Mysteries of the Passion of the Lord & Other Old Polish Biblical Dramas

kalwaria_zebrzydowska_ag.jpg, default, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Mystery of the Passion of the Lord, photo: Michał Łępecki / Agencja Gazeta, Mysteries of the Passion of the Lord & Other Old Polish Biblical Dramas

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For centuries, one of the main tools of religious education was... theatre. Initially, biblical performances were performed only in church centres where appropriate liturgical books were available. The invention of printing made these dramas popular even in provincial parishes. And although most of them are conventional as literary works, their educational role seems to be invaluable.

The Bible was a living source of inspiration for Old Polish artists. We can already see its reminiscences in liturgical dramas. The mentioned phenomenon belonged to the sphere of church liturgy related to the most important Christian holidays. These spectacles, included in the framework of sacred rites, aimed at dramatizing and theatricalising the Holy Scripture, putting its fragments into a dialogue that appealed to the imagination of the faithful. In Western Europe, such dramatizations graced both the Christmas and Easter liturgies. From Poland, we only know the Easter cycle. The most important of these texts is a piece intended to be performed during the liturgy celebrated on Easter morning, entitled Visitatio Sepulchri (Visitation of the Tomb).

The oldest surviving variant of this text comes from the abbey of Saint-Gallen in Switzerland (mid-10th century). In turn, the oldest Polish version was written down in the 12th century in Płock, which was then an important centre of church and state administration. In accordance with the pattern operating throughout Western Europe, the dramatization shows three Marys heading to the Tomb with oils with which they want to anoint the body of Jesus placed there. However, they are surprised to discover that the Tomb is empty. Told by an angel that Christ has risen, they are to tell this news to His disciples. In the next scene of this short piece, we see Peter and John running to the Tomb. When they find out that the Lord has risen from the dead, they will show the audience the shroud in which His body was wrapped.

As we can see, Visitatio Sepulchri was something of a liturgical scenario, thanks to which church rituals gained a spectacular dimension, allowing the faithful to get closer to the events they were experiencing. However, it was a very restrained and symbolic staging. The role of Mary was played by clergymen dressed in albs. The text was performed in sung form. The acting – if we can talk about it at all – was extremely restrained. The atmosphere was complemented by candlelight and the fragrant scent rising from the censers carried by the performers.

Mayor Pilate

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Scene from the play ‘The Story of the Glorious Resurrection of the Lord’ (Historyja o chwalebnym Zmartwychwstaniu Pańskim) directed by Piotr Tomaszuk, photo: TVP

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Visitatio Sepulchri concluded the spectacular Easter cycle. It is worth adding that it began on Palm Sunday with Processio in Ramis Palmarum (the oldest version in Poland comes from the 11th century), and its subsequent elements included the rites of the Last Supper (Coena Domini) and the placing of the Cross (Depositio Crucis) and finally its elevation (Elevatio Crucis).

Initially, dramatizations were performed only in larger church centres that could afford appropriate liturgical books. The invention of printing made liturgical dramas popular even in provincial parishes. The spectacle tradition in question existed until the Council of Trent (1545–1563), whose reforms also affected the liturgy.

While this form of spectacle was the domain of the clergy, laypeople could organize mysteries (misteria in Polish) – secular spectacles with religious themes. It should be noted, however, that in Poland they were most often organized under the patronage of the clergy. We know that in 1377, Ludus Paschalis, an Easter mystery play, was performed in Kazimierz, which was then a separate city in Krakow. Although we have evidence that the mystery tradition operated in Poland in subsequent centuries, the oldest text belonging to this genre can be found only in the 1580s. It was then that the History of the Glorious Resurrection of the Lord (Historyja o chwalebnym Zmartwychwstaniu Pańskim) was printed in Kraków, partly written, partly composed, and generally speaking edited by the Pauline monk Mikołaj of Wilkowiecko from Częstochowa. The resurrection mystery, composed of six ‘cases’, or acts, shows the events taking place after the death of Jesus: from the setting of guards at His Tomb to the revelation of the Risen One to the disciples. What is typical for the poetics of mystery play is that the biblical story is presented as if it were taking place in 16th-century Kraków. Pilate is titled ‘starosta’ (Polish for mayor), Jewish high priests are called ‘bishops’, and Roman soldiers sing an old Polish song.

There's a squeak in my head

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‘A Pastoral’ (Pastorałka) directed by Jarosław Kilian, Teatr Polski in Warsaw, 2008, photo: Grażyna Jaworska / Agencja Gazeta

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The most impressive is the fourth 'case', in which Christ descends into hell to lead out the patriarchs waiting for him there. As is often the case in a mystery play, the sublime is mixed with the comic. In a red cape and with an Easter banner, Jesus is banging on the gate, hearing the devils trash-talking, angry that he has ruined their holidays.

Old Testament characters appear on stage, which is important in a mystery play. Although the action of the play covers only a short period between the death and the revelation of Jesus, thanks to various procedures, the entire history of salvation is recalled – from the fall of the first people to the Last Judgment.

The mystery tradition was extremely lively in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Old Polish pastorals are partly derived from it (although the eclogues were among the ancestors of this genre). Shepherds in old Polish Christmas dialogues most often have familiar names, such as Matys, Klimek or Grzela, and the gifts they bring to the Child out of good heart are associated with the realities of the old Polish villages.

Texts referring to the mystery convention were still written in the 17th and even 18th centuries. Traces of this style (along with other formal inspirations) can be found, for example, in the work of Jakub Gawatowic. The Tragedy or the Image of the Death of Saint John the Baptist, the Messenger of God (Tragedia albo wizerunk śmierci Przeświętego Jana Chrzciciela Przesłańca Bożego) written by him was created with the popular religious scene in mind and exhibited in 1619 during the Midsummer Fair in Kamionka Strumiłłowa. The play is characterized by drama, which makes The Tragedy still attractive to audiences today.

We can also see connections with the mystery tradition in one of the oldest Polish dramas, i.e. in The Life of Joseph (Żywot Józefa) by Mikołaj Rej. The work was intended rather for reading, but it undoubtedly reflects the conventions that the author encountered as a theatre viewer (along with the mystery play, there are influences from morality plays and comedies). Rej's work, printed in Krakow in 1545, shows the story of the Old Testament Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers, his career in Egypt and bringing the entire family to the new homeland.

The poet dedicated his work to Izabella Jagiellonka. Recalling the fate of the biblical patriarch who, thanks to his faithfulness to God, reaches the heights of success, he wanted to comfort the unhappy Hungarian queen, the daughter of Bona and Sigismund the Old. As in the mystery play, the reality of the drama resembles the times of Rej rather than the ancient era. Rachel, blessing her beloved son, makes the sign of the cross on his forehead. Potiphar turns out to be a hetman, and Egypt is the city where a king named Pharaoh lives. It should be noted, however, that under the layer of various naivety and clumsiness (Potiphar's wife, confessing her feelings to Joseph, states that she has 'a squeak in her head'), the drama contains an extraordinary picture of human passions and struggles with fate. When writing his work, Mikołaj Rej referred to the topos of theatrum mundi, thanks to which the heroes of his drama appear to us as actors on the stage of human life.

The story of Joseph, which is a moving allegory of human fate, must have stirred the imagination of Renaissance artists, since Szymon Szymonowic also reached for it. His Latin tragedy Castus Ioseph was published in 1587. In the same year, Jeftes, referring to another biblical story, was also published, translated by Jan Zawicki from the tragedy of the Scottish humanist George Buchanan. Szymonowic's work was Polished by Stanisław Gosławski in 1597. The extraordinary value of the tragedy Castus Ioseph is its multi-layered nature. In terms of the plot, the work shows the consequences of the false accusation made by Potiphar's wife against Joseph, but at the same time emphasizes her similarity with Phaedra, consumed by passion for her stepson. An attentive reader will find a third layer in Szymonowic's tragedy, probably the most important one. The story of innocent Joseph is presented as a prefiguration, i.e. an announcement of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The overweight devil

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‘The Life of Joseph’ by Mikołaj Rej, directed by Piotr Tomaszuk, photo: TVP

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Recalling Old Testament stories was the domain of both non-catholic theatre, operating in Gdańsk and Leszno, among others, and Jesuit boarding school scenes. In both cases, it allowed the performer to avoid impersonating the divine person of Christ. The Jesuits were particularly eager to introduce the procedure of prefiguration. Thanks to this, by showing Old Testament themes, they commented on the events described in the New Testament. It should be emphasized here that the theatrical activity of this order was one of the most important trends in show life of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the colleges run by the Society of Jesus, performances were eagerly used for educational purposes. Many schools established professional stages on which lay students performed in plays written by their teachers. And although most of these dramas are mediocre and conventional literary works, their cultural role seems to be invaluable.

Biblical stories also proved inspiring for courtly culture. In the opera theatre created by Władysław IV at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, musical performances were performed, the action of which was taken from mythology, hagiography or the Holy Scripture. An example of such a work was the opera about Judith, showing the triumph of the biblical heroine over the mighty Holofernes. The Babylonian general entered the stage surrounded by his soldiers, accompanied by the sound of trumpets and the sound of drums, and impressive changes to the scenery were carried out using complex devices.

Playwrights' interest in biblical themes continued in the mid-18th century, when baroque aesthetics were increasingly being replaced by early Enlightenment trends. Among the dramatic works of Bishop Józef Andrzej Załuski, we find translations of dramas based on plots taken from the Bible. Particularly interesting among them seems to be A tragedy above all that have been, are and will be, the most terrible one, about the Last Judgment (Tragedyja nad wszystkie, co ich było, jest i będzie tragedyj, najokropniejsza, o Sądzie Ostatecznym), published in 1749, adapted from a play by the sixteenth-century author Stefano Tucci. The piece has unusual spectacular features, as its subsequent scenes evoke images from the Apocalypse. Fire bursts from the clouds, Jesus, as a judge on a throne, emerges from the theatrical heavens, and the verdict on the damned is written on black paper with phosphorus, thanks to which it will glow ominously in the darkness.

The concepts related to the baroque scene undoubtedly must have pleased the audience. Soon, however, the age of lights began in Poland, and with it theatrical taste changed. The Enlightenment disliked the flashy tricks used to stage biblical stories. Franciszek Ksawery Dmochowski in Poetic Art (Sztuka Poetycka) mocked the naivety of school theatres. In turn, Ignacy Krasicki, in one of his poems, recalled a failed Jesuit performance during which an impressively costumed devil couldn’t fit through the door.

The attractiveness of Old Polish dramatic texts was realized by creators working in more recent times. The staging of The Story of the Glorious Resurrection of the Lord was undertaken by, among others, Leon Schiller, Kazimierz Dejmek, Piotr Cieplak and Piotr Tomaszuk. Dejmek and Tomaszuk have also reached for The Life of Joseph. Jarosław Gajewski recently performed this play at the Collegium Nobilium Theatre in Warsaw. The Tragedy of John was prepared by Waldemar Raźniak with the Chorea Theatre. The Węgajty Theatre Schola specializes in performing liturgical dramas.

Translated by Michał Pelczar

Language English