! Today is the feast of Corpus Christi, how could you have forgotten! With enthusiasm and haste you extract your tunic and adorn yourself in your shepherds costume. First the undergarment, making sure to pull the hood over your head, then the rough tunic belted about the waist. You sit on your bed when it comes to putting on the boots, they cover your calf, almost to your knee. On your way out the door, as you grab your shepherd's crook, the lines of your first speech begin reeling through your head. "Now Lord, for thy names seven, that made both moon and stars...." "What is next?" you say to yourself. No matter, there's no time now, you only have a few minutes to get to the town gate and the cobblestones are not easily navigated when they're wet with the dew. Cautiously you proceed as you thank the Lord your dwelling is under a mile from the gate. There is unusual activity for this time of morning as you pass the stable, for the last of the horses are being lead out by a man dressed in a long white robe. He appears to be glowing as the first rays of the morning sun illuminate his apparel. Just then you notice the strange attachment on his back... Wings! "Of course!" you say to yourself, for now you recognize him as Thomas Johnson, one of the carpenters, their doing The Resurrection Play. Going by the inn you see the first signs of visitors beginning to stir; arising early so as to get the best vantage point. The population of Wakefield nearly triples for the festival. You realize in you there is not really a need to rush, because you play goes on thirteenth. A number you consider unlucky, but what can you do? Arriving at the gate you are met by Mary, the guild leaders wife. "There you are." She says to you. "We can't go on without a Mak!" You notice she is clothed in the appropriate attire of a shepherds wife. "I thought we lost another one!" She of course was referring to the unfortunate circumstances by which you arrived in this role. Unfortunate for her husband, but all the more fortunate for you. Her husband being taken ill two days ago by the strain of influenza still lingering on from the long winter months. "How's your husband?" you ask. "He'll be fine in a few days, thank the Lord its not to serious." comes the reply. John has already hooked up the team, and we're ready to get in line, we were just waiting for you." Suddenly you realize that perhaps you didn't have as much time as you thought. If the wagons are getting lining up then it must be close to 4:30! Again you give thanks, this time for you timely arrival. Making your way through the crowd you find it difficult to keep up with Mary as you navigate through the maze of horses, wagons, and people, each of them dressed in the costume of their respective plays. You see God the Father, nearly knock over the Devil, all decked out in black leather, complete with horns tail and fork, pass by Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and a few others who are already on their way into town before arriving at the wagon used for your play. It is an impressive sight, not quite as impressive as the carpenters wagon, but impressive none the less. It stands nearly twenty feet off the ground at its highest point. John waves just as he completes hooking up the horses. You climb the nearly eight feet to the deck or stage of the wagon where you are greeted by Robert Townies and his wife who are in the garb of Mary and Joseph. They close the curtain around them. Their new baby, born in February, will add a nice touch this year as the Christ child. They are already in their places at the back right corner of the wagon, an area you recognize as the stable. You make your way to Mak's house at the back left corner of the wagon and draw the curtain closed around you. Mary joins you presently. The thatched roof above you shades the early morning sun. The wagon lunges forward, with a little push start from the three shepherds, just as you are seated on the bench. It takes quite a bit to get the wagon going, but once your on your way it only stops when you reach Robert Harpham's front door, the first station in the cycle. You try desperately to review your lines, but they're all mixed up in your head. "Think!" you say to yourself, "You've seen this play ever since you were a boy and you used to sit on your fathers shoulders to see over the crowds. Slowly the words form in your head. Yes, they're all coming back to you now, just relax and you'll do fine. No sooner had these thoughts left your head than the sudden jerk forward reminds you that the wagon has stopped. Through the curtain you can hear the mummurings and whispers of the crowd. The first shepherd, who had been following with the other shepherds behind the wagon in case it needed another push, climbs upon the deck and begins his soliloquy. " Lord, What weathers are cold! And I am ill dressed. I am nearly numb, so long have I napped..." Your mind wanders as you've heard this speech numerous times in the past few days. However your attention is brought back as you begin to hear the crowds reaction to his words. They seem to be identifying with his plight. The second shepherd enters and begins, "Bless us an Dominus! What may this bemean? Why fares...." He is getting the same audience reaction. As he continues you think, "If ever there were a people who fit this authors description these are they." The author of this play, and some of the others in this cycle, has long since been forgotten in the past two-hundred years of the festival. The third shepherd, the younger one, has taken the stage. That means you are soon to enter. pay attention now, you don't want to miss you que. Listen... listen closely... "Then the mean falls to me. Let see how ye chant." There it is! You confidently slide open the curtain, take center stage, and..

 That was it! your big debut! All nervousness has fled from your bones as the lines and action become second nature to you now. You hear laughter from the crowd, they love you. Wait until you get to the part about the sheep. Here it comes... A great success, naturally. You and Mary work so well together, it might not be good to tell her husband whom you are replacing. Before you know it, your back in Mak's house and the curtain is drawn. You're a success! No time to celebrate You've nearly forgotten about the angel, (that part always goes to an apprentice), he has just made himself visible on the roof of the wagon. You need to operate the crank to lower him in. As he sings Gloria in Excelis, you cringe, but you lower him anyway. Last years apprentice had a much prettier voice. The three shepherds follow the angels direction just as in rehearsal. the curtain is drawn back to reveal the manger. You were right, having a real baby does make all the difference. Before you know it the line "To sing are we bound, Let us begin mightily!" falls from the lips of the third shepherd and your play has ended. The shepherds climb down as the applause fades, and give the wagon a hardy push. There's no time to rest, there's eleven more stations, with a tight schedule to keep. There'll be no rest for you, not today. it will be sundown before your through.

 Bibliography.

©Copyright 1998 by David W. Dwyer. This document or portions there of,  will not be reproduced by any means without the express written premission of the author.
Back to the David Dwyer Home Page.