The term mummers describes a set of actors reenacting
a type of folk drama that has been performed
for centuries in the British Isles, beginning
perhaps as early as the 13th century and continuing
today. The term has been variously traced to
words in German, Danish, and French that indicate
the use of disguise.Mummers’ plays are short,
seasonal performances that address the theme of
death and resurrection and frequently involve
foolery and nonsense language. The actors’ dismummers’
guises include anything from blacking the face to
assuming a mask or dressing a man as a woman.
The existing texts of mummers’ plays reveal that
the most common plots are those of the herocombat
(involving folk heroes like St. George or
Robin Hood, or a doctor and a fool), the sword
dance, the plough play (so called because it makes
reference to an offstage plough), and a wooing
(also offstage). The plays are very short, involve
only a handful of characters, and are staged with
minimal props. In the past, these plays were often
performed in a small area in the middle of the
street, usually at Christmas, Easter, and other festival
days.Many mummers’ plays, however, show a
remarkable absence of Christian influence or doctrine.
Instead, generic characters such as Father
Christmas and Beezlebub appear.
Like morality, miracle, and MYSTERY plays,mummers’
plays were originally aimed at a broad public.
The setting is historically generic; Oliver
Cromwell might be on the stage with Saladin,
Napoleon chatting with Charlemagne. The themes
of death and resurrection and their seasonal characteristics
suggest the mummers’ plays capture a
folk memory of ancient pagan rituals associated
with planting and harvesting, an agricultural death
and renewal.Controversy among scholars concerning
the pagan roots of mummers’ plays is ongoing.
Texts of existing mummers’ plays, while they
follow the same broad outlines, show many local
variations; in fact, each of the hundreds of extant
texts is unique. Efforts to document the plays
began in the 17th century, but the mummers have
been performing for centuries and continue to this
day, a testament to the power of theatrical tradition.
Published Editions of Mummers’ Plays
Helm, Alex. Eight Mummers’ Plays. London: Ginn,
1971.
Miller, Katherine. St. George: A Christmas Mummer’s
Play. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1967.
Stevens-Cox, James. Mumming and the Mummers’
Plays of St. George. Beddington, Surrey,U.K.: Toucan
Press, 1970.
Works about Mummers’ Plays
Brody, Alan. The English Mummers and Their Plays:
Traces of Ancient Mystery. Philadelphia: University
of Pennsylvania Press, 1970.
Helm, Alex. The English Mummers’ Play. Cambridge,
U.K.: D. S. Brewer, 1981.