| LC control no. | sh 85020380 |
|---|---|
| LC classification | PT697.C3 German literature |
| Topical heading | Carnival plays |
| Variant(s) | Fastnachtspiele Fastnachtsspiele Shrove Tuesday plays Shrovetide plays |
| See also | Drama |
| Found in | The Oxford companion to the theatre, 1983 (Carnival play, see Fastnachsspiel; Fastnachtsspiel, the German Carnival or Shrovetide play of the 15th century, in one act, performed mainly in Nuremberg by students and artisans. It shows, in somewhat crude couplets, a mingling of religious and popular elements interesting in the light of later developments in German drama. In its earliest form it had no plot but developed, independently of religious drama, from a sequence of narrated episodes in which each character endeavoured to outdo the others in absurdity or obscenity. The subjects of the Carnival plays are those which would appeal to the mainly urban audiences before whom they were usually acted--the weaknesses and venial sins of lawyers and their clients, doctors and their patients, clerics and their female parishioners. In most of these farces the Narr or fool is the central character, sometimes with a dull-witted companion to serve as the butt for his practical jokes. At first the plays were presented in the simplest possible way, rather in the style of the English mummers' play but later, when the town guilds took over, a raised stage and hangings, with a few properties, became general. Many of the Carnival plays were written by the Mesitersänger, of whom the best known is Hans Sachs.) Cuddon, J.A. A dict. of literary terms and literary theory, 1998 (Fastnachtspiel ('Shrove Tuesday play'). A dramatic genre whose origins are to be found in the 15th c. Shrovetide masquerades. They were mostly short--not much more than 'playlets'--and were presented and performed by townspeople. They might, in fact, be considered as early instances of community theatre. Some of the main themes were domestic--such as marital problems--and they were often devised as a kind of trial or court process. Some are comedies in the form of dramatized Schwänke. Many were composed in Knittelverse.) Baldick, C. The Oxford dict. of literary terms, 2008 (Fastnachtspiel (plural -spiele). A kind of short popular drama performed by townsfolk in Germany during the Shrove Tuesday (Fastnacht) festivals in the 16th century. Most surviving examples are from Nuremberg, where Hans Sachs (1494-1576) was the foremost author of such plays.) German Wikipedia, Nov. 14, 2012 (Fastnachtsspiel) DictionaryCentral.com, Nov. 14, 2012 (Fastnachtsspiel (German: carnival play). In medieval Germany, a type of one-act play that developed separately from the liturgical drama during the 15th century and was usually performed on Shrove Tuesday by craftsmen or students in the open air. The plays were crude comedies and ribald farces featuring as their main character a fool known as the Narr. Favourite subjects included the relationships between churchmen and their female parishioners, and doctors and their patients. The genre sometimes contained elements of the morality play. Many Fastnachtsspiele were written by Meistersinger, such as Hans Sachs and Hans Rosenplüt.) |
 |  |  |