... Pageantry and dramatics in religious education

Contents

chapter page

Editor's Introduction 9

Author's Preface 11

Author's Preface

America has not become stage struck. She has but come into her natural inheritance, and, like a youth in its teens, has awakened to an appreciation of the beautiful. The new drama movement is an outward manifestation of this inner mood. As the adolescent boy, when his eyes are opened to the romance and wonder of the world, acquires a different manner of speaking and acting, so America has begun to wash the grime of commercialism from her face and to express herself aesthetically. Almost every city of any size has attempted some performance in the nature of a pageant or festival, and there is hardly a village which has not developed what some choose to call a mania for dramatic production.

Dramatization is also quite commonly accepted as an educational method. Many public schools and church schools are now teaching curriculum subjects in the classroom through directed dramatic play. Thus they train in the arts, hand-crafts, hygiene, and morals. Leading ministers and other churchmen of nearly all denominations have actively participated in pageant or drama production, that they might more effectively teach the subject of religion. Surely, a movement of such scope and magnitude merits our careful consideration.

This book is an attempt at interpretation. It deals to a certain extent with methods, but it is intended to be more than a handbook or manual. It is a survey of

II 12 Author's Preface

the field. It is hoped that it will help to remove some of the current prejudice against the use of dramatics and pageantry in religious education. Little originality of treatment or subjectmatter is claimed. Many of the ideas expressed are derived from a study of source material listed in the chapter bibliographies. Valuable criticisms and suggestions have likewise been given by many of the pioneers and leaders in the new Educational Dramatic movement. Wherever possible these authorities have been given credit in the body of the text.

Grateful acknowledgment is here tendered to colaborers, writers, and all others who have so graciously added to the content and value of this book. Special acknowledgment is made to Emma Sheridan Fry. From her rich experience as writer, dramatic director, and formulator of the principles of Educational Dramatics she has contributed to the thought value of this text, promoted clarity of expression, and prevented misleading statement of principle and method. The writer, likewise, acknowledges his great indebtedness to the editor of this series. His wise suggestions in regard to subjectmatter, treatment, and organization have brought the book to its present form.

Chapter I Drama 1 The Handmaid Of Religion

Religion has been a mother to the arts. She rejoiced at their birth, taught them to take their first steps, and watched with satisfaction their growth and development ; and yet, one by one, they have left their sheltering home. This was not because they were lacking in love and appreciation. Always they have sung their mother's praises. It was due to their environment. Gray walls, solemn matins, and the sacred hush of the church stifled laughter. They were repressive. Youth's imagination craved freedom. Having once glimpsed the green meadow, the sunlight and the expanse of the out of doors, the youth of the church hesitatingly and yet joyfully stepped into the beauties and opportunities of a new world.

Everything would have been well had religion "chosen the better part/' that of going along with them. She might have been a guide and an inspiration to even loftier expressions than they had yet attained. Left without a mother's care, however, it was not strange that there should have been indiscretions, and that Drama, the most beautiful, the most vivacious of all the daughters, should have been guilty of devia-

1 Theatricals and the professional theater are not here under consideration. The theater as an institution and as at present conducted has little in common with Religious Education or Educational Dramatics, and so is discussed only in its limited relationship. A clear exposition of the essential differences between the professional and educational method is given in Chapter IV.

i 4 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS

tions which, to say the least, have frequently been unworthy of such a mother.

The new attitude of religion which permits her to leave the sanctuary and mingle with her children, has reestablished the mother-and-daughter relationship. While we must not expect a sudden change, a beneficial influence has already been felt. A new spirit has taken hold of the church, a spirit of practical idealism. Henceforth we can look for a new use of the dramatic arts which will transcend even the highest hopes of the former days.

A knowledge of the relationship which has existed, and which again exists between drama and religion as suggested in the preceding paragraphs is needful for an understanding of the subjects hereafter treated.

The Drama of Primitive People

A close relationship is observed between the dramatic practices of "child races" and their religion. In fact, they seem to be inseparable.

Drama as prayer. — Among primitive people the drama often performs the function of prayer, inasmuch as it is an acting out of desires, which at a later stage in civilization may be expressed through the medium of direct invocation. Thus we find a wide range of dramatic rites and observances through which savage people hope to gain the good will of the deities. When rain is needed for the crops the fact is made known to the Rain God by some act such as the pouring out of water on the ground. If food is desired, a successful hunt is portrayed in which some of the people may take the part of animals, others the hunters. If the requests are not granted, it is not at all infrequent that dramatic acts which are deemed especially pleasing to the deities are performed — sacrifices, actual and simulated.

Drama the Bible of savage peoples. — Drama often becomes the Bible of the savage. Through it he is taught the common standards of morality, duty to the tribe, courtesy to elders, and respect and veneration due the totem. It is likewise his history, for through it he often enacts the great deeds of his actual and legendary heroes. Sometimes these performances are quite elaborate and extend over a period of many days. In the childhood of the race drama also may take the place of written literature as evidenced by the folk festivals and dramatic ceremonies, the weird and spectacular funeral rites extolling the virtues of the departed, and the puppet presentations of racial epics.

The Greek Theater

The Greek theater, which contributed largely to the advancement of histrionic art, was religious in nature. Even when objectionable practices were introduced the religious element remained. The secularization of the drama and its divorcement from religious ceremonial came at a later date.

Its origin. — Greek drama had its origin in religious ceremonials. Both tragedy and comedy developed in connection with religious worship. As in primitive dramas, entertainment values were rarely considered. The performances were religious functions in which all the people participated. Even when at a later date special parts were assigned, and writing, acting, and chorus work became professions, it is said that the religious element persisted.

We know that in connection with the festivals of Dionysius the priests were in attendance and were given places of honor; and that writers and actors were regarded as religious leaders and accorded privileges denied other classes. The Greek theater itself possessed a sanctity in the eyes of the people. It was considered quite as much a sacred place as the temple. Offenses committed there were regarded as sacrilegious and were punished with severity.

Hebrew Drama

A study of the Bible reveals the activity of the dramatic instinct in the life of the Hebrews. While there are no biblical productions intended for actors, references are frequently made which show that dramatic expression was common to this people.

The "Let's-pretend" play of childhood. — Jesus had observed the children playing funeral and wedding, and he indirectly mentioned the fact in the words, "But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented."

EzekiePs dramatic project. — The first few verses of the fourth chapter of Ezekiel clearly show the resemblance between certain of the methods employed by the prophets and those used by modern educators who are now utilizing bottle dolls and toy figures to tell stories and teach facts in a vivid way. "Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem : and lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city : and set thy face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel."

Dramatic dialogue. — An example of dramatic dialogue interspersed with songs and interpretive dancing is given in the passage which refers to the action of Miriam, the sister of Moses, as she, timbrel in hand, answers the chorus of women, the occasion being the deliverance of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh. The song of Moses, in all probability, was acted out in a similar way, as was also the dance of David before the ark upon its return to the Holy City.

A vehicle for literary expression. — As the story-tellers of the race have kept the folk tales alive by retelling them from generation to generation, so, in all probability, have some of our choicest ceremonial psalms been preserved for us through action, music, and dialogue until they were incorporated in the Holy Scriptures. In the Literary Study of the Bible 1 Moulton shows how the dramatic instinct has projected itself in nearly all types of biblical literature : "Hebrew literature has not developed a separate and distinct drama; although, as if to compensate for this, the dramatic impulse is found in Hebrew to invade other regions of literature, including such departments as might have seemed most impervious to it. The current finding no channel has spread and diffused itself. The reader of

1 D. C. Heath & Co., publishers. Used by special permission.

the Bible knows that he will find in it no acted playlike the plays of Shakespeare. But, on the other hand, he will find lyric poems especially dramatic in tone, and in Solomon's Song a lyric idyl that impresses some of its readers as a complete drama. He will find, again, philosophy taking a dramatic shape. In the book of Job the dramatic form reaches an intensity not exceeded in any literature; yet even here there is no independent drama, but the dramatized discussion is made to rest on a basis of epic story. What is still more surprising, the discourses of prophecy are found to be leavened by the prophecy which will in this work be called the Rhapsody which is preeminent in the closeness with which it approaches to Drama. If such things could be made the subject of measurement, it would be safe to predict that the mass of dramatic material in biblical literature would be not less than that found in other literatures where drama is a distinct form."

Drama in the Early Christian Church

Its origin. — Two causes made drama an expression of the Christian Church. The first was the desire to interpret to an unlettered people the facts of the Christian religion. That converts might be won to the faith, visual methods of a dramatic nature were used to overcome the difference in language. The pagan festivals with their ceremonies were taken over and Christianized. Small modeled figures, grouped to represent biblical themes, were exhibited in the churches during certain seasons of the year. Saint Francis of Assisi sought to interpret biblical facts by the use of pantomime. There exists a record of the Nativity scene as portrayed by him. Through the use of certain properties, animals, and actual personages he portrayed a living picture which could not have been without its effect, as evidenced by the influence of such tableaux even in our own times. At a little later date it is reported that a German clergyman assisted his people, who were not familiar with the Latin, by unrolling a picture scroll during the service, thus making it possible for them to understand. The extensive use by the church of painting and sculpturing is another manifestation of this desire for interpretation.

The second reason for the production of drama in the Christian Church was the inherent urge for dramatic expression. Even during the bitterest opposition in the early centuries, a period in which actors were not received into the communion except on condition that they relinquish their profession, and members who persisted in attending this form of amusement were dismissed, this spirit was continually manifesting itself. Ezekiel, a Jew, wrote a tragedy based on the book of Exodus during the second century. In the fourth century Apollinarius, the elder, a priest of Laodicea, and his son were interested in the dramatic field. The father put certain parts of the Old Testament into play form. The son recast the New Testament in Platonic dialogues.

Development of miracle plays. — In the ninth and tenth centuries an elaborate change in the church ritual was made through the addition of songs and dialogues of a dramatic nature. This led to biblical dramas. One of the best of these known as the Quern Quaerites paraphrases the account of the resurrection story as recorded in the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew.

At first it took the form of a dialogued chant, but later, as it developed, it was carried out in detail of action — one of the clergy taking the part of the angel at the tomb, and others, dressed in long garments, the parts of the women. From this time on the secularization of the drama was a slow but gradual process. The dramatization of outstanding events in the lives of the saints was introduced, and then plays dealing with the whole cycle of biblical history from the creation to the final Judgment.

Necessity made many changes. Originally all the parts were taken by the priests. Elaboration, however, made this almost impossible and the laity, members of trade guilds, and also wandering jugglers gradually supplanted them. This, in a way, commercialized the performances, since such actors received definite salaries and were selected by pageant masters for their particular histrionic ability. The adoption of the Corpus Christi festival by the guilds of many cities, as the chief festival of the year, called for elaborate pageantry. The York pageant, for instance, at one time had as many as fifty-seven plays produced by as many different guilds.

Morality plays. — During the fourteenth century another drama type, known as the morality play, was popular. It differed from the miracle play in that instead of picturing biblical incidents it dealt in an allegorical way with moral themes in which personified powers of evil and good struggled for the possession of man's soul. They were what might have been called exhortative dramas, their purpose being the portrayal of the effects of sin. Many were long, and, to us, they would be wearisome, but to the people of that period they were no doubt of moral and spiritual value.

At a later time these morality plays became polemics in the hands of both the Protestants and Catholics, by means of which each held up to ridicule the beliefs of the opposing body. They became as newspapers and served to mold public opinion as do our propaganda plays today. They were promoted for the distinct purpose of influencing people to take a definite stand on controversial questions. The play Everyman, which comes down to us from the latter part of the fifteenth century, and which with changes has recently been produced in England and America, is an example of the best of these productions.

The Church and Modern Drama

The question may be asked, "Why the present great interest in dramatization outside theater limits?" Many forces have brought the drama into this general recognition. The World War, while not a direct cause, has stimulated such activity as nothing else could have done. Some sort of entertainment was demanded which would appeal to the army man, and make him forget for a time the business of soldiering. Professional entertainers and actors served, not only as performers but also as trainers, and men with special qualifications from the ranks were detailed for training by those in command. As a result, practically every American unit in France had its "show troupe," and our men, while they remained in the States, or in the training areas in France and England, enjoyed minstrels, musical comedies (many of them being original compositions), and all manner of dramatic entertainments. All over the country, in response to the same general need, various types of dramatic productions were sponsored. No one will forget the war pageants and parades, the spectacular demonstrations of a dramatic nature undertaken as community projects. Even since the war the desire to give expression to poetic and heroic thoughts has been noticeable. There arises a new spirit of idealism, a longing to understand, and a resulting effort to interpret the mysteries of life.

The writer feels, however, that war can be regarded only as a quickener of the desire for dramatic expression. Credit for giving drama its new and proper place in American life should be given, chiefly, to four other movements which will be discussed separately, stress being placed upon their relationship to the church.

The festival. — Public safety and regard for personal welfare have demanded the regulation of national and community activities. For instance, the old Fourth of July, with its noise, conflagrations, and accidents, has been tabooed. Perhaps not altogether for artistic reasons, it has been replaced by sane and aesthetic demonstrations of one type and another — most of them being community projects, which utilize the most talented local artists. These festivals and public functions find expression chiefly in dramatic form. Through such action large numbers of people may be utilized to express in a beautiful and realistic manner the emotions the group wishes visualized. During the war period street pageants of the processional nature were very common. Relief organizations have used the pageant-drama as a means of creating sympathy for and an interest in the causes they represented.

The church has not stood aloof from these dramatic efforts; in fact, her people have been largely instrumental in their promotion, and she herself at times has, as sponsor, even opened the doors of her own auditorium for the dramatic presentation of causes such as those espoused by the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Y. M. C. A.

It has been to the community festivals of a religious type, however, that the church has given chief consideration. The festival spirit has been used to visualize the great truths of Christianity. The community Christmas tree with appropriate songs and dramatic portrayal of nativity scenes is now a symbol in nation-wide use.

Other religious occasions are celebrated in like spirit. It is estimated that for the sunrise Easter service of 1920 between fifteen and twenty thousand people climbed Mount Rubidoux, in the vicinity of Riverside, California. The cross was there on the rugged mountain — seen in the moonlight by the eager and expectant throng as they climbed to points of vantage. It told its story. But the risen Christ was there also — made manifest through the glory of a perfect sunrise and appropriate service of song and praise. Through this symbolical pageantry a feeling of deepest reverence was created. The resurrection became a vital thing — a part of experience rather than a fact in religious history. Those who were there became, for the time, the disciples and lived the period of sorrow and anxiety. It was the Holy City that lay dimly outlined before them, and it was the presence of the risen Christ that was felt as the darkness of the night gave way to the beauty of a new day.

Mention should also be made of the sacred musical festivals celebrated from time to time at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They have not only influenced the life of that community but have by the spirit and manner in which they are celebrated moved other towns and cities to like means of expression.

The missionary education movement. — The pageant Darkness and Light, written by John Oxenham, was the first production of a missionary nature to have universal recognition in America — being presented at "The World in Boston," and later in many of the larger cities of the country. In a tactful, pleasing, and yet forceful way it portrayed missionary facts. Its propaganda and entertainment values soon became generally known, and its beauty and artistic qualities demonstrated the further possibilities of such dramatic presentation. .

The success of this production and its cordial reception caused the creation of a large number of smaller pageants with distinctly religious and missionary motifs. These have been specially valuable from the propaganda standpoint. For the most part they have been written by missionaries or those with a special knowledge of foreign fields. Presentation of fact has been the main consideration. As a result photographs, cross sections of life rather than works of art, have been shown (the photograph shows minute details; the work of art eliminates the unessential and focuses attention to one central idea). Practically all the mission boards of the several churches have, from time to time, distributed these productions through their special channels. In the East, especially, a wide circulation has been given to these life studies.

The Joint Centenary Celebration of the Methodist Churches at Columbus, Ohio, in 1919, through the presentation of The Wayfarer, and over one hundred and twenty smaller demonstrations and pageants, added stimulus to the drama movement. Almost simultaneously the Protestant Episcopal Church created a Drama Department. A White List of Productions — religious dramas which could be recommended — was distributed and a few of the pageants were promoted in connection with the Nation-Wide Campaign for the Church's Mission. Other denominations have likewise given attention to this phase of missionary teaching, as evidenced by the large number of demonstrations and pageants recently printed and distributed, and also to the use that has been made of these same productions in national church gatherings — the Congregationalists in the Congregational World in Boston, 1920, and the Northern Baptists in their Exposition at Rochester, New York, of the same year.

The democratized theater. — A new drama movement has done much to promote amateur and semiprofessional entertainments. The writer has called it "The Democratized Theater." Many organizations are its active supporters, chief among which are the Drama League of America, the New York Drama League, and the Dramatic Departments of the Red Cross, Y. W. C. A., Community Service, and the different churches.

The Little Theater Movement, the Dramatic Movement in the Colleges, the Jewish Art Theater, the Drama Clubs in many of the settlements and churches, and the large community undertakings of pageant or festival nature which are directed by permanent organizations, are some of the more common manifestations of the new spirit. Its purpose is to democratize art, making it the thing of the people instead of that of the few professionals.

This new spirit aims to do away with commercialism by sponsoring community dramatic enterprises — enterprises which will develop the aesthetic and creative ability of amateurs and by so doing change the valuation put upon productions. With it monetary considerations are not the determining factors. Noncommercial dramatizations of social and educational value are encouraged and experiments of all types which might make a people's histrionic art are constantly being undertaken. It produces in the streets, in the parks, in made-over store buildings, and in one locality it has even taken over an old barn as a playhouse. Its workers, as a rule, are not professionals, though often potential artists — those who have the desire to express themselves through some of the opportunities made possible by the dramatic arts.

A movement of this type, sponsored by organizations interested in aesthetic dramaturgy, and at the same time to an even greater extent in social and spiritual results, cannot fail to have an influence which is nation wide. It has done much to promote sane social and recreational enjoyment, and at the same time, through cultivating a dramatic appreciation which counts as tawdry and vulgar the presentations all too often sponsored by commercial institutions, has combated the more glaring evils of the professional theater.

The pedagogical movement. — The utilization of the play spirit in education and the recognition of the desire for dramatic expression as a normal and spontaneous motive has resulted in the introduction of dramatization in nearly all the public schools and church schools as a pedagogical. method. In this field of education much credit should be given to Emma Sheridan Fry, first dramatic director of the Children's Educational Theater, on the East Side in New York city. Her study of the underlying principles of educational dramatics and their application to the different age groups has not only stimulated the production of drama for educational ends but has also kept many people otherwise unfamiliar with the methods of approach and direction from serious errors. Her book, Educational Dramatics, will be helpful to those desiring a scientific explanation of the mental processes involved and who seek a knowledge of the methods through which the greatest development may come to the child. Principles underlying this new means of teaching which she and other pioneers have put to practical tests will be discussed in later chapters. This movement for the use of dramatization as a factor in education has had such a stimulating influence upon general dramatic expression that brief mention must be made of it here. It has perhaps shown in a more forceful way than any of the other movements, the possibilities of dramatics as a constructive social and educational agency.

Children who have been dramatizing in the classroom have the desire to express themselves in the same natural way in the community. They understand the method of procedure and will carry out with ease a program which would be entirely beyond the uninitiated. They have learned team play and have been trained in doing creative work. Their undertakings have resulted in productions of intrinsic merit rather than in stagy performances of little educative value. The rehearsals, interpretation of characters, designing of costumes, staging, and even the writing of the script, when that has been undertaken, have been pleasurable means of expression, thoroughly enjoyed by all and undertaken in the free and joyous spirit of play.

Leaders capable of directing dramatic expression along sane and helpful lines have been developed by participating in these productions. The interest kindled has often created among the older young people a desire to learn the fundamental principles underlying such activities. As a result many directors with a working knowledge of stage art and educational methods are now available. Such persons, though not professionally trained, have been able to promote programs of dramatic activities which meet community needs. Cooperating with Social Settlements, Community Centers, Public Play Grounds, Social and Religious Educational organizations, they have stimulated an interest in worth-while undertakings, developed the participants, and raised community standards.

Alfred W. Pollard, English Mystery Plays. Katharine Lee Bates, The English Religious Drama. Loomis Havemeyer, The Drama of Savage Peoples. Richard G. Moulton, The Literary Study of the Bible.

Chapter II Play In Education

The play spirit is like a vivacious child. It always asks to go along. It wants to be the nurse-maid to the baby. It almost runs the legs off the growing youngsters. It is the jolly good companion during college days. It overlooks the fact that the business man is dignified and it uproariously laughs as it hunts for vulnerable places in his dignity. It even forgets to respect gray hairs and creaking joints. Worst of all, it has followed the school master with the persistence of Mary's lamb. Although spanked, snubbed, threatened, and even anathematized, it does not change its spirit of undaunted hopefulness. Its sang-froid through such abuse is mirth provoking. Whether approved or not, its boldness and insistence everywhere forces recognition. It always has. Even Puritanism could not push it aside. Denied a chance of normal physical expression, it took control of the dramatic imagination and created the fanciful witches and demons of horrible mien which assumed reality in the Salem tragedy.

Development of the Play Idea

Thus through the years the play spirit has experienced difficulty in gaining recognition. The attitudes of educational leaders have been varied. Some have looked upon it with disfavor; some have complacently ignored it; others have sought to crush it; a few have welcomed it as a re-creator. Certain teachers, notably of the clerical school, have harnessed it to carry educational burdens. But not until after the pronunciation of the theory of naturalism by Rousseau and his followers was it allowed its larger place in the educational field. Perhaps one exception must be cited. The Greeks recognized the practical value of play even though they may not have been familiar with the principles involved and enunciated by leaders of the present day. A more detailed study of these several schools of thought, including the Greek, may prove suggestive.

The Greeks and play; recognition. — The Greeks recognized the value of the play spirit as a factor in training for citizenship. Its demands were respected in both the home and school, and from early infancy its activities were emphasized. Children in the nursery were taught by means of simple games, largely of a dramatic nature. Plato, in his attitude toward play as expressed in his Dialogues, is almost modern. He advised that all children between the ages of three and six be taken to central meeting places by their nurses that they might engage in the free and spontaneous activities natural to their ages. To him the games of the child, to a great extent, determined future development, and so influenced the permanence of the state. Aristotle related play and education. He suggested that the play of children should be practice of what they are afterward to do seriously.