Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Pages: 175-200

Journal: European Medieval Drama

Volume number: 25

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1484/J.EMD.5.125682

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Abstract: 

The Einsiedeln Play of St Meinrad (1576) is the earliest Swiss Counter Reformation saint play. Its performance was part of the monastery’s political plan to regain strength and importance after the Reformation, stressing the holiness of its forefather. While Protestant plays of the time mostly used rhetorical strategies to convince the audience of the ‘true’ faith, the Play of St Meinrad explores new means of using stage properties and special effects. The paper concentrates on the use of smoke and smell, puppets, bird-puppets, and ecclesiastical objects (cross and chalice) in the play. They serve to characterize the devils or humans doomed to hell, or to stress parallels between the protagonist and St Anthony, St Paul the Hermit, St Benedict and Christ. As arguments that can be seen and smelt, they support the text’s message that presents Meinrad as a model for holy life.

Harvard Citation style: Dietl, C. (2021) How to Mark a Saint on Stage: Felix Büchser’s Meinradspiel, European Medieval Drama, 25, pp. 175-200. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.EMD.5.125682

APA Citation style: Dietl, C. (2021). How to Mark a Saint on Stage: Felix Büchser’s Meinradspiel. European Medieval Drama. 25, 175-200. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.EMD.5.125682