Print

Print


Today Abby Young and I have posted the first of the modernized performance
texts, The Castle of Perseverance, on the web (http:\\www.chass.
utoronto.ca\~ajohnsto). I modernized the text for the PLS performance of
Castle in 1979 that was directed by David Parry. For years, David and I
talked about publishing it with the apparatus that he used, based on that
production, for his doctoral dissertation. After his death, I asked
Caroline Parry's permission to go ahead with the modernized text based on
his ideas of how the play was performed. This is the text we have now
posted. I have used it with considerable success for almost a decade in
the class-room.  Castle is, arguably, the quintessential English morality
play but the language has always made it almost impossible to teach in a
drama course. I hope you will find this text more accessible. A video of
the entire production and an edited one hour version are available for
rent or purchase from the Media Centre, University of Toronto, 121 St
George Street, Toronto M5S 1A1.

We are working on posting the entire N-Town text. Stan Kahrl modernized
the Passion Play for the PLS 1981 production and Judy Kahrl kindly gave me
permission to include it with my own modernizations of the rest of the
N-Town collection. I have divided it into three sections -- "The Pageants"
that were produced by the PLS in 1988; the Passion Play;  and the two
Marian Plays -- the "Mary Play" identified by Peter Meredith and the
Assumption Play produced by the PLS in 1991. Each play (including the two
parts of the Passion Play) will be posted separately so that it will be
possible to "download" single episodes if you wish.  I have used this text
for teaching as well and find the option of using The Woman Taken in
Adultery or the Trial of Mary and Joseph as examples of "stand alone"
Biblical plays a welcome change from the ubiquitous Wakefield Master or
Abraham and Isaac. There is no edited video of the PLS production of
N-Town but there are some pictures on the PLS web site and slide packages
can be provided.

These are offered free of charge, but we would appreciate donations to
Records of Early English Drama. I will let you know how this can be done
when I send out the notice that N-Town is posted. I would be grateful for
notive of any "glitches" in the texts.