History Main / Mummers

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[[caption-width-right:350:[-"The Doctor brings St George back to life. A production of St George and the Dragon by the St Albans Mummers" by Michael Maggs-]]]

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[[caption-width-right:281:Someone should tell Bottom to do a bit less improv.]]

The sword fight is typically between Myth/SaintGeorge ("Yay!") and either the Turkish Knight or an enemy called "Bold Slasher" ("Boo! Hiss!" for both of these fellows). Depending on the area, either combatant can end up being killed and resurrected (one old script has the stage direction "decide which is to be dead man, and make a good fight"). The other characters, besides the doctor (usually a {{quack|Doctor}}), tend to be an odd mix of traditional figures such as [[SantaClaus Father Christmas]], Myth/RobinHood and [[{{Satan}} Beelzebub]]. Traditionally, the whole cast, including female characters, was composed of men. These days, the tradition of having female parts played by men has been retained, with the result that female mummers have to play male roles. So it now possible to see Mummers plays where every character is played by an actor of the opposite sex!

The sword fight is typically between Myth/SaintGeorge ("Yay!") and either the Turkish Knight or an enemy called "Bold Slasher" ("Boo! Hiss!" for both of these fellows). Depending on the area, either combatant can end up being killed and resurrected (one old script has the stage direction "decide which is to be dead man, and make a good fight"). The other characters, besides the doctor (usually a quack), tend to be an odd mix of traditional figures such as [[SantaClaus Father Christmas]], Myth/RobinHood and [[{{Satan}} Beelzebub]]. Traditionally, the whole cast, including female characters, was composed of men. These days, the tradition of having female parts played by men has been retained, with the result that female mummers have to play male roles. So it now possible to see Mummers plays where every character is played by an actor of the opposite sex!

Traditionally, mummers plays are performed by a group of amateur actors (called mummers), and are barely rehearsed and prone to go off at improvised tangents, often with the audience heckling, cheering and booing. The mummers used to wander from farmhouse to farmhouse to perform their play, nowadays mummers plays are frequently performed in pubs, village squares, and similar places. Because of the ad hoc nature of their perfomance spaces, Mummers often have to ask their audience to "make room" so they can perform the play.

The sword fight is typically between Saint George ("Yay!") and either the Turkish Knight or an enemy called "Bold Slasher" ("Boo! Hiss!" for both of these fellows). Depending on the area, either combatant can end up being killed and resurrected (one old script has the stage direction "decide which is to be dead man, and make a good fight"). The other characters, besides the doctor (usually a quack), tend to be an odd mix of traditional figures such as [[SantaClaus Father Christmas]], RobinHood and [[{{Satan}} Beelzebub]]. Traditionally, the whole cast, including female characters, was composed of men. These days, the tradition of having female parts played by men has been retained, with the result that female mummers have to play male roles. So it now possible to see Mummers plays where every character is played by an actor of the opposite sex!

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The Music/{{XTC}} album ''Mummer'' was inspired by these plays, and its booklet had photographs of the band wearing traditional Mummers' costumes, complete with instructions on how to make your own.

The {{XTC}} album ''Mummer'' was inspired by these plays, and its booklet had photographs of the band wearing traditional Mummers' costumes, complete with instructions on how to make your own.

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In most places, the mummers appear during the Christmas season, pretty much the period from Halloween to "Plough Monday" (The first Monday after January 6, when ploughman traditionally had to go back to work following the Christmas holiday). In some areas the play is instead performed at Easter time.

The {{XTC}} album ''Mummer'' was inspired by these plays, the album had photographs of XTC wearing traditional Mummers' costumes, complete with instructions on how to make your own.