We see Scandinavian culture nearly everyday in Minnesota, especially during those cold winters when we have a craving for some good old comedy drama like the Church Basement Ladies. These ladies are some of the most crazy people you will ever watch and boy do they enjoy their Scandinavian heritage! The very first meal they prepare in the musical is a Lutefisk supper as for modern day drama it doesn’t get any more Scandinavian than that Folks. I have often wondered though, how our Scandinavian ancestors came across theatre and drama. Our Scandinavian ancestors paved a road of rich history and culture, but little is known about their focus on drama. It is my personal goal to shed light on the early history of Scandinavian drama.
“Rich in its history and traditions...the Scandinavian theatre has nevertheless remained relatively unexplored” (Marker ix). Scandinavia is most well known for their Norman (Northmen) culture that was most prominent during the dark ages and encompasses the following countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark (Bates prologue). The Normans were “nothing but rude barbarians” that had inhabited northern Europe which we now call Scandinavia, the landscape was as distinct as the culture. A Viking was the occupation of choice for the Norse men, and because of this rude barbaric culture little is known about the drama in the specific time era that ranged from 874-934 (Bates prologue). Due to the influences of the Norman’s Pagan religious beliefs it is best predicted that they participated in ritual dramas and reenactments of stories (Gunnell 15).
These ritual dramas were produced as worship for the Norse gods, this mythology gives insight of the intelligence and morality of their culture rather th...
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...magi that would walk up the centre aisle. Once they walked up the centre aisle they would kneel at the altar and the crib, next the magi would take the newborn babe and sacrifice it.
Works Cited
Bates, Alfred, James Penny Boyd, and John Porter Lamberton. The Drama; its history, literature and influence on civilization. Vol. 21. The Athenian Society, 1903.
Gunnell, Terry. Origins of Drama in Scandinavia. Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 1995.
Marker, Frederick J. The Scandinavian Theater: a short history. Totowwa, New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield, Print.
Pascal, Roy. "On the Origins of the Liturgical Drama of the Middle Ages." The Modern Language Review 36.3 (1941): 369-387.
Sargent, Michael G. “Mystical Writings and Dramatic Texts in Late Medieval England.” Religion & Literature , Vol. 37, No. 2 (Summer, 2005), pp. 77-98
It has become very apparent that many of the residents of Iceland and those of Icelandic culture are deep believers of spirituality, the metaphysical and the supernatural world. Films like, Cold Fever, Noi the Albino, and Investigation Into the Invisible World are clear portrayals of the beliefs of many Icelanders in the director’s depictions of the spiritual world, deeply ingrained into the themes of each of the films. Although it may not always be practical, many of these beliefs are respected and explored through out the presentation of the films. The audience is pushed deeper into the minds, thought processes and beliefs of the Icelandic people. The icy cold landscapes add to the nature of spirituality of the residents. There is a significance to the conviction of the Icelanders, which can be used to modify non-believers beliefs into the deeper meaning of the spiritual world.
Shakespeare, William. The Tradegy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992
There are many important aspects of theatre history. Important playwrights, actors, theatres, and events that impacted theatre in major ways. In this paper I am going to discuss the life of an important actor who would be better known for his last name and the actions of his brother. By looking into his life I have learned how interesting of an actor he was and what significance he had on theatre history. This actor is Edwin Booth.
Worthen, W. B. (2000). Oedipus the King. The Harcourt Brace anthology of drama (3rd ed., pp.
Meyer, Michael. "Ibsen: A Biographical Approach." Ibsen and the Theatre: The Dramatist in Production. Ed. Errol Durbach. New York: New York UP, 1980. 14-26. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Tradegy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992
The Norse religion is the religion of the Norse people prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia. It may seem as though the religion’s influence has died out, but it still affects our culture today. The general mythology is well known, but the details, such as how the lore was passed down from generation to generation, is obscure.
Myers, H. A. (1949). Aristotle's study of tragedy. Educational Theatre Journal, 1(2), 115. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1290192594?accountid=12085
Rogoff, Gordon. “Auden Country and the Search for the Perfect Play.” Theater 32.1 (2002): 48-61. Print. Project Muse.
The Little Theatre in the United States. New York: H. Holt, 1917. Print. McKay, Nellie. " Black Theater and Drama in the 1920s:
Shakespeare, William. The Tradegy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992
Vikings were both savage and civilised. John Bareham stated this idea. They lived savagely in a civilised way. They raided and plundered as a career, to provide wealth for themselves and family. If Vikings did not have a fuse between being savage and civilised, they would not be the people in our history books today.
Shakespeare, William. The Tradegy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992
Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. Gerald F. Else. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1967. Dorsch, T. R., trans. and ed. Aristotle Horace Longinus: Classical Literary Criticism. New York: Penguin, 1965. Ley, Graham. The Ancient Greek Theater. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991. Reinhold, Meyer. Classical Drama, Greek and Roman. New York: Barrons, 1959.