The Second Shepherd's Play

by Wakefield Master

Lisl Beer adapted this famous play from the Towley Manuscript of Old English. As observed in FaceBook, “The play is actually two separate stories presented sequentially; the first is a non-biblical story about a thief, Mak, who steals a sheep from three shepherds. He and his wife, Gill, attempt to deceive the shepherds by pretending the sheep is their son. The shepherds are fooled at first. However, they later discover Mak's deception and toss him on a blanket as a punishment.”

Genres: Plays, Classics, Drama, School, Read For School, Medieval, Theatre

50 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1500

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

[Olivia Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved that the first instinct to cover up stealing a sheep was to pretend your wife gave birth to it

[Ella Hachee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious! I was definitely not expecting this to be as funny as it was but I couldn’t stop laughing. I forgot that it was a religious play until right when the Angel appeared at the end which was a dramatic mood shift from mischievous shepherds.

[William Gwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this short, witty play that felt quite tongue-and-cheek

[sarahgrace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this play! (i remember writing a creative essay about this but from the perspective of the sheep...)

[aurora · Rating 1 out of 5]

So meh, I literally didn't care

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read this for my Shakespeare class (looking back at how plays were before him) and I must say that I quite enjoyed it. Usually "old" English plays are hard to follow but this one certainly wasn't and it was a "nice" story. Though when the Angel calls upon them after they've dealt with Mak, was pretty random..

[Cheyenne]

This is the play that’s like don’t be a thief and you’ll meet the baby Jesus

[Rebecca Fell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was bizarre. I read this in the Middle English translation for my Medieval Theatre: Drama before Shakespeare module and, whilst I enjoyed some of the wacky elements of it- the positioning of a sheep as an incarnation of Christ in particular- the plot was incredibly bland. However, I am looking forward to academically delving further into this.

[Audrey Ng · Rating 3 out of 5]

The oldest play I’ve ever read :))

[amy hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

elaborate ass scheme lmao and they couldn't even pull it off..like okay.

[Gennifer Eccles]

Just read this for my British Lit class. Don't have too many thoughts, but it was pretty entertaining. The whole sheep plot was funny, but the story itself got pretty sidetracked when the Angel came. Not the best thing I've ever read for a class, but it didn't hurt either.

[Karen Ireland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely play base on religious faith told in old English language full of rhyme and alliteration, a short play which is love to read

[Joanne van der Vlies · Rating 4 out of 5]

" Give me leave him to kiss, and lift up the clout. / What the devil is this?—he has a long snout!"

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely short Medieval play about the Annunciation to and Adoration of the Shepherds that was really fun to read. I enjoyed how human the shepherds and their complaints were:

Lord! what, these weathers are cold, and I am ill happed
[...]
Lord, these weathers are spitous, and the weather full keen;
And the frost so hideous they water mine een,
No lie.
Now in dry, now in wet,
Now in snow, now in sleet,
When my shoon freeze to my feet
It is not all easy.

They complain about the weather, about the work, how masters live off their hard labor while not paying them enough... Shepherd #2 also complains about his wife and women in general, but he's my least favourite shepherd. Then Mak comes along and performs magic to steal a sheep, which then Mak's wife, Gill, hides as her newborn baby. And they all sing. What's not to love about this silly musical caper?

Considering that religious plays were the only accepted form of theatre back when this was written, the religious theme seems tacked on at the end as an excuse for the play, but the parallels between both nativity scenes are genious: a baby God who's come to Earth to destroy the devil, and a horned and hoofed baby related to magic, changelings, and deceit. It must have been great on stage!

[Madelein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mak and Gill 4eva

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

no no it’s not a sheep mate it’s just a really deformed child

[claire]

i love when my traumatic catholic upbringing allows me to “ha, that’s actually quite a funny jesus reference”

[feneo · Rating 3 out of 5]

you steal a sheep ONCE and jesus christ is born. incredible

[mar ⭐️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

had me giggling alone in my room i love mak and gill kinda

[Annemarijnxlwt · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Whore?"

[Dillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's crazy that this is a thing I actually read for uni and genuinely enjoyed

[Wafaa Golden · Rating 1 out of 5]

مسرحية إنكليزية من مقررات كلية الأدب الإنكليزي.. رشحتها لي إحدى زميلاتي..
أحرجتني باهتمامها وأعارتها لي..
لم أجد فيها ما يمكن أن يهمني أو يمتعني..
ولكن من حسن ظني صغر حجمها فأنهيتها بجلسة واحدة..

[Melissa Rudder · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Second Shepherds’ Play has the honor of being the first play I will under no circumstances (well, maybe a few *imagines debating about early episodic drama in a coffee shop while sipping hot cocoa, getting annoyed and deciding to, instead of pouring hot cocoa over the opponent’s head, recommend this play in order to torture the opponent*) recommend to anyone. Although my professor of British Literature (course one) drummed into our heads that the “middle ages” and “renaissance” are clearly problematic groupings of artistic development, I must say that the anonymous The Second Shepherds’ Play is clearly a fruit of the stereotypical dark ages.

The idea is that the story of a trickster hiding a pig in a cradle parallels and contrasts the story of Jesus’ birth. The comparison did nothing for me. I was neither enlightened by seeing the story of Jesus’ birth in a new light nor moved by experiencing similar stories through the eyes of the shepherds. When I write these reviews, I always take the chance of looking dense, worrying that the story is a lot more than I give it credit for. Hopefully that’s the case with this one.

Okay, so apparently medieval writers were all about the world being united beyond time, so there are numerous anachronisms that drove me nuts. Basically, the shepherds who discovered Jesus were already Christians. Annoying.

So, in conclusion, don’t read The Second Shepherds’ Play Or if you have, and you saw something more in it, tell me.

[Tom Romig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in anticipation of the performance November 27, 2016 at the Folger. Turns out it was great preparation. While it's not absolutely necessary to read the work in advance, it does enrich the experience. Certainly spending some time with a good summary and character overview is essential. The Folger performance was greatly enriched by over 20 musical pieces, most of them from the 15th century and earlier and thus familiar to the medieval mystery play audience.

The Second Shepherd's play is noted for its marvelous characters, all clearly drawn, which distinguishes the work from the stock characters of most mystery and morality plays. Also fascinating is the balance of the play. The stolen sheep hidden in a crib and the Christ child in the manger, forgiving the thief for his capital offense and the forgiveness brought into the world by the new born Christ.

The play reveals much about its contemporary audience. One startling example to us is that this audience wasn't put off by the shepherds' walk from Yorkshire to Bethlehem, a journey of miles and decades.

[Huda Aweys · Rating 3 out of 5]

مسرحية من مسرحيات عصر النهضة في أوروبا ، و هو عصر مناهضة الخطاب الديني و ازدراءه ، و إن ظل الإطار العام هو (المحافظة) في النهاية ..، فمثلا و مع تعمد المسرحية تناول شخصية الرعاة ذات المدلول الديني العميق في المسيحية ، بالسخرية ، نجد أن الخاتمة جاءت بالموافقة و المناصرة لأساس الإيمان المسيحي ، و هو ماينفي عنها فكرة قصد التعريض بالديانة المسيحية عموما في النهاية
و مايخبرنا أيضا بأنها كانت فقط مجرد .. مسرحية شارع .. ربما ! ، تعبر عن رجل الشارع و ميله إلى السخرية ، حتى من القيم بل و التمرد عليها في ذلك الوقت ، بعدما آلت إليه الأمور في أوروبا ، مع نهايات ما أسموها بـ (عصور الظلام) التي قادتها الكنيسة آنذاك

[Ember Air · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read a lot of plays, from a lot of different time periods, and was surprised at how hard it was to follow this one. I finished it once, went and did some online research and had to read it again to honestly understand it. I suppose it is a great play as an introduction into the middle ages of plays, but it is a big bite to swallow.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was kind of weirded out by the random sheep-snatching side-plot, as well written as it was. It's also an interesting paralel to the nativity scene later in the play, though it came off as very didactic to me. I guess that was the point. All in all, not my cup of tea, especially since the old english dialects made it hard to read.

[Veronika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe I'm super-dense for Medieval literature, but this was just horrid. It looked like the plot was going somewhere, but then it really didn't?? Instead, there was this Biblical sub-plot/new story added? #confused

[Dan Dyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading Middle-English is not for me it seems but I found the rhyming enjoyable. I had to do further research to figure out what the play is about and now I understand that it's quite an entertaining backstory to the shepherds in the Nativity story.

[amelia]

moral of the story: don't steal sheep and force the blame onto your wife by making her swaddle it, and put it in a cradle and pretend to give birth to it... the shepherds will find out (and then be rewarded by seeing the baby Jesus being born)