Chester Plays Project Courtney E. Rydel Assistant Professor of English Washington College In July 2013, I went to Chester, England, to see their modernized (and shortened!) production of the Chester Mystery Plays. I also ordered the DVD. All of the students had to watch the plays on DVD as part of the project. You can see more about the plays at In July 2013, I went to Chester, England, to see their modernized (and shortened!) production of the Chester Mystery Plays. I also ordered the DVD. All of the students had to watch the plays on DVD as part of the project. You can see more about the plays at Then I incorporated a unit on medieval drama into my Medieval Literature survey course. The entire course was keyed to a performance of Shakespeares Henry IV Part One on campus, so that gave us the themes of the course: the links between political authority and literary authority. The students used the texts of the Chester Cycle plays from the website to create undergraduate- appropriate editions of the texts, complete with glosses for the difficult Middle English terms, and introductions in which students read scholarship on that particular play and then condensed that to write an introduction. Here you see a sample of what the students produced, looking up all the unfamiliar words in the MED, Middle English Dictionary. Students tackled the plays in groups. This assignment, which took weeks of work, gave them a very intimate knowledge of this late Middle English text and its nuances as they determined which words needed glosses and looked them up. There were some challenges, however. Note the verb wroken highlighted in this section of the Chester Crucifixion play. Here you see a sample of what the students produced, looking up all the unfamiliar words in the MED, Middle English Dictionary. Students tackled the plays in groups. This assignment, which took weeks of work, gave them a very intimate knowledge of this late Middle English text and its nuances as they determined which words needed glosses and looked them up. There were some challenges, however. Note the verb wroken highlighted in this section of the Chester Crucifixion play. What I did not realize at first is that my students were not entirely clear on how to use a dictionary and look up headwords, especially unfamiliar forms of verbs, which are listed in the infinitive on the website. For example, the verb form wroken, when searched for, produces the variant wreken. I reviewed the trickier terms in class as problems arose, but had I realized this issue ahead of time, I could have built in a lesson plan on the development of English verbs. What I did not realize at first is that my students were not entirely clear on how to use a dictionary and look up headwords, especially unfamiliar forms of verbs, which are listed in the infinitive on the website. For example, the verb form wroken, when searched for, produces the variant wreken. I reviewed the trickier terms in class as problems arose, but had I realized this issue ahead of time, I could have built in a lesson plan on the development of English verbs. Context was also really important. Their introductions proved just as impressive as the glossed texts in the final editions. Each student in a group wrote a section, then they collectively wrote the opening and closing to tie it all together. These editions may be used in future classes on medieval drama at Washington College. Their introductions proved just as impressive as the glossed texts in the final editions. Each student in a group wrote a section, then they collectively wrote the opening and closing to tie it all together. These editions may be used in future classes on medieval drama at Washington College. SAMPLE PRESENTATION SLIDES All of the students also had to give group presentations on what they had learned from their research. The Last Supper group did a beautiful Prezi and reenacted the Last Supper with grape juice and bread for everyone. The Noahs Flood Group used a Prezi and incorporated a custom soundtrack that played during the presentation, complete with the sounds of falling rain, thunder, and various animals bleating, mooing, neighing, and clucking in the background. They also included a little interactive game, testing their classmates knowledge of Middle English and ability to interpret context correctly. Jesus: Mightie God in majestie, to work thy wyll I would never wend No Nuntius figure, a guiding figure for the audience in the Passion and Death of Christ play. (Hill- Vasquez) The guidance is concentrated around Christ himself. As this slide from the Crucifixion group demonstrates, the students combined close- reading and reenactments of lines from the play with citations of scholars, use of the DVD, and comparisons to the other medieval dramas we read as a class. The modern wardrobe helps to convey universality and allow for more focus on interpreting the meaning of the plays The Creation play group presentation included an in-depth analysis of the 2013 production and its costuming, staging and performance conventions, which they presented with numerous stills from the DVD. THANK YOU. Overall, this project was a success in terms of students creating new knowledge in the forms of undergraduate-level editions of these texts, gaining a better understanding of the plays and the scholarly conversation about them, and having an opportunity to practice their presentation skills. Any questions or comments? Courtney E. Rydel Any questions or comments? Courtney E. Rydel