If by "out of the church and into society" you mean production of the plays
by civic or guild authorities (usually the same) rather than ecclesiastic
ones, try Lawrence Clopper's volume on the Chester Plays in the REED
(Records of Early English Drama) series.
If you mean how the plays commented on contemporary society, there is a
recent Ph.D dissertation from Minnesota, by Patricia Eldred, on the theme
of kingship in plays about the Magi. She sees differences between English
plays and their continental sources which she attributes in part to the
political situation in England.
Jill
On Tue, 17 Feb 1998 16:24:15 +0000 wrote...
>Theatre and Religion in the middle ages - I am in my third year at
>Edingburgh uni and I am about to embark on a disseration studying the
>relationship between theatre and religion.
>
>I am going to be looking specifically at the growth of theatre out of
>church and into the society.
>
>I was wondering if anyone could advise books that would useful, plays or
>liturgical dramas of this period, or any guidance when looking at this
>subject. Thankyou.
>
>
>
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