[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.88,0:00:19.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the 11th and 12th centuries,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.78,0:00:22.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,most English commoners were illiterate.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.06,0:00:24.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Since they had no way to learn the Bible,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.08,0:00:26.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the clergy came up with an inventive solution:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.55,0:00:29.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they'd create plays out of certain Bible stories
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.13,0:00:31.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so even people who couldn't read could learn them.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.88,0:00:33.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These were called mystery plays
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.27,0:00:35.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because they revealed the mystery of God's word.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.94,0:00:37.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At about the same time,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.19,0:00:38.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the clergy also developed plays
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.97,0:00:40.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the saints of the church,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.24,0:00:41.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called miracle plays.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.90,0:00:42.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the beginning,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.86,0:00:44.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the clergy members acted out Bible stories
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.61,0:00:47.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the steps outside the cathedral.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.03,0:00:48.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The audience reacted so well
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.91,0:00:51.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that soon they needed to move out to the street
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.03,0:00:52.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,around the town square.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.57,0:00:55.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By building moving carts to put on each play
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.10,0:00:56.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and by lining up one after the other,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.82,0:00:58.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they could put on cycles of stories,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.83,0:00:59.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which would take the viewer
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.100,0:01:00.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from Genesis
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.70,0:01:02.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to Revelation.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.04,0:01:03.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These movable carts, called pageants,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.92,0:01:06.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,looked like huge boxes on wheels.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.54,0:01:08.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Each was two stories tall.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.38,0:01:09.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The bottom story was curtained off
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.92,0:01:12.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and was used for costumes, props, and dressing.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.92,0:01:16.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The top platform was the stage for the performance.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.09,0:01:19.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Spectators assembled in various corners of the town,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.10,0:01:20.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the pageant would move around in the cycle
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.91,0:01:24.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,until the villagers had seen the entire series.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.14,0:01:25.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Soon, the plays required more actors
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.94,0:01:27.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than the clergy could supply.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.65,0:01:29.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, by the 13th century,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.19,0:01:31.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,different guilds were asked to be responsible
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.24,0:01:33.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for acting out different parts of the cycle.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.86,0:01:35.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The assignments were meant to reflect
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.45,0:01:37.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the guilds' professions.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.37,0:01:39.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, the carpenter's guild might put on
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.65,0:01:41.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the story of Noah's Ark,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.24,0:01:44.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the baker's guild might put on The Last Supper.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.17,0:01:46.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can you imagine what might happen to the story
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.46,0:01:49.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if the butcher's guild put on The Crucifixion of Christ?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.96,0:01:51.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yes, without the clergy,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.30,0:01:53.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the plays soon started changing
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.12,0:01:55.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from their true Bible stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.22,0:01:58.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By the end of the 14th century, a new form of drama,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.10,0:02:00.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called the morality play, had evolved.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.62,0:02:01.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Faith,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.06,0:02:01.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,truth,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.52,0:02:02.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,charity,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.03,0:02:02.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and good deeds
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.98,0:02:05.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all became characters on the stage.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.19,0:02:07.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, at the same time, the opposite virtues
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.48,0:02:08.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of falsehood,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.27,0:02:09.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,covetousness,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.11,0:02:10.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,worldly flesh,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.07,0:02:10.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the devil
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.95,0:02:12.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,became the antagonists.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.95,0:02:15.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The morality plays were allegorical stories
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.45,0:02:18.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which these characters battled for the control of the soul.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.74,0:02:21.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Audiences loved the immoral characters,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.25,0:02:23.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and spectators were encouraged
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.10,0:02:24.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to interact with the actors.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.100,0:02:26.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Throwing rotten food
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.46,0:02:29.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even getting into scuffles with other spectators
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.13,0:02:30.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,became very common.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.67,0:02:32.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The character of the devil
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.38,0:02:33.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,often would roam through the crowds
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.80,0:02:35.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and pull unsuspecting watchers
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.67,0:02:38.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into a hell that was depicted as a dragon's mouth.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.94,0:02:41.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The virtuous Biblical stories had morphed
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.30,0:02:43.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into crude and sometimes comic stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.97,0:02:47.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The clergy intended to teach against immorality.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.01,0:02:49.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How ironic, then, that the morality plays
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.59,0:02:54.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actually encouraged vices as more popular than virtues.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.10,0:02:55.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By the mid-15th century,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.71,0:02:58.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the church started to outlaw these performances.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.29,0:03:00.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Town charters required that any theater
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.28,0:03:02.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,must be built outside the city wall.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.61,0:03:03.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the first theaters
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.87,0:03:06.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was built like a larger version of a pageant,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.36,0:03:08.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with tiers of gallery seating
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.07,0:03:11.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,encircling a grassy area in front of the stage.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.13,0:03:12.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sound familiar?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.34,0:03:13.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A young William Shakespeare
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.57,0:03:16.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,developed his craft here at the theater
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.20,0:03:18.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was eventually renamed The Globe.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.56,0:03:21.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The medieval morality play had led to Renaissance playwrights
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.57,0:03:23.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were inspired by the inner struggles
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.46,0:03:25.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the conscience of man.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.24,0:03:27.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that, in essence, is how drama emerged
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.66,0:03:30.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a literary art form.