The Middle Ages for Kids - Plays - Mystery, Miracle, Morality Illustration

Middle Ages for Kids
Medieval Plays

A play, as most of you know, is where live actors get on a stage and act out a story in front of an audience. During Medieval times most plays were religious and were used to teach people about the Bible, the lives of saints, or how to live your life the right way. There were three different types of plays preformed during medieval times; The Mystery Play, the Miracle Play and the Morality Play.

Mystery plays were stories taken from the Bible. Each play had four or five different scenes or acts. The priests and monks were the actors. Each scene or act was preformed at a different place in town and the people moved from one stage to the next to watch the play. The play usually ended outside the church so that the people would go to church and hear a sermon after watching the play.

The Miracle play was about the life or actions of a saint, usually about the actions that made that person a saint. One popular Miracle play was about Saint George and the dragon.

Morality plays were designed to teach people a lesson in how to live their life according to the rules of the church.

Sometimes these plays had elaborate sets, sometimes no sets at all. It didn't seem to matter. The people attended these plays. They didn't have to, but it was a break from their normal daily lives.

Everyman, A Student Guide

Saint George and the Dragon (animated)

Interactive Quiz about the Middle Ages (with answers)