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Women in theatre: The Middles Ages.

June 18, 2003 01:16 AM posted by : track it (0)

In the darkness of Medeival Europe, women were highly limited. It was the period of the Inquistion, the destruction of Greek and Roman art, literature, and philosophy. Theatre was limited to Quem Quertis, biblical plays first held in the church, and then Corpus Christi plays in wagons around certain towns in England. The only form of non-religious theatre was in Italy, the Commedia dell'arte. It was the only theatre that included women. It was performed in troupes which traveled about from city to city. Their reputations preceeded them. They were known as beggars, thieves, and whores. They were loved and despised. They entertained, they lived freely, they were persecuted, and misjudged. If you haven't guessed, they were most commonly called gypsies. In a period where a woman's choices were limited to being a wife, a courtesan, or a whore (or on the rare occasion, a warrior), traveling with a Commedia dell'arte troupe was a blessed freedom. They had to use their wits. They seduced men behind the wagons, where other gypsies would rob them. They danced, and sang, and best of all some fifty to a hundred years before it would be permitted for a woman to perform on a stage, they acted.

This is a tribute, a thanks, a moment of humble recognition(for lack of any stronger words) to women who weren't afraid to do whatever it took to live their lives as they wished.

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