The Second Shepherds' Play: Everyman and Other Early Plays

by Wakefield Master, Various

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Genres: Plays

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 9, 2010

About the author

The Wakefield Mystery Play cycle is the work of many authors, some sourced from the York Cycle. However, the most significant contribution has been attributed to an anonymous author known as the "Wakefield Master." It is believed that his additions include Noah, The First Shepherds' Play, The Second Shepherds' Play, Herod the Great and The Buffeting of Christ. This common authorship is suspected due to a unique thirteen-line rhymed stanza, which is evident in all five texts.

The term "Wakefield Master" emerged from a need to distinguish some material in the Towneley manuscript from a mass of unexceptional material, and was first coined by Charles Mills Gayley. In 1903, Gayley and Alwin Thaler published an anthology of criticism and dramatic selections entitled Representative English Comedies. It had long been believed that the Towneley Play was a mediocre work that showed extensive borrowing from other sources but containing vibrant and exciting material, apparently by one author, who was responsible for four or five complete pageants and extensive revisions. Gayley refers to this person as the "master" (with a lowercase m) in the book. Then in a 1907 article, Gayley emended this to "The Wakefield Master," the name which is still frequently used.

Within the Broadview Anthology of Medieval Drama, Christina M. Fitzgerald and John T. Sebastian find it important to note, "the quotation marks placed around the name 'Wakefield Master' are thus to be taken to indicate that the ascription of authorship is the product of convention, rather than proven fact. All that can be said with confidence is that there seems clearly to have been a common force involved in the shaping of all five of these plays"

[Source: Wikipedia]

Reviews

[Emma Hailey · Rating 1 out of 5]

a biblical play where the sheep gets more stage time than Jesus himself is insane

[arabella · Rating 2 out of 5]

second sheppards play: 2 stars

not sure why the sheep room up twice as many pages as jesus christ himself but i applaud it

[Lauren the Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

*second Shepards read for class*
why was this kinda funny

[DarrenBrennan · Rating 2 out of 5]

3 stars for The Second Shepherds' Play, a medieval mystery play from the 1500's which centres on the birth of Jesus Christ. This play mixes the dramatic styles of commedia dell'arte, slapstick and melodrama.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did a very nice production of Everyman paired with Albee's American Dream. We had a small choir for Everyman. The theatre had open timber walls. The voices of the choir bounced so sweetly off the dimly lit theatre - the room had much the ambience of a medieval church.

I'll tell a good American Dream story in comments on that play.