The Play about the Antichrist (Ludus de Antichristo)

Kyle A. Thomas

Ahead of Publication Published by Medieval Institute Publications 2023

The Play about the Antichrist (Ludus de Antichristo)

A Dramaturgical Analysis, Historical Commentary, and Diplomatic Latin Edition with a New English Verse Translation

Kyle A. Thomas

Translated by: Carol Symes

In the series Early Drama, Art, and Music

Overview

About this book

The Play about the Antichrist (Ludus de Antichristo) was composed around 1160 at the imperial Bavarian abbey of Tegernsee, at a critical point in the power-struggle between the papacy and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. This new translation and commentary reveals this drama to be strikingly representative of the role that theatrical performance played in shaping contemporary politics, diplomacy, and public opinion. It also shows how drama functioned as an integral component of the educational curricula of elite monastic institutions like Tegernsee, where political administrators and diplomats were trained.

In this new translation, Carol Symes provides the first full and faithful rendering of the play’s dynamic language, maintaining the meter, rhyme scheme, and stage directions of the Latin original and restoring the liturgical elements embedded in the text. Kyle A. Thomas, whose fully-staged production tested the theatricality of this translation, provides a new historical and dramaturgical analysis of the play’s rich interpretive and performative possibilities.

Author information

Carol Symes and Kyle A. Thomas, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.

Topics

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications
Audience: Medievalists, scholars and students of Theatre and Performance Studies
Pages
- Main content: 160
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 4
- Coloured Illustrations: 4
Keywords: Medieval Drama; Medieval Theatre; Medieval Liturgical Drama; Antichrist; Apocalypse

eBook

Planned Publication: August 13, 2023
ISBN: 9781501513572

Paperback

Planned Publication: August 13, 2023
ISBN: 9781501517983