Processions, Processional Theatre, Simultaneous Stage: Variations of Venues and Stage Arrangements of the Lucerne Play Tradition from the Middle Ages to Early Modern Times

Religious and secular theatrical events in Lucerne are probably the best documented in Europe. From sources dating back to the twelfth century we learn that during the Easter Triduum various kinds of ritual practices were held within the boundaries of the monastery im Hof. While monks were celebrating the Adoratio, Depositio and Elevatio Crucis and the Visitatio Sepulchri hidden from the public, the faithful commemorated the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord with processions and prayers in front of carved and painted Passion scenes and a temporarily constructed Holy Sepulchre. The first record of the staging of a vernacular Resurrection play in front of the parish church of St Peter’s dates to 1453. The earliest text and a stage plan, preserved in the Donaueschingen codex, allow the reconstruction of the performance on the Kapellplatz: as processional theatre. From 1500 onwards, performances of religious and secular plays took place on the Wine Market, the town’s new commercial centre. With the shift of the stage from the religious sphere (monastery, parish) to the trading and political centre, we notice a change in the mode of performance. Processional theatre is replaced by performance on the simultaneous stage, with a spatial division into areas for actors and areas for spectators. This paper analyses the interrelations between performance space and religious, social and political developments and focuses on stage arrangements and modes of performance relating to the different performance venues.