Article Review: “Theatrical Pragmatics: The Actor-Audience Relationship from the Mystery Cycles to the Early Tudor Comedies” by Hans-Jürgen Diller

In the article, Hans-Jürgen Diller argues that actor-audience relationships that were extremely important in the mystery plays. These relationships manifest in actors addressing their audience, “an important strategy to establish and sustain the W^d,” (Diller 157) or the “dramatic world” (156). Because the medieval dramatists did not have the technology to establish W^d (switch-off lighting, curtains, controlled and regulated seating), dramatists had to rely on spoken word and staging for W^d. The three types of actor-audience relationships are as follows: straddling, framing, and homiletic. Diller gives definitions and evidence (from the mystery plays and some comedies such as Magnyfycence) for each of these categories.

I recently received this article via Inter-Library Loan. Given its accessible (and interesting) theory-based discussion of medieval theater, it is likely relevant to all discussions of the N-Town Plays. So, if you’d like to read it let me know and I’ll send you the PDF!

Diller, Hans-Jürgen. “Theatrical Pragmatics: The Actor-Audience Relationship from the Mystery Cycles to the Early Tudor Comedies.” Comparative Drama 23 (1989): 156-165. Print.