Peter Harrop- Mummers' Plays: a Confluence of Custom and Theatre

Mummers’ Plays as Folklore and Theatre.

Peter’s talk commences with a look at the antecedents of mummers’ plays  in medieval and early restoration theatre.  Their initial success benefitted from the spread and popularity of theatre during the 18th and early 19th centuries, and enabled them to attach  to various seasonal and calendar customs across England, usually appearing between All Souls and Easter.  At the end of the 19th century they were seized upon by the emerging folk movement  as examples of ‘cultural survivals’.  They have persisted through the 20th and into the 21st centuries as fascinating performances at the interface of theatre and custom.

Dr. Peter Harrop first performed in a mummers’ play outside the Ship Inn in Monkseaton on New Years Day 1970.  He is Professor Emeritus in Drama at the University of Chester, author of Mummers’ Plays Revisited and editor of The Routledge Companion to English Folk Performance (Routledge 2020 & 21) His…