Category Archives: Costumes

Nibelungenlied: Hagen and water sprites

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About the scene and clip:
The solo artist, drawing on dance, recorded music, and simple costume elements, performs Hagen’s meeting with the water sprites: he steals their clothing; to get it back they tell him lies about the future that will make him happy—but then they tell him the truth.

About the work:
The Nibelungenlied, or Song of the Nibelungs, is an anonymous German epic composed around 1200, probably by a professional poet or entertainer for performance in a court in Bavaria or Austria. This violent poem draws both on Germanic legends and on historical events of the distant past; it recounts the love and marriage between Siegfried and Kriemhild, a Burgundian queen of the Nibelung dynasty; the great quarrel between Kriemhild and her sister-in-law Brunhild; the treacherous murder of Siegfried; Kriemhild’s marriage to Etzel (Attila the Hun), her violent revenge for Siegfried’s death, and her death. The Niebelungenlied is composed in 4-line strophes of rhymed couplets. The long lines of somewhat irregular length have 7 accented syllables to a line for the first 3 lines of the strophe, and 8 for the last line. Over 30 manuscripts preserve this lengthy epic, in 3 main versions. It is known that the Nibelungenlied was originally sung, and a surviving melody called the “Hildebrandston” is believed to be very close to the original melody for the epic.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative that tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Das Nibelungenlied: Song of the Nibelungs, trans. Burton Raffel, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2006, pp. 213ff. Note: characters’ names are spelled differently in this translation than they sometimes are. Original: Das Nibelungenlied, ed. Karl Bartsch & Helmut de Boor, trans. Siegfried Grosse, Stuttgart, Reclam, 2003.

About the performer/ensemble:
Julie Benko is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2010).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in spring 2010. Sam Erenberger was the videographer.

Nibelungenlied: Comic, abridged, group

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About the scene and clip:
Five students rapidly summarize, act out and (occasionally) sing to kazoo accompaniment the story of the Nibelungs, in a comic handling of the epic material; they provide a useful body count for this frequently gory epic.

About the work:
The Nibelungenlied, or Song of the Nibelungs, is an anonymous German epic composed around 1200, probably by a professional poet or entertainer for performance in a court in Bavaria or Austria. This violent poem draws both on Germanic legends and on historical events of the distant past; it recounts the love and marriage between Siegfried and Kriemhild, a Burgundian queen of the Nibelung dynasty; the great quarrel between Kriemhild and her copy richard mille rm 030 sister-in-law Brunhild; the treacherous murder of Siegfried; Kriemhild’s marriage to Etzel (Attila the Hun), her violent revenge for Siegfried’s death, and her death. The Niebelungenlied is composed in 4-line strophes of rhymed couplets. The long lines of somewhat irregular length have 7 accented syllables to a line for the first 3 lines of the strophe, and 8 for the last line. Over 30 manuscripts preserve this lengthy epic, in 3 main versions. It is known that the Nibelungenlied was originally sung, and a surviving melody called the “Hildebrandston” is believed to be very close to the original melody for the epic.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative that tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown vape Tank to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Das Nibelungenlied: Song of the Nibelungs, trans. Burton Raffel, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2006. Note: characters’ names are spelled differently in this translation than they sometimes are. Original: Das Nibelungenlied, ed. Karl Bartsch & Helmut de Boor, trans. Siegfried Grosse, Stuttgart, Reclam, 2003.

About the performer/ensemble:
Julie Benko, Mary Lane Haskell, Hannah McGinley, and Samantha Morrice are Drama students in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Zachary Maher is a student in Political Science in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2010).

About the production:
This scene was created for the final public performance of the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in April 2010 at New York University. It was filmed by Nitzan Rotschild.

Tristan by Béroul: Tristan rescues Iseut from lepers

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About the scene and clip:
King Mark has handed the beautiful Iseut over to an evil, lecherous leper as punishment for her adultery; Tristan comes to her rescue. The solo storyteller plays all the parts, making a modest use of prop and costume.

About the work:
Béroul’s mid-12th-century story of Tristan and Iseut is one of the earliest surviving versions of the love story. He is completely on the lovers’ side, though their love is illicit. Béroul’s narrative is full of dialogues and dramatic scenes, some of them strongly comic, some highly physical.

About the genre:
This work is probably best understood as a tale that is close to a romance, or an early romance.

The tale, like the epic, is an ancient genre and one found everywhere in the world. Many tales are firmly rooted in oral tradition and are recited or told by amateur and professional storytellers and performers. Other tales are the work of literarily sophisticated authors and are often intended to be read aloud or silently from written texts. Some tales circulate separately, while others are part of collections, which may be set in complex frames (as in the case of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). There are many sub-groups of tales with specific characteristics; see for example the “lai” and the “fabliau.”

Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Béroul, The Romance of Tristan, ed. and trans. Norris J. Lacy, New York, Garland, 1989, pp. 59ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Jacob Richard is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in spring 2008; it was videoed in the classroom.

Three Women: The Musical

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About the scene and clip:
Six performers (with modest costume elements) take turns telling the Three Women of Paris. They animate and modernize it by inserting appropriate songs from recent American musicals, to piano accompaniment.

About the work:
This fabliau tells about three women who go out drinking together. They have a grand time eating and drinking—but they get so drunk that they pass out naked in the street. Taken for dead, they are mourned by their husbands and are buried in the Cemetery of the Innocents. But the women revive and, filthy and covered with worms, they crawl out of their graves and head home. To some degree, this fabliau is a parody of a resurrection miracle.

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical, but fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged from Gallic Salt, ed./trans Robert L. Harrison, Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1974, pp. 398-417.

About the performer/ensemble:
Chris Chianesi, Katie Gassert, Rebecca Greenberg, Kevin Metzger, Jacob Richard, and Jennifer Seifter are all Drama students in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. The pianist, Andrew Long, is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio, with a minor in Spanish literature and culture in the College of Arts and Science (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2008. It took place at the Maison Française at an event called “Making It Real 2008” in April 2008; it was videoed by Gina Guadagnino.

Partridges with four performers

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About the scene and clip:
In this strongly physical clip, four performers, wearing simple costumes and using props, divide up and act out the roles. One performer (Jenn Messina) adds lively fiddle accompaniment.

About the work:
In The Partridges (Les Perdris), an anonymous fabliau, a wife cannot resist devouring the partridges she and her husband were to eat for dinner. The priest, who was to have joined them for dinner, arrives just as the husband is sharpening his knife to carve the partridges. The wife tells her husband that the priest has stolen the partridges, and she tells the priest that her husband wants to castrate him with his knife. The terrified priest runs away with the husband at his heels.

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical. But fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
This performance is drawn from Fabliaux, Fair and Foul, trans. John DuVal, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, Binghamton, NY, 1992, pp. 46-49. Original: Le Nouveau recueil complet des fabliaux, eds. Willem Noomen & Nico van den Boogaard, Assen: Van Gorcum, Vol. IV (1983), pp. 8-12.

About the performer/ensemble:
Michael Abourizk is a major in Dramatic Literature and Theater History, with a minor in French, in the College of Arts and Science at New York University. Brittany Holtsclaw is a Drama student in the Stonestreet Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Jen Messina is a Drama student in the Atlantic Acting School at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, with a minor in Chemistry. Kim Woycke is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2008. It took place at the Maison Française at an event called “Making It Real 2008” in April 2008; it was videoed by Gina Guadagnino.

Gawain: Hunting and wooing scenes

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About the scene and clip:
Eight performers take turns telling and performing the (abridged) hunting and wooing scenes, using costumes and adding some comic elements; among them: the hunting horn is a harmonica; students in animal costume act out the terrified animals; the cutting up of the deer becomes a surgical operation.

About the work:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the best loved works of medieval literature, is an anonymous Middle English romance of the 14th century. The style is “alliterative”: each poetic line is dominated by a certain letter sound that is repeated.

The story: At Christmas, a strange, huge, all-green knight arrives at King Arthur’s court. He challenges all present to an exchange of blows with his great axe. Gawain accepts, and cuts off the knight’s head—but the green man does not die! Rather, he picks up his head and, before riding away, reminds Gawain that in a year it will be his turn to receive his blow. Gawain, in his dutiful quest for the Green Knight, encounters many adventures—in particular, at a castle where he has an exchange of gifts with the lord, and where the lady attempts repeatedly to seduce the virtuous and honorable Gawain. He finally finds the Green Knight—in a surprising conclusion to the romance.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, tr. Brian Stone, Penguin, 2nd ed., London, 1974, pp. 62ff. One edition of this frequently-edited work is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ed. J. R. R. Tolkien and E. V. Gordon, 2nd ed. revised by Norman Davis, Oxford, Clarendon, 1968.

About the performer/ensemble:
Danielle Benzaken is a student in Psychology and English in the College of Arts and Science at New York University. Jessica Carei is a student in Journalism and Medieval and Renaissance Studies in the College of Arts and Science at New York University. Ruby Joy is a Drama student in the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Kat Keating is a student in English, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and Music in the College of Arts and Science at New York University. Nick Kocher is a Drama student in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Andrew Long is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and a student in Spanish literature and culture at the College of Arts and Science. Marielle Mosthof is a Drama student in the Stella Adler Studio of Acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Steven Northrup is a Drama student in the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2008. It took place at the Maison Française at an event called “Making It Real 2008” in April 2008; it was videoed by Gina Guadagnino.

Judith: Judith prepares to kill Holophernes

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About the scene and clip:
The singer performs part of the story of Judith and Holophernes, taking on all the voices: Judith comes alone to the camp of Holophernes, Nebuchadnezzar’s general. Holophernes plans to seduce her. At a great feast, he and his men become intoxicated. After prayer and agonized inner debate, Judith resolves to kill him in order to free her people.

The instruments in this clip are the vielle and flute (elsewhere in the full performance of the work, the lirica—a Croatian traditional stringed instrument tuned in a particular archaic manner—and other medieval flutes are played). The instrumentation provides at times a highly dramatic musical presence.

About the work:
Judith was written by Marko Marulic (1450-1524), a great Croatian Humanist poet, and a major figure in the transition between medieval and Renaissance Croatian literature. Judith is a literary epic, composed in verse, and drawn primarily from the book of Judith in the Old Testament: the beautiful Jewish widow cuts off the head of a great enemy of her people, Holophernes, in order to free them. Superimposed on the biblical story is the theme of opposition to Ottoman invaders of Marulic’s day. Into the text of Judith, Dialogos has inserted a debate between the body and the soul, based on Visio Philiberti (Philibert’s Vision), to which Marulic had contributed. Katarina Livljanic’s reconstruction of the music draws on Gregorian, Beneventan and Glagolitic sources from medieval Dalmatia.

About the genre:
This work combines literary epic, with the story drawn from the Bible; allegory (the body/soul debate), and hagiography (Judith will be forever glorified for her courage and service to God).

The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

Allegory is a way of composing and of interpreting texts: characters and the plot point beyond themselves to something “other”—something symbolic. Characters are often personifications of forces such as Love, Pride, Reason, or Friendship. The plot is also symbolic: characters’ struggles are between vices and virtues; their journey may refer to life’s pilgrimage or to the discovery of some great truth, such as the nature of love. Works may be entirely allegorical, or may just contain brief passages written in this mode. Allegorical works are often strongly religious, philosophical, or moral.

Stories about the saintly wisdom, heroism, or miracles of remarkable men and women exist in many religious traditions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Such stories are termed “hagiography.” In medieval Europe, the saint’s life or legend was an extremely popular type of work. A great many stories (and plays) about male and female Christian saints exist in Latin and in all the vernacular languages. These works may focus on the saint’s dramatic death by martyrdom, or recount the remarkable miracles performed by the saint, or may relate the entire life of the holy man or woman. Among the most important collections of saints’ lives and legends is The Golden Legend by Jacobus of Voragine. Chaucer’s “Prioress’s Tale” in The Canterbury Tales is a tale of martyrdom. Miracle and pious tales about the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, constitute a special, and highly important, category of saintly legends.

About the edition/translation:
The work performed has been abridged and adapted by Katarina Livljanic and Benjamin Bagby from Marko Marulic, Judita, ed. and trans. Henry R. Cooper, Jr., New York, East European Monographs/Columbia University Press, 1991.

About the performer/ensemble:
Dialogos (see www.ensemble-dialogos.org) is a music ensemble directed by Katarina Livljanic, and based in Paris. Performers here are Livljanic (voice), Albrecht Maurer (fiddle) and Norbert Rodenkirchen (flute).

About the production:
This video was made at a public performance of Judita at St. Donat’s in Zadar, Croatia, in July 2006. The videography is by Studio Dim, Zagreb, Croatia. Dialogos has broadcast rights to the video.

Rose: Story until Lover receives kiss, 2

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About the scene and clip:
For their final, public performance, a group of students in “Acting Medieval Literature” (fall 2006) chose to perform an abridged version of the entire story of the Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris, up to the point where the lover receives the kiss from Fair Welcome. (A substantially larger group had chosen to do something similar, but to very different effect, the previous year; see that clip, titled “Rose: Story until Lover receives Kiss, 1.”) The performance includes dance and dramatic staging, solo and group scenes, costumes and props.

About the work:
The Romance of the Rose is arguably the most influential French work of the Middle Ages. This work is a romance, composed in verse and treating of love. But it is a highly unusual romance in many regards.The Rose introduced into romance a set of major allegorical figures such as Love, Reason, and Danger; it established the popularity of the dream vision; and it launched a new fashion in pseudo-autobiographical narrative. The first 4000 lines (in octosyllabic rhymed couplets) were written by Guillaume de Lorris around 1230. This strongly lyrical part of the romance emphasizes the beauty of the Garden of Love, and the suffering by the Lover in his quest for love; Guillaume’s romance was left unfinished. Around 1280, Jean de Meun completed the work by adding close to 18,000 lines; his lengthy and learned text features speeches delivered by such characters as Reason, the Jealous Husband, the Old Woman, Nature, and Genius.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

Allegory is a way of composing and of interpreting texts: characters and the plot point beyond themselves to something “other”—something symbolic. Characters are often personifications of forces such as Love, Pride, Reason, or Friendship. The plot is also symbolic: characters’ struggles are between vices and virtues; their journey may refer to life’s pilgrimage or to the discovery of some great truth, such as the nature of love. Works may be entirely allegorical, or may just contain brief passages written in this mode. Allegorical works are often strongly religious, philosophical, or moral.

About the edition/translation:
Performance abridged from The Romance of the Rose, Harry W. Robbins trans., New York, Dutton, 1962, pp. 3ff; text abridgement by Jessica McVea. French edition: Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, Le Roman de la Rose, ed./[Modern French] trans. Armand Strubel, Paris, Lettres Gothiques, 1992.

About the performer/ensemble:
All performers are students at New York University (2006): Jordan Brodsky, Benjamin Kaplan, Marissa Lupp, Britta Ollmann, and Steve Schear are all Drama students in the CAP 21 Studio at the Tisch School of the Arts; Jessica Levine is a student in the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at the Tisch School of the Arts; Xosha Roquemore is in the the Stella Adler Studio of Acting at the Tisch School of the Arts. Vanessa Burt is a student in English in the College of Arts and Science.

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in fall 2006; it took place at a public event at the Maison Française of New York University in December 2006.

Helen Queen of Sparta: Scenes

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About the scene and clip:
The clips are taken from scenes of Theodora Skipitares’s production of Helen Queen of Sparta. Puppets of various kinds, storyboards, and other multi-media approaches to performance are used in this representation of material drawn from classical Greek epic, drama, and myth. We have included this clip as part of our concern with analogous traditions. It offers an innovative handling of important material drawn from Ancient Greek narrative and drama.

About the work:
Helen Queen of Sparta is based on the Iliad (attributed to Homer), Euripides’ play Helen, and other classical texts.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Text written by Theodora Skipitares (based on the Iliad, Euripides’ Helen, and other classical texts); music and sound design by Tim Schellenbaum.

About the performer/ensemble:
Theodora Skipitares is a visual artist and theater director who examines social and historical themes using many types of puppet figures. These puppets are the “performers” in large-scale works that include live music, film, video, and documentary texts. Among her works are “Age of Invention,” an examination of three centuries of American invention featuring 300 puppets, and “Optic Fever,” an exploration of Renaissance artists and their new way of seeing. The performers are collaborators of Theodora Skipitares.

About the production:
This video is an abridged version of a film made during a performance of Helen Queen of Sparta at La Mama Theatre in New York in February 2003. The video was produced by Kay Hines.

Roncisvalle: Maggio performance

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About the scene and clip:
On a large field, a group of performers act out and sing the battle at Roncevaux (Roncisvalle in Italian) where the heroic Roland and the French rear-guard die—a story originally told in the Old French Song of Roland. Roland’s betrothed, Alda, comes and weeps over his lifeless body; this scene is absent from the original Roland, but similar scenes are present in various other versions of the story.

This performance is from an Italian “Maggio” version of the famous French story of Roland’s death at Roncevaux. This sort of performance is termed Maggio from celebrations associated with May Day; traditional in the Apennine region of northern Italy, Maggio is a form of popular opera dating back to the 18th century. The actors use a variety of props, such as steel swords, and wear costumes characteristic of the Italian Maggio performance tradition, including heavily-embroidered black velvet jackets, tall black boots, and plumed helmets; Christian knights wear black capes; Saracens wear red ones. The director whispers lines to the actors, who do not need to know all their lines by heart. The performers sing their parts, accompanied by musicians playing the guitar, violin and accordion.

See also on this site the “Tristano e Isotta” clip, another Maggio performance.

About the work:
Roncisvalle is an Italian “Maggio”—dramatized and sung—reworking of the medieval story of the battle of Roncevaux in The Song of Roland. (Also see above under “About the scene and the clip”.)

About the genre:
The Maggio performance tradition draws strongly on romance and epic traditions—as well as on opera, which did not yet exist in the Middle Ages.

Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
The Italian script is not available.

About the performer/ensemble:
The performers are the inhabitants of Villa Minozzo, a town in the Apennine Mountains, province of Reggio Emilia. The company has its own website: www.Costabona.it.

About the production:
This performance took place in Rossena, Italy, in July 2002. It was videoed by Prof. JoAnn Cavallo of the Italian Department at Columbia University. Copies of the documentary DVD “Il Maggio Emiliano: Ricordi, riflessioni, brani,” of which this is a clip, are available through Prof. Cavallo.