Cibrarp of Che 'theological Seminary PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY Delavan L. Pierson PN \%%0 r q s' A GUIDE TO RELIGIOUS PAGEANTRY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO.. Limits® LONDON • BOMBAY * CALCUTTA MKLBOURKB THE MACMILLAN CO. OP CANADA, Lac TORONTO SEP 201951 A GUIDE TO RELIGIOUS PAGEANTRY BY ✓i MASON CRUM FBOFESSOB BELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN COLUMBIA COLLEGE J12tto gotk THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1923 AIL rights reserved PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Copyright, 1923, By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and printed. Published October, 1923. Press of J. J. Little k Ives. Company New York, U. S. A. TO THE STUDENTS OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/guidetoreligiousOOcrum PREFACE The Church is again putting its hand upon the drama that the truths of the Bible and the fundamentals of religion may be more impressively portrayed. A dis¬ tinguished committee of American churchmen recently declared, “There has been an increasing tendency of late to bring the dramatic art back to the Church and use its power once more to teach the truths essential to the Redemption of the world as did the priests and friars of a thousand years ago.” This modest book is sent forth, not as a technical treatment of the subject, but simply as an introduction to be used by that host of religious workers in Churches, Church Schools, Kindergartens, Settlement Houses, and other religious organizations, who have as their primal task the education and inspiration of old and young in the fundamental teachings of the Bible. In connection with a course of study in Religious Pageantry it seemed fitting that a list of approved pro¬ ductions for general Church use be catalogued, and this was undertaken in spite of the many difficulties that were sure to arise. Approximately one hundred pub¬ lishers in this country were communicated with and their hearty cooperation made the volume possible. The Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants is by no means an appended section to the chapters preceding, but rather the chapters are appended to the list, as the latter was conceived first and the writings added, that they might serve as a guide in a general way to the subject. • • Til viii Preface One of the first difficulties is that of knowing what to leave out. From the standpoint of art there are many dramas that would he omitted, hut in religious pageantry artistic merit cannot be the sole guide. There are little Churches and little Sunday Schools where the chances for dramatic development and artistic aims have been meager. For these, simple productions, often inartistic, must be provided until bigger things may be undertaken. There must be, therefore, in a list which is to be serviceable in any large way, a variety of pro¬ ductions — some good, some bad — bad from the artistic standpoint. It must be remembered, however, that the Church is primarily interested in religion, not art. The writer wishes to acknowledge the courtesy of Professor D. D. Peele in contributing the chapter on the History of Religious Pageantry, and reading criti¬ cally the entire manuscript. The Abingdon Press co¬ operated generously in granting permission to use help¬ ful suggestions from one of the pageants of C. V. McCauley. Permissions to reprint were courteously granted by Lyman P. Bayard, the Board of Education of the Northern Baptist Convention and the Bureau of Educational Dramatics, Community Service, Inc. For helpful suggestions and a sympathetic attitude toward the undertaking the writer is indebted to Mrs. Donald Pratt, Executive Secretary of the Commission on Church Pageantry and Drama, Protestant Episcopal Church. Columbia College, Columbia, S. C. CONTENTS PAOB Preface . . vii CHAPTER I. Uses of Religious Pageantry and Dra¬ matics . 1 Propriety of the religious pageant in the Church — The problem of the evening service — Easter — Thanksgiving — Pageantry in teaching Missions — The Sunday School — Dramatized Bible sto¬ ries — Young People’s organizations — Playground work with children — For¬ ward movements in the Church. II. The History of Religious Pageantry . 16 The medieval cycle pageant — The popu¬ lar interest in the pageant — The pageant — Old Testament unit — The Birth unit — The Resurrection unit — The Pro¬ phetic unit — Summary — The origin of the mystery plays — The first drama in England — Its growth — The growth of the Birth unit — The growth of the Old Testament — The Morality — The Moral¬ ity illustrated — The miracle play — The miracle play illustrated — The seculari¬ zation of pageantry — The masque — The interlude — The masque still embodying a moral motive. IX X Contents CHAPTUa TAQT III. The Comm uk itt Drama . 32 Social aspect — The commercialized drama — Cultural value — Historical in¬ terests — Dramatics in colleges — Sugges¬ tive list of plays and pageants for com¬ munity use. IV. Rural Dramatic Organization ... 39 Organizing the rural drama — The pa¬ geant — The play in rural districts — The Little Country Theatre — The director — The players — -Choice of plays — The , Chautauqua — The Country Fair — Plan¬ ning the program — Lincoln’s birthday — Valentine’s day — Washington’s birth¬ day — Arbor day — Memorial day — May day — Fourth of July — Labor day — Thanksgiving — Christmas. V. How to Produce a Religious Pageant . 52 Getting together — The Musical Director — The Property Man — The Electrician — How shall we begin? — Choosing the cast — The groups — The chorus — Dress rehearsal — Criticism. VI. Costuming . 61 Suggestions for Old Testament charac¬ ters-— Early Hebrew costumes — Pictures and their value — Suggestions for New Testament characters — Girls and women — Boys and men — Footwear — Roman soldiers — Shepherds — Wise men — The Rabbi — Missionary costuming — Karen — China — Japan — India — Syria or Arabia — Africa — Philippines. Contents xi CHAP T SB PAG® VII. Helps from Pictures — Where to Get Them . 76 Reproductions of great works are avail¬ able — Appropriate picture study — Par¬ tial list of publishers of religious pic¬ tures. VIII. Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 79 Plays for Boys and Girls Children Christmas Easter General Community General Religious Missions, Foreign Missions, Home Old Testament Thanksgiving IX. A Few Helpful Books . 133 A GUIDE TO RELIGIOUS PAGEANTRY A GUIDE TO RELIGIOUS PAGEANTRY CHAPTER I USES OF RELIGIOUS PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS RELIGIOUS pageants may be used in the regular church services to great advantage on certain oc¬ casions. There is nothing objectionable in their use when appropriately given, and when the proper subject for presentation is selected. While the paramount mes¬ sage in the church service comes from the pulpit, from God’s messenger, through the medium of the spoken word, it is nevertheless true that on certain occasions this spoken word may be greatly enforced by the active participation of members of the congregation in some simple forms of pageantry. If the occasion is that on which the pastor is to speak to the children at the regular preaching hour, and the subject is the story of the Good Samaritan, there is no surer way to give emphasis and vigor to the message than through a brief presentation by the children of this beautiful story. In this way, the attention of little minds is riveted upon the theme, and those who take parts and those who observe receive the impression through an unusual channel, which usually means that they give exceptional attention. This method lifts out 1 2 A Guide to Religious Pageantry of the rut much of our preaching to children, and sup¬ plies a reality and vitality which is often lacking in the reception of such discourses. Speaking to children is one of the fine arts, and few preachers have mastered it. There is a tendency to simplify our complex the¬ ology, and impart it to minds which we conceive to be miniature adult minds. Let it not be forgotten that there are certain well defined approaches to the child’s mind, and it behooves the teacher or preacher of religion to study assiduously these mental processes by which our religious conclusions are appropriated by the child. The Problem of the Evening Service. — The eve¬ ning service in many churches is a problem. It is a perplexing one to many preachers. Where are the peo¬ ple ? Why do they not like to come to the church ? Has the message lost its appeal ? Do people come to church on Sunday morning because of some social pre¬ dilections, and stay away from the evening services because there are more interesting things to do at other places ? These are the disturbing questions which pass through the mind of the conscientious preacher or lay¬ man who is interested in the extension of the Kingdom of God. Can the same individual digest more than one regular sermon on Sunday ? Cannot the evening service- be made different ? There is no one stereotyped method by which the gospel message must be delivered. Jesus put into the hearts of His hearers some of His most sublime prin¬ ciples in simple story forms, and to-day they are best understood, not in abstract language, but in their origi¬ nal simplicity and picturesqueness. The writer of these words cannot soon forget the tremendous impres¬ sion made upon an evening audience by a religious presentation in which young men and young women took the parts of Bible characters in the portrayal of Uses of Religious Pageantry and Dramatics 3 the Resurrection and the impressive events in the clos¬ ing scenes of the earthly career of the Christ. No ser¬ mon could be more forceful, more reverent, more filled with the spirit of the great Sacrifice, than was this pageant acted out by the people who usually sit in the congregation and listen, or not listen, as is often the case. The Christmas Season. — The Christmas season is a time of festivities, of good-will and benevolence. Too often its religious significance is lost in the holiday spirit. Children often forget what Christmas really is, and often their elders give little attention to its sacred¬ ness. This is a time when the Gospel message for the season can be brought to the hearts of the congregation through a sane and sensible use of pageantry. It is the old story so beautifully told by St. Luke, but many will not take the time to read it, and ponder its significance to the race. They will come to the church to see a pageant, where the children of friends and relatives take part. Young men who are indifferent about their church relations, moreover, often take an active part in these religious festivities and through them are brought into a more vital relationship with the work of the Kingdom; and similarly, the young women of the Church. Here they find a pleasant environment, and tasks that they can do. They enter into the work with enthusiasm, because their youthful imaginative¬ ness is touched and thus the point of contact is made, which enables the Church to grapple their souls to itself with hoops of steel. There are many beautiful Christmas pageants which any group of industrious church workers can, without professional assistance, do all that is necessary to present with success. Easter. — There is no religious festival which lends 4 A Guide to Religious Pageantry itself better to the art of pageantry than that of Easter. Easter pageants may be given with fine effect out-of- doors. Can one imagine a more impressive scene than that of the Resurrection, produced out in the open among scented flowers and green grass in the spring? To many it is a new story when it reaches the mind in this pictured form. It is full of dramatic incidents ; the women go to the tomb; it is empty; their faces are dejected; Peter and John make their appearance; the truth is discovered — He is risen ! How bright is this scene in contrast with the gloom on Calvary ! Through simple dramatic arrangements the import of the Easter message can be conveyed in a direct and newly impressive manner, that Christianity is victo¬ rious, that it is the religion of victory and life. Thanksgiving. — One of the impressive holidays of our American life is Thanksgiving Hay. To every historically thoughtful American this day has a signifi¬ cant meaning. Around it cluster memories of our fore¬ fathers who, though crude in manners and customs, brought to this country a keen sense of the divine. This spirit of reverence and godliness is indicated in an old letter written by one of the early settlers regarding the reasons and motives back of the founding of an incon¬ spicuous Academy for the education of youth, Harvard University. These are the quaint and impressive lines: “After God had provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship, and settled the civil government ; one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning, and per¬ petuate it to posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.” Again, the college charter of 1650 dedicated the new institution to the “advancement of all good literature, arts and sciences” and “the educa- Uses of Religious Pageantry and Dramatics 5 tion of English and Indian youth ... in knowledge and godliness.” Too often this day of thanksgiving is made a day of frolicking. Men and boys take their guns and go on a hunt. The day is spent simply in having a good time, with never a thought of its sacred associations and its means of helpfulness. Quite often a union service is held in one of the churches with but a small part of the combined membership in attendance. Here is the chance for the one who, as both patriot and Christian, is interested in the things which count for the spirit life. In connection with another religious service, there might be a Thanksgiving pageant, given by one church, or it may be made a community undertaking in which all the churches participate. This latter plan would serve a twofold purpose: the religious motive of the occasion would be magnified and another feature of inestimable value would be the revival of community spirit and a feeling of unity on the part of the Christian people. Pageantry in Teaching Missions. — The mission¬ ary forces of the various churches have been quick to sense the value of pageantry in presenting facts related to Missions. In recent years Missionary Societies and various related organizations have put out more produc¬ tions dealing with Missions than any other department of religious endeavor. They have realized that if they are to give the lukewarm clear-cut conceptions of the work of missions in foreign lands they cannot afford to overlook the art of pageantry. Foreign scenes lend themselves well to this art. The quaint costumes of the foreigner make a strong appeal to the eye, and while the congregation looks on with a curiosity and human interest the spiritual message is grasped, and the great cause of Missions advanced. 0 A Guide to Religious Pageantry Instruction in Missions through the art of pageantry makes a strong appeal to the children. The child does not think in terms of abstract truth. He views life in the concrete. When his fellows act the parts and por¬ tray the efforts of missionaries as they labor in strange lands, then to his childish mind is brought the message that the Gospel was not meant to be kept at home, but to be shared with the world. There is no more impres¬ sive way to teach children the value of Missions than through carefully chosen pageants and dramatized sto¬ ries of deeds done on the Mission fields. During the Centenary Celebration in Columbus, Ohio, the Methodist Church was endeavoring to mag¬ nify its great Missionary program. To this magnificent festival was brought everything known to heighten the effect of the importance of Missions and fittingly com¬ memorate the birthday of this movement in the Metho¬ dist Church. Missionaries from many lands were there; experts on the subject who had studied Missions from every angle were there. Men of national and international repute spoke to the crowds who visited “the World at Columbus A But, of all these voices that tried to tell of the magnificent work of a century, there was none that spoke louder than the Wayfarer , the great religious pageant of the Centenary Celebration. So popular was it, that it was engaged for presentation in some of the large centers of the country. It was the high-water mark in religious dramatization. There are many country churches “doing their best” to present the great cause of Missions, but the people do not hear. They say, “Let charity begin at home,” speaking out of the ignorance of their hearts. In these districts some wide-awake, conscientious individual could perform the work of a revelation by bringing be¬ fore these churches the activities of Missionaries Uses of Religious Pageantry and Dramatics 7 through the dramatic art. There is truly a pageant for every church. That is to say, there is no church that, is not capable of putting on a pageant suitable for its needs. The Boards of Missions of the various churches have these pageants and dramas, and are hungry for a chance to have them produced in every nook and cor¬ ner of the land. It is well, of course, to begin with the simpler ones, and if these are successful, more elaborate productions may be undertaken. The Sunday School. — To remark that the Sunday School has an immensely varied and difficult task is but trite. There are the immature minds of the beginners at one end of the scale, and at the other are the mature natures of the adults. All of these are to be ministered to and trained to suit their respective ways. Only the process must be educative. There should be no equivo¬ cation on this point. The Sunday School is a teaching school. Just as the great Teacher “taught” His dis¬ ciples, so the modern Sunday School must teach the children in the way of discipleship. Therefore every educational method and practice should be utilized to put into the child’s mind and heart the principles of the Gospel and the abundant life. Pageantry makes its peculiar appeal to workers who have as their charge the spiritual nurture of children. The child is natu¬ rally dramatic. Hu thinks in imagery. God made him thus. The wise teacher will therefore take the child as he is and use these natural instincts in im¬ parting to his life the nurture and training he most needs. The writer has before him now letters from teachers who are reaching out for better methods by which their pupils may be brought in closer touch with the Bible and the Christian life. All these letters indicate the gradual expansion of the teaching function of the 8 A Guide, to Religious Pageantry church, and an ever enlarging group of methods for the spiritual development of children. A prominent city pastor writes, “I have been trying out religious pag¬ eantry during the past year or more, and I am delighted with the results. We gave a simple little pageant here last Easter, The Resurrection of Peter , and the effect was wonderful.” Dramatized Bible Stories. — Teachers are begin¬ ning to appreciate the value for children of dramatizing Bible stories. Queer as it may seem, it may be best for the children to make their own dramatizations. Very interesting experiments have been made in some of the most efficient church schools. In these the sto¬ ries are told to the children and they, having gotten the situation in mind, act out in their own way the events of the narrative. This method is becoming popular with many of the leading teachers of children. Elizabeth Erwin Miller, wffio has done some pioneer work in this particular field, says : “The leader encourages freedom in individual interpretation, yet she is ever keeping before the children the fact that they are trying to give a true portrayal of the characters or conditions. It is often valuable to have a discussion of individual char¬ acters for the purpose of securing clear ideas concern¬ ing them. After all have tried various parts and offered many suggestions, they may be led to choose that inter¬ pretation which seems most adequate, or they may work out together the interpretation of a part which will involve ideas contributed by many. After the story has been played through a few times, each child should be able to assume any character. It is an essen¬ tial part of this method to see that every child has a different part each time.” Thus it is that children learn by doing. It must be remembered that this method is not directed to pleasing an audience. Perhaps it Uses of Religious Pageantry and Dramatics 9 would be better to have no audience. The beneficiaries of such a performance are the performers. They are studying, through instinctive dramatization — not enter¬ taining. It must not be forgotten that in the process of educating children, whether in arithmetic or religion, there is a large place for self-expression. Children do not comprehend cold logic. Abstract truth to a child is but jargon. All abstractions, whether theological or other, are without the pale of his experi¬ ence. The child's mind deals with the concrete. My own little girl of three is very fond of her new shoes, and takes much delight in showing them to visitors. She asked very seriously the other dav if God wore VI VJ V) shoes. The child knows religion only in personality*, only in action. The old catechisms, great as they were in their theological conceptions, were but empty sounding words to the child. The writer still remembers, when but a wee lad, how cold and far away were the questions and answers found in a little booklet known as the catechism. The name was enough to frighten the aver¬ age child. And yet, these theological conclusions were put into tiny hands, and tiny minds tried to do some¬ thing with them. Alas ! the men who wrote the cate¬ chisms could give but vague answers to many of the questions asked, and if they were required to explain some of the answers, they would doubtless find great difficulty. The chi Id's .^religion is largely symbolic.; he must see it in terms of human life. Jesus is the great friend of children : God in terms of human life. They under¬ stand ITim because He is a personality, human in His manifestations as well as divine. And for this reason, also, is the Christ real and warm to the grown-up heart. The goodness, righteousness, mercy, and purity of God 10 A Guide to Religious Pageantry may be difficult, of comprehension until we find it trans¬ lated into human form. Such conceptions as the Kingdom of God and the Brotherhood of Man are but vain words to the boy or girl of early years, but when the story of the Good Samaritan is acted out by these little folk, they know most genuinely who the unfortunate man’s neighbor is : they then understand brotherhood, because they see it in human life. To these little people, the elementary forms of pageantry and dramatized Bible stories are great helps in conveying the truths of the Christian re¬ ligion and of God. Young People’s Organizations. — One of the prob¬ lems that perplex pastors and Christian workers, is the matter of keeping alive the young people’s organiza¬ tions. As one approaches maturity, there is a tendency to fall away from things religious, substitute for the church service and the Sunday School interests that appear to appeal more strongly to vigorous youth. But this should not be the case. Religion makes its appeal to youth also, provided we do not expect youth to play the role of middle-age. The religion of youth ex¬ presses itself in a way which is different from that of maturity. And there is no reason for questioning its genuineness. Its devotion, enthusiasm, and sincerity are as valid as the devotion, enthusiasm, and sincerity of older people. Grown people frequently make the mistake of measuring the religious experience of young people by contrasting it with their own to its disadvan¬ tage. This is wrong. The innate vigor of youth ex¬ hibits itself in religion as much as in other departments of life. It is reasonable, then, to expect that young people’s organizations should make use of every device tliat will bring out the kind of religion natural to young men Uses of Religious Pageantry and Dramatics 11 and young women. The means and methods, of course, are varied. Much common sense and sympathy for youth is necessary to the leader who can perform this difficult task. One of these means is pageantry and dramatics in religious themes. Young people like to act. In religious plays they act the parts of men and women of the Bible; they actually live these parts for the time, and are helped thereby. ~No youth can absorb the story of the Resurrection in which he is playing a part, and not have it leave its mark on his soul. The Epworth League, the B. Y. P. U., the Christian Endeavor, and all young people’s societies can utilize the art of pageantry to religious ends in their programs. The writer recalls that one of the most interesting meet¬ ings in one of the above mentioned societies was on the occasion of the presentation of a simple pageant which carried with it a conspicuous religious truth. The house was full on this occasion, which was not alwrays the case. These organizations often undertake some special re¬ ligious work, such as a mission project or financial drive. It may be well to mention in this connection that the Epworth Leaguers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, are supporting entirely the missionary work in Africa of that church. One of the surest ways in which they can present this great work to the young people or their constituency is through the art of pageantry. In young people’s organizations there is also the prob¬ lem of the social evening. So often there is nothing much to do. What can we have for entertainment? — * this is the question always asked. Too frequently the matter is settled in the usual way, and the same old round is gone over again and again. On such occasions some form of dramatics is entertaining, and may be 12 A Guide to Religious Pageantry very inspiring and helpful. There are the community dramas and pageants, all with high ideals of commun¬ ity life and cooperation. There are the missionary appeals, the various philanthropic opportunities and a host of general themes, all of which will appeal strongly to the interest and imagination of young people, and fill their social gatherings with high ideals of life and of Christian benevolence. Some of the most beautifully rendered pageants are those produced out-of-doors. The leader of young peo¬ ple has this as a great lever at his command in holding the attention of youth. Young people like life out in the open. Afternoons or evenings may be spent profit¬ ably under the trees portraying high and noble scenes depicted in the Bible. Young women take great pride in playing the part of the beautiful and brave queen Esther. There is joy in being Rebekah or Ruth or others of Old Testament fame and virtue. Young men equally enjoy the parts they play in posing as Samson, David, Amos, Elijah or others. In these exercises they imbibe the true spirit of the Scriptures and the sacred Word becomes more real than ever before. To miss the opportunity of presenting some Bible story in the open is to miss one of the biggest things in connec¬ tion with young people’s organizations. Playground Work with Children. — Plavground instructors are making good use of the dramatic art in teaching children. The playground furnishes unlimited opportunity for this form of religious instruction. At Lake Junaluska, Yorth Carolina, one of the most inter¬ esting events of the religious season is the little pageant or play that is given by the children under the direction of a competent playground instructor. They take Moses in the bulrushes or some such story that fires the child’s imagination, and makes him want to know more of V Uses of Religious Pageantry and Dramatics 13 these wonderful stories of wonderful men and women. Many Bible stories for children have been dramatized by competent teachers ; there is a number of books of them, several of which are described in the appended list of pageants. Children can do readily The Good Samaritan, Paul and the Jailer, The Story of Little Samuel, The Story of Joseph, The Story of Esther, and a score of others. Forward Movements in the Church. — The Churches are beginning to realize the importance of pageantry in presenting to the public the aims and pur¬ poses of the great forward movements which have been conspicuous in Protestant Churches in recent years. Among the pioneer movements on a large scale was the Centenary Celebration, a joint undertaking of both the Northern and Southern branches of the Methodist Church. One of the outstanding features in graphic representation of the aims and purposes of this cele¬ bration was the missionary pageant. Mention has al¬ ready been made of the Wayfarer and its marked suc¬ cess. There were other pageants on a smaller scale which served a valuable purpose in presenting this un¬ dertaking. Other churches have been using pageantry and dra¬ matics in a similar fashion, to present their needs. Suf¬ fice it to mention one other, the Protestant Episcopal Church, which has in the last few years reaped an abun¬ dant harvest in religious instruction through the use of this art. A Commission on Church Pageantry and Drama was appointed and had as its task the selection of a pageant suitable for use in the churches which would adequately present the cause of the general for¬ ward movement in all lines of the Church, both spir¬ itual and material. This Commission has also pub¬ lished a valuable list of pageants and plays suitable for 14 A Guide to Religious Pageantry religious needs. The Commission chose a very simple but effective production, “Advance the Line,” and it was given with great success throughout the land. The aims of this group are so well formulated in the intro¬ duction to this chosen drama that I will quote several paragraphs. The Commission wrote as follows: “Religious Drama played an important part in the Nation-wide Campaign last year. Reports received indicated that over one thousand parishes presented the pageant, The Builders of the City of God , and that the pageant served the purpose of attracting a large audience which was impressed with the worth and vitality of this great cause of the Church. The campaign was advanced by the reverent use of the drama. “During the present year interest and activity in religious pageantry and drama have increased, particu¬ larly among our parishes. The Department of Reli¬ gious Education has recognized this development and from the Presiding Bishop and the Council has secured the authority to create a Commission on Church Pageantry and Drama to study the problem of educa¬ tional dramatics, offer constructive programs and in general advance the intelligent, artistic and consecrated use of the drama in our churches. “At the outset the Commission felt that its first duty was to aid in some way the nation-wide campaign. A pageant contest was announced. Eifty-six original manuscripts were received representing contestants in seventeen states. The Commission, after giving critical consideration to all the pageants offered, awarded the prize to the author of ‘ Advance the Line.’ The pag¬ eant will be found to meet the important conditions of the confest which called for a text designed to emphasize the extension of the work of the nation-wide campaign ; make provision for the participation of the clergy, choir Uses of Religious Pageantry and Dramatics 15 and congregation ; be suitable for presentation in the church and not exceed thirty minutes in length.’’ It is well known to the student of Church history that the giving of miracle plays, moralities and pageants in the chancel of the Church is an ancient custom and that such presentation can be given with a simplicity, a dignity and a reverence that stirs the beholder and inspires him to do more for Christ and the Church. CHAPTER II THE HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS PAGEANTRY A THE Medieval Cycle Pageant. — If you would know what a medieval pageant was like, you must take a long journey. We must go from the age of sci¬ ence into the age of credulity ; out of an age of realism into one of great imagination ; from materialism to romance. Our journey will take us past the Puritanism of Milton, through the golden age of Elizabeth, and beyond the magnificence of Henry VIII. The old Eng¬ land we shall visit is England just emerging from ‘‘faery e.” Indeed there are some fairies and witches still left when biblical pageantry is at its height. The people seem simple to us sophisticated ones, but we are living in a progressive age. Their homes are not sani¬ tary; the family live stock share the quarters of their owners ; people eat with their lingers. But these things do not worry them. They are concerned more about the gay pleasures of May Hay, feasts, fairs, and wakes. On such occasions, singing and dancing, wooing and winning, they lead right merry lives. Tiie Popular Interest in tile Pageant. — And with it all they are fond of the dramatic. And the drama as yet is bound up with the church or confined to biblical themes, as indeed are the lives and thoughts 1 This chapter written by Dean D. D. Peele of Columbia College by special request of the author. Professor Peele’g intimacy with medieval literature makes this writing specially appropriate. 16 17 The History of Religious Pageantry of the people. The wandering friars have been among them, preaching, cajoling and begging. The priest is everywhere ministering to the flock. He is well thought of because of his services ; and besides, he represents a church that controls vast wealth — wealth that is to make Henry VIII magnificent and luxurious a century hence. John Wycliffe has preached here — has preached a strange doctrine without the support of powerful Home, and some have believed what he taught. His fervent followers, the Lollards, may be met here and there still, preaching things that make the sleek priests frown. As a result, these joyous, happy people are deeply inter¬ ested in religious matters. Their feasts, festivals, fairs, and merry-making generally center about a religious motive. To see this England at her best we must attend one of these occasions. Let it be a festive one in a typical English town. It may be some thriving center like Chester, or York. Bring your lunch and join the throng, for the thoroughfares are crowded, and all are going our way, prepared to spend the day. The town folk are required to be present, and the Pope has granted a thousand days of indulgence to all who peace¬ fully attend. Imagine a town of wooden houses, nar¬ row streets, pretty maids, rollicking gallants, plenty of beer and no prohibitionists, crowded for a fair day and you will not miss the picture far. In lieu of con¬ fetti, apple cores, skins or other refuse is thrown at passers-by. But we came to see the pageant : so did everyone else. They came to see the pageant as we have always gone to our State fair to see the Midway. They ex¬ pect other things incidentally but the pageant is “the thing.” Besides, this town has a number of progres¬ sive guilds, who are proud of their organizations. The 18 A Guide to Religious Pageantry town also is proud of these progressive groups of citi¬ zens. These guilds have produced one of the best pageants in all England, and, as was announced by heralds yesterday, it will be shown to-day. We are lucky to be here. Shall we try for a reserved seat ? No indeed. Sit right down here. This is a popular street corner. That banner across the street indicates that the pageants will stop here. Sit down and let Mid¬ way come to you. The Pageant. — The first of the pageants started from the abbey early in the day and is now approaching. It is on wheels and is drawn by horses. It contains two platforms, one smaller and above the other, supported by timbers. A young man and a maid are on the lower one ; on the upper are an old man and a lad with wings. The vehicle stops directly in front of us and we notice placards announcing that the lower deck is Eden and the higher heaven. We know the woman is Eve, when she gives the youth a bite of the apple she is eating. They talk earnestly about the command that they should not eat the fruit. The old man with the long beard is let down, and the two hide behind some conveniently placed boughs. The long bearded one, im¬ personating God, calls the two out from their hiding place, reprimands them, and is windlassed back into heaven. The angel is lowered and drives them off the platform, and the first chapter of the great pageant is over. Adam and Eve get back into place, the angel goes back to heaven, and the vehicle moves on to the next designated street corner. Old Testament Unit. — Scarcely has this group departed when another comes and stops in the place vacated by Adam and Eve. This time there is only one platform : its furniture is a mounted door and a spin¬ ning wheel. An old man and his wife are presented. 19 The History of Religious Pageantry She is spinning and they are clearly dissatisfied with each other. Noah is trying to persuade Mrs. Noah to go into the Ark, but she has no confidence in his pre¬ diction of a great rain and will not go in. The more he remonstrates, the more impatient she becomes with his fanaticism. It begins to rain; and in desperation Noah seizes Mrs. Noah in his arms and rushes through the door into the Ark just in time to save her from the flood. Thus pageant after pageant moves past, producing in dramatic form a series of scenes from the Old Testa¬ ment, each foreshadowing some phase of the great mis¬ sion of the coming Messiah, and each exhibiting in small details the author’s sense of humor or his feeling for pathos or realism. Isaac’s appeal to Abraham on the mountainside is one of the most affecting passages in eariy English literature, and the behavior of Balaam can be grouped with the obstinacy of Mrs. Noah as fur¬ nishing a good illustration of the crude sense of hu¬ mor shown in the Old Testament section of the pageantry. The Birth Unit. — After the portrayal of the se¬ ries of Old Testament situations, there follow imme¬ diately crude scaffolds or platforms on which are en¬ acted the tender scenes grouped about the birth of Christ. There are Mary and Joseph with the infant in the manger receiving the gifts of the wise men. The incident of the shepherds is presented with some elab¬ oration. The pageant presents the front of a shepherd home, with the owner attending a crib. Shepherds come in search of a lost sheep. Their curiosity is stirred by the sight of the crib. Upon being questioned the shepherd declares there is a baby in the crib. They are surprised, and insist upon seeing it. In spite of his protests, friends remove the blanket and discover 20 A Guide to Religious Pageantry the lost sheep. They seize the offender and toss him in the blanket. While thus engaged they hear the song of peace sung by angels — little boys on the upper platform, wearing wings, and singing in soprano voices. The party breaks up to go in search of the infant Christ. Later the flight into Egypt is pictured, followed by Herod's rage at his failure. This last incident made a deep impression on the English mind as well it might. The people enjoyed Herod’s plight. His anger was magnified to make him a. clown, in his rage. He left the pageant and roared throughout the throng congre¬ gated at the street corner, taking the pelts and jibes of any who might be moved to antagonize him. It was of this that Hamlet was thinking when he coined the phrase “Out-Herod Herod” to describe the work of a raging actor. The section of the pageantry centering about the birth of Christ usually closed with the visit of the youth to the temple, and would probably close there on the day of our imaginary visit to the English village. The Resurrection Unit. — But immediately would succeed the triumphal entry of the Messiah into Jeru¬ salem with the hosannas and spreading of palm leaves. This series is simply Oberammergau simplified, each scene being presented in a separate pageant, on a sep¬ arate platform, and with unchangeable setting. The three trials of Christ, the death and burial, Mary at the tomb, Peter and John’s appearance at the tomb, various appearances of Christ after the Resurrection, including the walk to Emmaus, His ascension to heaven — these scenes each in turn are presented as we watch from our place of vantage, and each in turn moves on to be reenacted at another street corner, and to give place to the next in order. The Prophettc Unit. — By this time it is well in 21 The History of Religious Pageantry the afternoon. We have had our lunch and are perhaps tired, but the pageantry is not over. Without a break in the steady stream that has flowed past all day, we recognize a new series, this one based upon scenes foretold as preceding and accompanying the end of the world. The hated Anti-Christ is presented in his fight with Christianity, and receives the taunts and jeers of the spectators. This series closed with a pageant that made a wonderful impression upon the English mind. It set forth the J udgment Day. Heaven is as usual the upper platform of the double¬ decked vehicle. Earth is the lower deck; and at the back of this lower stage is a great mouth, open wide and red. This is hell-mouth. The devil comes out with a fork and drives the unfortunates into this hor¬ rible aperture, while the blessed ascend into heaven. This scene, capable as it is of being worked into one of great awe and terror, was always provocative of much humor, and great indignation was heaped upon the devil by the informal crowd before whom he acted his part. Summary. — If the reader’s imagination has grasped the big conception of the whole story of sacred history, broken up into four main units — The Old Testament, the birth scenes, the death scenes, and the prophetic scenes — and these units broken again into dramatic situ¬ ations, staged and moving in a great procession, from place to place, through a medieval city, he has a fair conception of what medieval pageantry was, in its most elaborate form, and at its best. The production of these pageants was before festive, therefore variegated, crowds. The dignitaries of the city, of the church, and of the guilds were dressed in their gayest liveries and extreme formality was pre¬ served in their ranks. But the great mass of the people 99 a a A Guide tu Religious Pageantry was surprisingly informal. Liberties were taken with the characters ad libitum. Adam, Balaam, Mrs. Noah, Herod, the devil and others were pelted with refuse or jeered at or commended as the crowd chose. In¬ deed, until after Dryden’s time an actor was freely spoken to from the audience. The speech of Hamlet to the murderer in the play within the play, reflects a cus¬ tom of Elizabethan theatergoers. Such a series as has been described was usually pro¬ duced by guilds or organizations of artisans. The medieval Latin name for such an organization was mislerium: hence such a series was called a mystery cycle. The Origin of the Mystery Plays. — Although the cycles were produced by secular organizations, they had their origin and motive in the church service, and never got entirely away from the church. Indeed the idea of the dramatization of Bible stories was more than three centuries old before it produced such a cycle of pageants as the imaginary one which has been de¬ scribed. In child life there is a stage in which a love for the wonderful seizes the dramatic instinct, and there results a time of rich imagination, revealing itself in dramatic expression. Such a period was experienced by the English people between 900 and 1600. The lives of the saints with their pseudo-miracles and attested records supplied the material for such an expression in the earliest part of this period. No story was so wonderful as the story of the Besurrection, and it first felt the life-giving touch of the dramatic spirit. It is the early morning of Easter Hay. The whole town is at mass. The choir is singing the antiphonal of the Besurrection. Just before the Alleluia, that expresses the joy felt be¬ cause of the risen Lord, choristers representing Mary 23 The History of Religious Pageantry and her friqnds step forth into the chancel ; other chor¬ isters with angel wings face them and ask : Qnem qu99rits in sepulchro, O Christicolse ? Mary: Jesus Nazarenum crucifLxum, O ccelicolte! Angel: Non est hie; surrexit sicut prsedixerat. The choir then shouts Alleluia, and the antiphony is continued to its completion. The First Drama in England. — This little dia¬ logue in its bare simplicity, injected as it was into the heart of the most sacred religious service of the medieval church, is the germ from which grew the great cycles of a later date. From this grew the literary form into which Shakespeare poured his thought, and from which has grown the modern dramatic productions, wayward as many of them are, and disowned by their sacred parent. The reader will indulge me while I say parentheti¬ cally that such has been the history of the drama. The classical drama sprang from the sacred rites of antiq¬ uity, and in its corrupt form was disowned by the reli¬ gion of a later day. While this little play was taking life in England, a good German nun? Hrothswitha by name, was trying her skill at writing Christian plays after the style of Plautus and Terrence, but no such effort was made in England. Indeed, not until the middle of the sixteenth century did any English dramatic writer show familiar¬ ity with classical drama ; whereas the earliest recorded dramatic speech about the tomb, in England, such as is quoted above, dates from the year 933. Its Growth. — Once the church had discovered the wonderful power of the dramatic presentation of the Resurrection, the desire for its use grew. People left the Easter service impressed as never before with the truth of the Resurrection. In solemn awe they left 24 A Guide to Religious Pageantry the service murmuring, “Christ is risen.” Ho ritual, no discourse could so move them. The Pope was be¬ sought to allow insertions into the ritual and to allow liberties with its performance. Such requests were granted conservatively. The conversation with Mary was extended and elaborated; Peter and John were in¬ troduced to run their race to the tomb; scenes prelimi¬ nary to the Resurrection were introduced ; then scenes succeeding it. This continued until the original germ included the scenes now associated with Oberammergau. But however elaborately developed, the Easter play in the church centered about the removal on Easter morn¬ ing of the crucifix from the tomb inside the chancel where it had been placed on Friday evening. Tile Growth of the Birth Unit. — This Easter play having proved so popular and so effective, the most natural thing followed, that is, the development of a series of scenes about the birth of Christ for use at Christmas time. The Growth of the Old Testament Unit. — The Old Testament series too grew out of the Christmas services. One of St. Augustine’s sermons is devoted to a proof of the divinity of Christ. He shows the birth of Christ was the fulfillment of prophecy, both sacred and profane. He enumerates the prophecies of Christ’s coming, from the Old Testament, and from classical writers. He enumerates all the prototypes of Christ in the Old Testament. With these he constructs a for¬ midable array of facts and situations pointing to the coming Lord. It was the custom to read this sermon in church on Christmas morning. It occurred to some ingenious priest to have the characters referred to in this sermon come in person, one after another, enact the situations referred to in the sermon or pronounce the prophecies. And so they came. And the Old The History of Religious Pageantry 25 Testament unit of the cycle was borne in a procession of impersonations in the chancel of the church on Christ¬ mas morning. There they came — Adam and Eve, Noah and Mrs. Noah, Abraham and Isaac, Balaam and his ass, and all the rest, in a steady procession. After it was over the priest concluded the sermon by defying the atheists to break down his proof of the divine sonship of Christ. This great service which the church was rendering the drama and rendering itself by adopting the dramatic method was not done in a day. The pageant was a slow growth, but a steady and persistent one. In the depict¬ ing of Bible stories the drama was confined to the church for about three hundred years after the appearance in England of its earliest germ. But a subject so vital to the people, so immense in its scope, needed its own stage for development, a freer, less solemn atmosphere in which to breathe. It was delivered to the guilds, and they presented the history of the world, past, present, and future, as indicated in the first part of this chapter. But it is worth noting that their great procession of pageants always started from the principal church build¬ ing of the city — an abbey or a priory. The Morality. — While the cycle series was develop¬ ing the church made use of the dramatic appeal in in¬ structing the people in moral and theological truth. The Bible story pageant, as it grew within the church and expanded into the cities, revealed the power of dramatic presentation. It was natural that a vehicle similar to that used on special occasions like the Easter and the Christmas service should be utilized to carry home to congregations the messages that the priests were proclaiming in their weekly discourses. There developed, therefore, in the church that type of pageant or drama usually called the “morality play.” 26 A Guide to Religious Pageantry This has been defined as the dramatic presentation of a theological, moral, or scientific truth. It is a dramatized allegory, and its characters are impersona¬ tions of virtues or vices. The Morality Illustrated. — The type has re¬ cently been revived in the modern theater, with greater elaboration than in the medieval church. Everywoman is such a modern play. Its title and theme were prob¬ ably suggested by the recent revival of Everyman , a typical medieval morality. Since it is one of many plays of this kind and since the morality was a very important development of church pageantry, an impres¬ sionistic summary will be pardoned. The play is presented in a darkened monastery, at one end of which is the stage. A great voice calls to Everyman, and tells him he must go on a long journey, and bids him make preparation. The stage is then lighted and Everyman, a young worldly gallant, is seen, much impressed with the voice of God and its message. After his mental attitude is revealed through a mono¬ logue, he calls upon the friends of this world to go with him on his journey. Wealth, Kindred, and all the others are called one at a time, and each will go as far as the grave, but turns with scorn from his begging that he be accompanied through that dark journey be¬ yond. Holy Church agrees to furnish the means of grace by which he can find a friend. A scourge is given Everyman, and as he lashes his body in penance, Good Deeds, Avho has lain unobserved on a bed of sickness, begins to gain strength. Finally she is strong and on her feet, and they go together into the darkness of death. Such was the morality in its early form. Plays of this type were written for the most part by priests and were presented with the motive that actuated a sermon. 27 The History of Religious Pageantry It often took the place of suck a discourse. Indeed tlie sermon and tke morality seem to have merged into one another, so that it is difficult always to be certain whether a given production is a sermon or a morality. The Miracle Play. — Another type of ancient pageantry, which, while it did not so clearly grow up inside the church, expressed the religious motive of old English life, is the miracle play. It usually dealt with an incident in the life of a saint, and social or political units busied themselves to produce plays honoring each its own patron saint. Early English people seem to have believed absolutely the story of the wonderful miracles wrought by the early Christian fathers, or by their relics. “The Lives of the Saints” was their won¬ der book. The dramatic presentation of a miracle wrought by one of these good men or by his relics was called a miracle play. A long list of these might be made, enumerating incidents in which statues, bones, clothes, etc., of saints were instrumental in restoring stolen money, reforming lives, turning men to the true faith and working miracles generally. The following story will illustrate this type as well as indicate the matter-of-fact way in which our English parents re¬ garded their most sacred religious rites. The Miracle Play Illustrated. — Some true Christians were in an argument with blasphemous heretics on the subject of transubstantiation, the latter declaring the holy elements to be mere bread and wine. Upon a challenge to put the matter to the test, the ele¬ ments were placed in a pot and boiled. The bread (or flesh of Christ) increased in size until it burst the pot and spread consternation among the beholders. The heretics repented and became true believers. A word should be said parenthetically regarding the definitions given above of the mystery, morality, and 28 A Guide io Religious Pageantry miracle plays. The definitions are doubtless correct, but English dramatic productions have never been named with accurate discrimination. As at the present almost any public entertainment, whether the perform¬ ance of a dancing girl, a circus, or the singing of a prima donna, is popularly called “a show,” so any sort of a pageant in early England may have been called a miracle, a morality, or a mystery. The Masque. — The reign of ITenry YTTI marks the coming into prominence of two forms of secular pag¬ eantry. Henry was not a religious man. He was a Catholic at More’s advice, or a Protestant for domestic convenience. The preceding reigns had enriched the national treasury, and Henry used the funds thus acces¬ sible to keep up an elaborate court. One of his favorite means of amusement was the masque — a form of pag¬ eantry, probably known in England before but cer¬ tainly ignored until the king made it popular. It consisted at this time of impersonations before courtiers, by members of the court, after which the actors joined the spectators in an elaborate dance. For instance, Kobin Hood (impersonated by the King) and his band would stage a. hunting scene, or a contest in archery, the dance following. (Some idea of the rich elaboration of staging of a masque can be gained from the record that on one such occasion enough gold was stolen from the decorations to enable the thief to go into mercantile business — at a time when a merchant was a trader in foreign ports.) The impersonations at these entertain¬ ments were often most grotesque and bizarre. Why do we have Japanese, Chinese, and other sorts of dress and parties when the native American are so much more beautiful ? The same fondness for the bizarre made the courtiers of Henry VIII impersonate crows, fish, Moors, and such like. 29 The History of Religious Pageantry The Interlude. — The other secular type of drama fostered by Henry VIII was the interlude. This was simply a witty dialogue, usually with no originality of theme, staged during an entertainment in a home. It took the place of games in modern social life, that is, reduced the time in which a guest might be attacked by ennui. It sometimes contained mild satire, but its chief importance to us is that it was secular. With the coming of Elizabeth to the throne, with the breaking away of England from the Church of Rome (the mother of all the sacred pageantry), and with the study and imitation of the classical drama, the secu¬ larization of dramatic performances in England, begun under Henry VIII, became an accomplished fact. There arose the great English drama as em¬ bodied in the works of Shakespeare and his contem¬ poraries. The Masque Still Embodying a Moral Motive. — But the love of pageantry in its most beautiful form was not swallowed up by the great dramas ; it survived in the masque. England was full of the refined masquerade, more dainty and stripped of the awkward¬ ness of its earlier years. It turned now to nymphs and faeries. On her progresses through the country, the queen was frequently halted while winged faeries sang and danced for her delight, and other courtiers also were so honored. The spirit was “in the air” and such a source of delight could be extemporized almost any¬ where at any time. Shakespeare caught this beautiful spirit of his age in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and his plays furnish many specimens of the masque. The most typical, as probably the most delightful, is in the last act of The Merry Wives of Windsor . This form of pageantry was still in the beauty of youth when the drama was in its sturdy maturity. 80 A Guide to Religious Pageantry After Elizabeth’s death, Ben Jonson, the learned dramatist of the age, gave his time to developing the masque. The court architect, Inigo Jones, staged his productions. In the hands of these men it ceased to be simply a thing of beauty : it was made to carry a mes¬ sage, and in that respect seems to be the successor of the old morality. It was made to consist of two parts: the song and dance of a vice and her crew; the song and dance of a virtue and her circle ; these were appropri¬ ately staged and made to depict the conquest of the first by the second. Falsehood is shown a hideous figure amidst a hideous set in a hideous forest singing a typical song and gamboling awkwardly. She flees at Truth’s entrance, the whole landscape turns upon a pivot and a beautiful scene appears. Beautiful nymphs join the noble person of Truth and all sing and dance joyously. Thus the triumph of Truth is presented. The spoken part in the masque was reduced to a minimum, Jonson’s {esthetic sense not allowing him to “bore” the message into the ears of his audience. The best known of all masques is Milton’s Comus; it might be called the triumph of purity. But the Puritan did not hesitate to bore his message into our ears. We are glad he did not hesitate to do* so, but he buried his masque under a mountain of words. Yet the careful reader will discern in Comus and his crew of swinelike creatures the embodiment of a terrible vice, holding for a moment the captured girl before the com¬ ing of her deliverers, the flight of Comus, and the fol¬ lowing dances of nymphs and faeries set forth the triumph of purity. This was written by a Puritan, but the Puritan party headed by Cromwell, enjoying a few years of con¬ trol in England, were not so fond of the theater as was young Milton. The theaters were ordered closed and 31 The History of Religious Pageantry tlie religious spirit, of England definitely disowned and outlawed its great offspring — pretty wayward by this time, but still great. When the drama, thus discontin¬ ued a while, returned in 1660 it was no longer worthy of its sonship. CHAPTER III THE COMMUNITY DRAMA IT is very true that one of the fine arts is knowing how to live with people. It is also true that people have to live in groups or communities. One of the essentials to proper community development is a com¬ mon understanding and a mutual sympathy in every department of activity that touches the group life. The community pageant or drama will bring people together in a way that is helpful and uplifting and will often quicken that sense of mutual interdependence which is so necessary to the well-being of all. Social Aspects. — Professor Arvold, a pioneer in the movement for dramatics in the rural sections, says : “The drama is a medium through which America must inevitably express its highest form of democracy. . . . When it can be used as an instrument to get people to express themselves in order that they may build up a bigger and better community life, it will then have per¬ formed a real service to society.” One of the great needs of all communities, whether city or rural, is some medium through which the community may express the best things of its own life. The recent war has taught us many things anew. With all its terrible conse¬ quences, it has been the cause of bringing to the surface some of the finest sentiments of loyalty and neighborli¬ ness of which the human heart is capable. A common cause, which exempted no one, elevated the group con- 32 The Community Drama 33 sciousness to high moral levels until some thought that a new day had come. When the cooperative under¬ takings were no longer needed, the community con¬ sciousness lapsed back into its individualistic phase and people forgot about their high mutual purposes. There¬ fore it is no fanciful dream to predict that the drama has a very useful mission in the peace time community development of our American life of the future. The Commercialized Drama. — One of the crying needs of most communities is some legitimate outlet for the buoyancy and vigor of youth. Good folks wonder why the present generation of young people go in for the various questionable pleasures and recreations of the day. The answer is very simple : there is no other out¬ let. This situation is similar to that of the good mother who wondered why Johnny always ate green apples. She continued in her perplexity until some sensible person suggested that, if she would give Johnny some ripe apples, he would eat less of the green ones. One of the great tasks of the modern Christian community is to supply channels of expression for the natural in¬ stincts and emotions of youth. This is truly one of the great opportunities of the Church. The dramatic in¬ stinct, so deeply ingrained in human nature, is one of the avenues along which the pent-up emotions of life may find legitimate expression. In most communities the only theater is a commercial theater. The only form of dramatic expression is tainted with commercialism. The writer remembers how, as a boy, he craved some outlet for the dramatic instinct and found it partially, only, in self-manufac¬ tured plays acted impromptu without help or sympathy from older people. The only place to see any form of drama was the little town theater which was conducted 34 A Guide to Religious Pageantry for profit, and had always as its standard and goal the dollar. The plays which came to town were chosen not from any ethical or artistic motive, but from the money viewpoint. The show had to be “popular,” and “popu¬ lar” productions often meant degraded. Cultural Value. — Chief among the benefits that accrue from the use of the drama in communities is that of cultural value. It tends to awaken an interest in history, literature, and art. ISTo group of people can participate in a community-wide pageant or drama with¬ out engendering a broader sympathy and obtaining a more extended vision. Dr. Frank Crane, in one of his inimitable little essays, says: “It has always been my conviction that, while the theater cannot be successfullv made a platform for propaganda for the simple reason that all art is debased when it finds any other end and excuse except the joy of self-expression, at the same time there is no single instrument so powerful as the drama as a means of cultural development. “And this means not only diversion but the satisfac¬ tion of the profoundest needs of the intellectual and emotional life. “Morals are not made nor advanced particularly by didactic teaching. They are the result of suggestion and of inspiration. “The theater of the future will become religious when people have learned that religion is not a side issue of life but is the very essence of life itself and carries with it the secret of life’s profoundest and most subtle satisfaction.” Historical Interests. — Pageantry finds a very use¬ ful place in presenting historical incidents. Many con¬ spicuous pageants have been given in this country that are familiar to all. Prominent among them is the Ter¬ centenary Celebration commemorating the landing of 35 The Community Drama the Pilgrim Fathers. Accounts of this production found their way into all the magazines and newspapers, making its success familiar to most Americans. Communities also find a use for dramatic production in presenting historical matter of local interest. It is easily seen how beneficial such community projects may be in building up a friendly cooperation among the neighbors of any town or community. Besides, there is an educational advantage that is not to be overlooked. Rural communities, in particular, are almost barren of such entertainment, and there is nothing that will so quickly build up that spirit of unity and neighborliness so essential to good living. Colleges also are telling the world of their past through pageantry. In almost every state some college or university has undertaken pageantry in presenting its history. I will quote from the Pageant Master who so successfully produced the Centenary Pageant of Alle¬ gheny College some few years ago. These lines give clearly the purpose of pageantry for college use: “The purpose of a Pageant is by dialogue, pictorial groupings, color and music to convey the meaning of the history presented. In treating the history of Allegheny Col¬ lege, the Pageant Master must show its difficult begin¬ nings ; the struggle to equip and properly maintain the institution; the constant presence of high ideals and self-sacrifice in her officers; its steadily growing influ¬ ence at home, and, through the missionaries it has educated, in foreign lands ; and its decided prosperity in recent years. This demands many changes of scene. But outdoor performances almost forbid the use of painted settings, for they cannot hide their artificiality and cheapness when they compete with Nature. In almost every scene of the text, therefore, the Pageant Master has called on the imagination of his audience to 36 A Guide to Religious Pageantry fill out the suggestions as to setting which he has given. Thus the circle of cooperation is completed.” Suggestive List of Plays and Pageants for Community Use 1 Drama List of Drama for the American Legion including: Full Evening Plays for Mixed Cast. One-act Plays for Men Only. One-act Plays for Mixed Cast. Operettas and Musical Comedies. Minstrel Shows. List of Drama for Children. Full Evening Plays Suitable for High School Use. A Graded List of Plays for the Girls’ and Women’s Clubs. Rural Drama Bibliography. Pageants and Festivals for General Occasions. A List of Pageants and Pageant Material with Some Suggestions for the Organization of a Pageant. A List of Pantomimes. A Day at Nottingham. By Constance D. Mackay. A Festival based on the theme of Robin Hood. Large groups of children may be used. Faith of Our Fathers. By Annie Russell Marble. A Pilgrim pageant containing the Signing of the May¬ flower Compact and the First Thanksgiving Dinner. For Liberty and the Rights of Men. By Elizabeth B. Grimball. Pageant designed to commemorate the First Legislative Assembly in Virginia. The New Era. By the Outdoor Players at Peterboro, N. H. A Pageant of Patriotism and Reconstruction. Delightful Pantomime introduced. 1 These bulletins are issued by the Bureau of Educational Dra¬ matics, Community Service, Inc., One Madison Avenue, New York. They are very helpful and inexpensive, averaging in price about 25 cents. 37 The Community Drama A Pageant of Play. By May Pashley Harris. Especially adapted to Playground groups. Under the Stars and Stripes. A festival of Citizenship by Elizabeth Grimball. Special Holiday Material Arbor Day: Suggestions for an Arbor Day Ceremonial by Nina B. Lamkin. Christmas : Christmas Program which includes an outline for An Old English Christmas Revel and the St. George Play, (a) A Combination of the Traditional Mummer’s Play and Oxfordshire Play. The program also includes a list of Christmas plays for Juniors and a list for Adults. The Perfect Gift. By Elizabeth H. Hanley. A Com¬ munity Christmas Pageant including a tree around which carols are sung. Fourth of July. Suggestions for Fourth of July Cele- brations * The Flag of the Free. By Elizabeth B. Grimball. A program for the Celebration of Independence Day. Festival of Freedom. By Elizabeth H. Hanley, includ¬ ing tableaux and music. Labor Day: Program by May Pashley Harris, including tableaux and music. May Day: Suggestions for May Day, including an outline for the Roman Floralia, Old English and Robin Hood celebrations. Memorial Day: A Pageant by Josephine Throp. A simple pageant in which honor is paid to the dead of the Civil, Spanish and World Wars. Includes drawing of stage plan. A Memorial Day Sendee: By the Bureau of Educational Dramatics. Thanksgiving Program: Suggestions for A Thanksgiving Program. Washingtons Birthday Program: Including pictures of the suggested tableaux. 38 A Guide io Religious Pageantry An Inauguration Pageant for George Washington s Birth¬ day . By May Pashley Harris. “ Lest We Forget an Armistice Day Program. By Eliza¬ beth Grimball. A Handbook on Community Drama. Inexpensive Costumes for Plays , Festivals and Pageants. By Nina B. Lamkin. Play Production in Churches and Sunday Schools. By Constance D. Mackay. The Dearest Wish, a story-telling festival. By Pauline Oak. CHAPTER IV RURAL DRAMATIC ORGANIZATION 1 COMMUNITY drama is perhaps finding its fullest expression in rural districts where it is proving itself a power in welding together the whole community and in serving as the focusing point for the leisure time interests of all the people. In rural districts it will be well to have a permanent dramatic committee representing the Grange, the Farm Bureau, the Women’s Clubs, the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, churches, schools and other local groups. Through such a committee the following phases of com¬ munity drama may be organized : 1. The equipping of the town hall as a community theater with plays given by traveling groups of local players. 2. Festivals at the county fair in which adults as well as school children participate. 3. Historical pageant in which all the towns of the county unite. 4. Community Christmas tree and carols in each community or a traveling group of carolers who will go through the countryside in decorated sleighs or motors. 1 From “Community Drama,” courtesy of Community Service, Inc., One Madison Avenue, New York. Those interested in com¬ munity development through dramatics would do well to communi¬ cate with this organization. The little book from which these suggestions are reprinted is replete with valuable information covering this whole subject. 39 40 A Guide to Religious Pageantry 5. Educational dramatics and children’s plays of high standard in the country schools. 6. An impromptu outdoor theater where young people’s and adults’ plays can be given. 7. Special holiday celebrations such as Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July. (These should not be made monotonous by too frequent repeti¬ tion of certain forms of celebrations.) 8. Drama in the country church with a sub-committee for production of a suitable play in one of the churches. A number of important questions should be asked by those undertaking leadership of the drama in small dis¬ tricts. These are: How far wfill the local library cooperate in having the right books ? Is there a branch duplicate library for sparsely settled districts? How far will the State Agricultural College co¬ operate ? Is it possible to have some of the young people of the community trained in expert dramatic leadership at some point near by ? Do groups of traveling players, such as the Ben Greet players, visit the county seat, or a circuit of towns, in the summer? What does the Lyceum course bring to town in the way of drama ? Can it be more definitely related to the life of the community? The Pageant. — Rural pageantry is becoming more and more widespread in this country, and many com¬ munities owe a renewal of their art life to historical pageants. The Play in Rural Districts. — In a country town nothing attracts so much attention, proves so popular, pleases so many or causes so much favorable comment 41 Rural Dramatic Organization as a home-talent play. It is doubtful whether Sir Horace Plunkett ever appreciated the significance of the statement he once made when he said that the simplest piece of amateur acting or singing done in the village hall by one of the villagers would create more enthusiasm among his friends and neighbors than could be excited by the most consummate performance of a professional in a great theater where no one in the audi¬ ence knew or cared for the performer. Nothing inter¬ ests people in each other so much as habitually working together. It is one way in which people find themselves. A home-talent play not only affords such an opportunity, but it also unconsciously introduces a more friendly feeling into a neighborhood. It develops a community spirit because it is something everybody wants to make a success, regardless of the local jealousies or differences of opinion. The Little Country Theater. — This statement comes from the rich experience of Professor Alfred Arvold of the North Dakota Agricultural College who developed the first model little country theater. At this theater students are taught to produce plays which they can later take back to their own communities. They are instructed in the remodeling of town halls, in the use of screen scenery, in the utilization of the sim¬ plest materials in the most effective way. The per¬ formances given in the made-over university chapel, which serves as the theater, are, for the most part, one- act plays about farm life in North Dakota. Through the influence of Professor Arvold’s theater many parts of North Dakota are developing their own art life. Many home talent plays are given with no more equipment or setting than an empty hay loft or a large barn with a stage of barn floor planks, a draw curtain of binder cloth, lights supplied by ten barn 42 A Guide to Religious Pageantry lanterns hung on a piece of fence wire and with seats made of planks resting on old boxes and saw-horses. New York State, under the leadership of A. M. Drummond, Professor of Public Speaking, Cornell University, has its little country theater in connection with the State Fair, inaugurated in 1919 and sponsored by the New York State Fair Commission. The Com¬ mission provided a bare, whitewashed wing of one of the older exhibits and erected a rough stage on which to play. It was part of the demonstration to work things out under conditions common to country com¬ munities. Scenery was designed, built and painted in J thaca ; proscenium decoration planned and made ready, lights remodeled and props selected. The players from the Cornell Club rehearsed and struggled with a hun¬ dred details. The scenery was then put in a trunk and taken to Syracuse. The repertory of the week comprised Zona Gale’s The Neighbors ; William Butler Yeats’ The Pot o’ Broth; Lady Gregory’s The Workhouse Ward; and S.utro’s The Bracelet. “The people who saw the per¬ formance were intent,” says Professor Drummond, “on taking this thing home and doing something with it themselves.” From the experiments at Syracuse, which proved the appeal that artistic plays have for people, activities are springing up all over the State. Thus throughout the entire country little country theaters are having a tre¬ mendous influence on the life of the people. The Director. — In speaking of the director of com¬ munity drama in rural districts, Professor Drummond says : “Who are in a position to aid those whose inter¬ est may be great if aroused? Yaturally some are pro¬ fessionally or semi-professionally engaged in this type of drama. But largely the leaders upon whom we must Rural Dramatic Organization 43 depend are those whose activities and interests bring them into contact with folk through already organized channels — preachers, school teachers, district superin¬ tendents, county agents, grange leaders and community leaders. “Where is the organizer who will get half-a-dozen different plays going in as many near-by villages and put them on a circuit so that each community can see in turn the work of others ? Or who will circuit such plays already playing, as many are ? Or who will make sure that the churches, the schools, the grange, the women’s clubs, in his village has each its play, the program worked out with some idea of relation of one play to another, and see them staged one after another in the opera house, in the school, the church, the town hall, or in the ample parlors of some hospitable neigh¬ bor, or during spring, or fall, or summer on the lawns or in the orchard or grove of other hospitable friends ? Who will take the responsibility that the new town hall, or grange hall, or addition to the church, or the new sclioolhouse, has modest but well-planned facilities in it for the staging of simple but good plays ? Or who will warm that new barn by making it the occasion of a play ? A barn is a pleasant theater, especially when the great rolling doors swing as curtain, or the hay¬ mow, half filled, can seat the audience and the run mav be the stage. There are surely some persons who will enjoy read¬ ing plays and picking the right one for our folks. Some will be delighted to ransack garrets for the costumes of 1860, to collect the antique furniture to make a charming setting for Cranford. Perhaps a little play about an incident in the history of “our” town, or a plan for a pageant descriptive of the founding, growth, and historical interest of the village is already waiting 44 A Guide to Religious Pageantry for a chance to see the light. Some will perhaps wish to find, or to write, plays dealing with technical prob¬ lems of farm life. If the director cannot be found in the community he may often be brought from the outside for a small salary, as in the case of several rural theaters. Really fine experts can be found to wdiom opportunity means more than financial reward. The personnel of a the¬ ater should consist, if possible, of a paid director and a volunteer staff. This staff includes assistant director, art director (costumes, scenery), music director, and house manager, who has charge of the properties, heat¬ ing, cleaning and sanitation. In a small town it is sometimes better to send out a printed announcement mentioning the possible reper¬ tory of plays, the aims of the theater, and the price of seats. These may run from fifty cents to one dollar, but they should not be more. If possible, admission to the wrhole house should be fifty cents. */ The Players. — The main group of the theater may consist of from fifteen to twenty players who can be drawn upon at any moment. They may be used in relays. Performances may be given Friday and Satur¬ day or Friday and Saturday of alternate wTeeks. Two nights or possibly three nights a week should be selected as rehearsal nights. These should be faithfully adhered to, and it must be understood from the outset that re¬ hearsals are to be regularly attended. Choice of Plays. — It is better to begin with a pro¬ gram of three one-act plays. This means that three dis¬ tinct groups of people can be rehearsed and the burden does not fall heavily on anyone’s shoulders. A program that has been universally successful consists of Alice Brown’s Joint Owners in Spain , Zona Gale’s The Neigh¬ bors , and Yeats’ Pot o' Broth. The Irish plays of Rural Dramatic Organization 45 Synge, Yeats and Lady Gregory prove of unfailing in¬ terest. The rollicking humor of Duty , by Seumas 0‘Brien makes this a particularly happy choice. New plays are continually being produced that are excellent for rural theaters. Miss Civilization , by Richard Harding Davis, is a one-act play widely used by rural theaters. Other plays suggested as especially suitable for producing in the country districts are : A Bee in a Drone’s Hive , written by a young farmer out of his own farm experiences and extolling the advantages of rural life (obtainable from Professor A. G. Arvold, of North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo) ; Bach to the Farm ; Kindling the Hearth Fire, by Martin Shum- way, of the Extension Division of the University of Minnesota. A complete list of plays and pageants especially adapted for use in rural districts may be secured from Community Service. The Chautauqua. — In many rural communities the chautauqua has been practically the only channel for art expression. At the present time its programs are more interesting and alive than they have ever been before. Story-telling for children, folk dances and games, as well as bird clubs, present activity for large numbers of people of the community. Operas are being added to the program, such as Robin Hood , Pinafore, Martha and others. Full-length plays like Polly of the Circus, It Pays to Advertise and The Man from Home are gradually taking the place of dramatic readings and impersonations, and Shakespeare is still very much alive on the chautauqua circuit. Pageants, too, for which the children and young people of the community are trained in advance by an expert, are giving to the people of small towns the benefit of professional advice and a taste of dramatic expression. Historical, patriotic and 46 A Guide to Religious Pageantry fairy pageants, biblical and Mother Goose pageants offer a wide choice adaptable to the particular groups to present them. The Country Fair. — As has been demonstrated by the experience of Professor Drummond in connection with his little country theater at the State Fair much can be done in interesting the people of rural districts as they come together for this function. And the coun¬ try fair shows promise of beckoning in time a real ex¬ pression of the work and life of the countryside. Sev¬ eral towns have already succeeded in having programs of talent presented by the people themselves. Every effort should be made to strengthen this phase and to substitute the best available country drama for the cheap carnival which persists. Planning the Program. — Community drama in rural districts as well as in the city is most successful if its program is planned in advance. A year’s pro¬ gram is given here as a basis of suggestions. Lincolns Birthday. — Lincoln’s Birthday may be celebrated by a community sing and by a children’s play about Lincoln, or, if there happens to be a particularly talented reader in the community, by reading done very quietly and sincerely of passages from John Drink- water’s Abraham Lincoln. A Lincoln play for chil¬ dren, using a dozen or more characters and a simple interior setting, is to be found in “Patriotic Plays and Pageants,” published by Henry Holt and Company, 19 West 44th Street, Hew York. This company also pub¬ lished a volume called “Little Plays from American History,” containing a play about Lincoln when he was a grown man. Valentine's Day. — On Valentine’s Day have a Valen¬ tine dance in the town hall with favors of pretty valen¬ tines. 47 Rural Dramatic Organization Washingtons Birthday. — Washington’s Birthday may be celebrated by a patriotic community sing with stereopticon pictures of Mount Vernon and other places connected with the life of Washington. At the end of the evening a one-act play can be given by the adults of the community. For this purpose a delightful little comedy called Washington s First Defeat is admirable. This is published by Samuel French, 28 West 38th Street, Ye w York, price, 25 cents. Further suggestions will be found in Suggestions for a Washington’s Birth¬ day Program, published with illustrations for tableaux, by Community Service, 1 Madison Avenue, Yew York, price, 15 cents. Arbor Day. — Where the rural school wished to give a very simple program of music and recitations, the fol¬ lowing program, which may be staged as a community celebration in the town hall, will be suggestive : 1. Arbor Day Alphabet, by Ada Simpson Sherwood, given by the little children from the rural school, each holding a large letter of the alphabet, done in green. 2. Song from Shakespeare’s As You Like it. “Who loves to lie with me Under the greenwood tree” (by community chorus) 3. Song: “Apple, Beech and Cedar Fair” (by school children). 4. Recitation: “Tree Proverbs.” 5. Recitation: “Woodman, Spare That Tree.” 6. Trees. A class exercise in which young people of all ages from primary grade may participate. The material for this program, including the Arbor Day Alphabet , “Tree Proverbs,” “Woodman, Spate 48 A Guide to Religious Pageantry That Tree,” and the song, “ Apple, Beech and Cedar Fair,” as well as Trees > a class exercise, can all be found in ‘‘Arbor Day,” by Robert Haven Schauffler, in the series -called “Our National Holidays,” published bv Moffat, Yard and Company, New York City, price, $1.50. Memorial Day. — An indoor or outdoor pageant is particularly appropriate for Memorial Day. May Day. — May Day should have its Maypole and a simple festival by the school children. Fourth of July. — Two suggestions are offered here for a Fourth of July ceremonial and a community gathering. A Patriot’s Fourth of July. — If this Patriot’s Fourth of July is held in a rural community in the evening, use as a novelty a Liberty tree. The Liberty tree was a pine tree ; it is immortalized on many Revolutionary dags. Where this tree stands in the center of a village square and is lighted with electric lights, if possible have these lights red, white and blue, there should be an American flag on top of the tree. Where few lights are used for decoration in the village square, or where a tree must be omitted for some reason, then wind a flag pole with Liberty greens. Have it a Liberty pole such as was used in olden days, with the Stars and Stripes floating from its top. About this Liberty tree or Liberty pole have the com- munity gather to sing patriotic songs. Have Liberty stand by the tree or the pole dressed in her traditional costume, with a torch in her hand lighted with an elec¬ tric light of red. Each patriotic singing group follows a leader, who carries a flag with a state seal in it. These flags can be bought or made out of Canton flannel, with the colors and designs copied from the colored plates of Rural Dramatic Organization 49 flags and seals which can he found in any large diction¬ ary. A large space must be kept about the Liberty tree, and under the tree should be a raised dais on which Liberty stands. Leading up to this dais are four path¬ ways, along which community singers can march as they surround the tree or pole. The celebration begins when a bugle is blown three times. The first group of singers marches in chanting Arthur Farwell’s “Hymn to Lib¬ erty, ?? which may be obtained from G. Schirmer, 7 East 43rd Street, New York, price, 10 cents. When the celebration is over, the lights on the tree are turned out, and the symbolic figure of Liberty quietly disappears from view. Other suggestions for Fourth of July celebration are to be found in “The Flag of the Free.” One community, which had not sufficient funds to give a pageant, hung lighted lanterns about the village green and had a costume dance. Uncle Sam and Co¬ lumbia in costume welcomed the whole village, who came dressed as Colonials, Puritans, Civil War folk, pioneers and volunteers of the War of 1812. The people either found their costumes in the attic or de¬ vised something for the occasion. The whole effect was very pretty and novel. The dances were such as could be done on the green, lancers, Virginia reel and some old contra dances. The village band, which had been practicing for two months, furnished the music. Labor Day. — “Suggestions for a Labor Day Celebra¬ tion,” by May Pashley Harris, may be secured in mimeographed form from Community Service, price, 10 cents. This ceremonial may be combined with reci¬ tations of stirring poems and offers opportunity for com¬ munity singing. It should be given by adults of the community or by students of high school or college age. Thanksgiving. — Thanksgiving may be celebrated by 50 A Guide to Religious Pageantry a jolly community gathering and a Pilgrims7 cantata or a Pilgrims7 play. For suggestions along this line see “Suggestions for a Thanksgiving Program,77 pub¬ lished by Community Service, price, 10 cents. Christmas. — For Christmas some rural communities like an outdoor community Christmas tree, or Tree of Light, as it is sometimes called, while others prefer an indoor celebration. Suggestions may be secured from Community Service. A Christmas Community Program for the Town Hall. — In this suggested program both singing and recitation form a part. The carols mentioned are to be found in the “Community Christmas Tree Carol Book,77 published by Novello and Company, 2 West 45th Street, New York, price, 5 cents. Community Singing: “Oh, Little Town of Bethle¬ hem77; “Silent Night, Holy Night77; “We Three Kings of Orient Are’7 ; “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful.77 Reading: “Mary the Mother,77 by Theodosia Garrison, from the Designer Magazine. With this recitation a stereopticon picture of the Ma¬ donna should be thrown on a white screen and held until the end of the recitation. The reciter should not be in evidence. Community Singing: “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.77 Recitation: “Kris Kr ingle, 77 by Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Community Singing: “The First Noel.77 Reading: “Good King Wencelas.” Community Singing: “I Saw Three Ships Come Sail¬ ing In.7’ R e citation : “Chr i stma s Symonds. Lullaby,77 by John Addington Rural Dramatic Organization 51 With this recitation there should be posed a tableau of the Madonna, dimly seen, seated against a dark drapery with straw under foot and the Child in her arms. This tableau, with the soft accompanying chorus, “Sleep, Baby, Sleep,” ends the evening. CHAPTER V HOW TO PRODUCE A RELIGIOUS PAGEANT TALKS WITH THE PRODUCER 1 IN writing the three talks that follow, I should like to make it clear that I am not addressing myself primarily to the professional coach — although he would probably be the first to avail himself of anything that might reasonably be expected to help him simplify his work. But the amateur director, even though he may have had considerable general experience, might well be forgiven if, having started out bravely but with insuffi¬ cient specific preparation, he presently found himself in a discouraging tangle that he had not foreseen. I should, therefore, suggest that his first official act, after having decided to produce The Seeker, should be to take a comfortable chair — and a long breath, and make a leisurely examination of it, bit by bit. Like many other things, its difficulties will be well on the way to control the moment they are thoroughly apprehended. For nothing is any harder than we think it is. It depends entirely on the mental attitude with which we approach a community production, as to whether it be¬ comes a thing of joy in the doing, or whether we make 1 From “How to Produce The Seeker,” by Clarice Vallette Mc¬ Cauley. While these instructions were written for The Seeker, they nevertheless have a general value and are applicable to all forms of pageantry. Reprinted by permission of the publishers, the Abingdon Press. New York. 52 How to Produce a Religious Pageant 53 it a task so stupendous, so irritating, that it leaves be¬ hind a train of little quarrels, petty resentments, aching hearts, and aching heads that utterly defeat one of the first purposes of all community entertainments — to have a good time in doing joyously a beautiful thing that shall bring joy to others. 1. Getting Together. — The spirit of the partici¬ pants, then — colloquially expressed — should be, “Let’s get together and give a pageant.” And if only the “let’s get together” part is honestly meant and gener¬ ously persevered in, the task of the producer is already more than halved. For that spirit, encouraged and de¬ veloped, will lead to rich and crowded hours that will leave a pleasant, friendly glow long after the pageant itself is forgotten. On his part, the producer’s attitude should be that of the conscientious and intuitive teacher, who has dis¬ covered the difficulties of his subject in the privacy of his own armchair, and thus leads his class so pleasantly and surely over the pitfalls in their path that they are never aware of them at all. It is a wise director who keeps his knowledge of the tricky places to himself — at least till they have ceased to be tricky. But to ac¬ complish this easily will require a great deal of quiet, unobserved, unappreciated work for which he will not be complimented nor receive any credit ; because no one, unless it be some wise-eyed, seasoned professional, will ever know he has done it all, so smoothly will things seem to swing into shape beneath his guiding hand. To explain more fully what I mean, I will say at once that I am assuming that in a modest little produc¬ tion such as this should be, the producer will also be the general stage director. Now, roughly speaking, stage directors fall into two classes : the one who comes before bis company, after careful study of his script, with a 54 A Guide io Religious Pageantry clear and definite idea of what he intends to do, who has mapped out his action and carries a little chart of it in his mind ; and the director who used exactly the oppo¬ site method — what is called the “building-up” process — who says genially, “Now, let’s get started, and we’ll just read our lines to-day, and gradually build this up as we go along.” It is not to his words that I am ob¬ jecting; they would do no great harm if he had a clear idea of the structure he was going to build. But the trouble is he usually means it literally ; he’s waiting for his cast to build it all, and trusting that a happy in¬ spiration will enable him occasionally to put in a brick — or a bit of mortar — as things go along. This method, which works well enough with small casts, is never safe with large groups or where the action is at all complicated. It is not that I think the director should be a martinet, and expect his people to act according to a diagram drawn on his thumb — far from it. But if he hasn’t a clear conception of the pattern he is going to weave upon the stage, how can he expect to keep the confidence of his people ? And from losing confidence it is but a step to losing interest, to coming late, and finally to dropping out. Incidentally, the confusion resulting from re¬ hearsals of this kind will be very bad for young people, and quite spoil the cooperative atmosphere you are try¬ ing to create. Of course, directors who are considerate will not make the mistake of keeping people idling about when they cannot possibly get to their scenes that evening ; and yet I have seen an entire chorus stand limply for a full half hour, while the director — a professional, too — trained a couple of his principals in a trifling bit of pantomime, which could much better have been done on a bare stage, empty of all but the two concerned. Such things are How to Produce a Religious Pageant 55 usually the result of an enthusiasm so great that it mistakenly assumes the endurance of others equals the director’s own. But that is dangerous. After all, as a director, you must remember that you have more at stake than they have, and only in proportion as you build up their pride in “our pageant” can you expect them to slave as cheerfully as you do. 2. The Easiest Way to Go about It. — I could — - if I wanted to — call this a chapter on “Organization.” I prefer to relegate that terrifying word to the limbo it deserves. There is such a thing as too much organiza¬ tion ; it’s like too much ballast in a balloon — you’ve got to throw some of it overboard before you can rise. Committees that commit nothing but foolish questions, and eager assistants who run good-naturedly about try¬ ing to think for you, are just so many human dynamos whirling along to no purpose. You will need to avail yourself of all the cooperation you can get, and to do that intelligently you must know exactly what it is you are going to require of your helpers before you start. The Musical Director. — First, of course, comes some one competent to train those who will form the chorus. For the sake of dignity we will give this in¬ dividual a title, but if — as may well happen in the small community — the only one who offers herself for the work is an inexperienced young pianist, you will not, I hope, allow the mere name of “musical director” to frighten her away. For her work, simplified to what is barely necessary, will be to teach the choruses, either playing herself, or providing some one to play the ac¬ companiments, and to see that whatever incidental music is used has been sufficiently rehearsed with the speakers not to interfere or confuse them. When The Seeker was given in Columbus only a piano and violin were used, but that violin was played so sincerely — with no 56 A Guide to Religious Pageantry effort on the part of the young player to do more than beautifully sustain and support the voices — that no thinness or poverty of effect was felt. I mention this merely to make a point: don’t be afraid of starting simply. If you have only a piano, start with a piano. Who knows what may develop in your midst before the performance ; a first violin — perhaps a second ; an oboe or a flute — who can tell ? The uncertainty should add to the piquancy of the situation. The Stage Manager. — Of course, you are going to need a stage manager for the performance, so you will do well to select one at an early moment, the sooner the better. Because, especially if it is his first attempt at stage management, he will want to be very familiar with the script ; indeed, by the time you are ready for your first performance he should know it as well as you do, for, on that night, he certainly will not want to be referring, in a panic, to the script every few minutes to see what comes next. Therefore, as soon as the re¬ hearsals begin to develop any continuity, I should have him watch from the front, making note of all stage directions ; and toward the last I should have him go through the form of setting the little inner stage and indicating by the simple speaking of the word “Cur¬ tain” that he knows where he should be, and what he should be doing at each moment. If the curtain must be arranged from both sides, he may choose his own assistant. He will need one anyway to help him in setting the inner stage. The changes required are of the slightest, but they must be done deftly and with absolutely no noise, therefore an intelligent division of labor must be agreed upon beforehand. Tiie Property Man. — You will need a property man. His task will be to gather together, keep track of and distribute the small objects — such as books, 57 How io Produce a Religious Pageant beads, idols, scimitars, etc. — in fact, all articles used by the participants that cannot properly be classified as costumes or parts thereof. He should carefully watch several rehearsals — and for the last two or three should either provide all the needed “props”- — or makeshifts — that he, as well as the participants, may become accus¬ tomed to them and know exactly where each article should be found. The Electrician. — Unless you are playing outdoors in daylight, you will need an electrician. His selection may safely be left until nearer the end, but no matter how simple his equipment, give him a couple of re¬ hearsals. Nothing is so wearing to a volunteer elec¬ trician as that strained listening to unfamiliar lines for isolated cues. When — at last — they do come, they startle him, and he throws his lights on or off with a nervous haste of which he is afterwards ashamed. To partially obviate this, in making out a cue-sheet for lights always put your “warning” cue at least two speeches before the actual cue for the change. That allows ample time for steady preparation. This pretty well covers your working force, and as you can see for yourself the list is not a long one. Nat¬ urally, if you are planning to make the costumes your¬ self, you will need a costume committee; but as the costumes will be taken up more fully in another place, I will not dwell upon them here. The costume committee can probably provide from among their number a wardrobe mistress and an assist¬ ant, or several volunteer dressers, whose services I can promise you will be very much in demand ; for a sari is apt to be a contrary thing on an American girl — and even worse mav be said of the turban in the hands of a modern youth. For this reason — and others — three or four volunteer dressers, previously trained in the way 58 A Guide to Religious Pageantry that Eastern garments should be worn, are better for your performers than many excited mothers. Be pro¬ fessional about your dressing-rooms; keep out visitors and friends, and you will have a more self-reliant band of players and a calmer performance. One thing more ; and this is in the nature of a per¬ sonal luxury that you will find invaluable at the start of your rehearsals, though not nearly so necessary as time goes on. Elect unto yourself a secretarial assistant, and furnish her with a fat notebook and pencil. Her help¬ fulness can only be measured by your own capacity for being helped; therefore I shall only indicate how I should start to avail myself of her services. When, for instance, the chorus has been enlisted and definitely decided upon, she has noted the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of those volunteering to participate. After the music has been learned and you get the chorus on the platform for their first tentative rehearsal, you naturally range them in a certain order according to size and coloring. The easiest way to make that order a permanent affair is to give each one a number. Therefore you count them off, from left to right, and at the close of the rehearsal you ask them to return to the positions originally assigned them, and as Miss Secre¬ tary calls the roll, to answer with their numbers. These numbers she sets down beside the names — and arranges a new list in numerical order to be used for all future rehearsal purposes. From that moment this notebook should save you much unnecessary talking. If Miss Brown drops out, the new girl takes her number, her place, and all the business assigned to her. If you select numbers 3, 5, 7, 9 to do a certain bit of action, a notation to that effect is made in your book, and at the next rehearsal you do not have to say — “Well, where are the flower girls V9 Because a glance at your book will 59 How to Produce a Religious Pageant show that 3, 5, 7, 9 are the delinquents who should be in position. Between rehearsals, too, this record will help you to be impartial, and not unconsciously to de¬ pend upon the same set of girls for everything. When you no longer need your notebook the costume committee will find it very useful, as it will enable them to tell at a glance just how many there are in each group. Mean¬ while, it has served to classify your necessary addresses by groups and episodes, thus obviating the danger of overlooking anyone if calls must be sent out for unex¬ pected rehearsals. 3. How Shali, We Begin ? — If you ask that ques¬ tion of almost any group of amateurs assembled for the purpose of studying a play, you will be pretty sure to hear a large proportion of voices crying, “Read it to us.” It is not really a bad way, either, this presenta¬ tion of the play as a whole; it sets mood and tempo, permits the timid ones to get an idea of what will be expected of them, and instead of unrelated scenes — of which they often do not catch the drift until they are almost ready for the performance — gives a first im¬ pression which at once conveys the message and meaning of the whole. Moreover, if you can have some one else read the script, while you sit back and study the reac¬ tions on the faces before you, you will get many an un¬ conscious suggestion for the casting of parts. Then, too, you can make of the occasion a social op¬ portunity. It will be a good time to get acquainted, although it is to be hoped that this reading of the play will not be the first time you have come together. You may, perhaps, have been studying the subject of com¬ parative religion and reading the sacred literature of the East for several months; but in using the word “begin” I had in mind the actual commencement of the pageant preparation. 60 A Guide to Religious Pageantry Usually you will be able to pick your principals with¬ out much trouble. You may prefer to try out many of the players privately, and there will likely be many dis¬ appointments ; but the girl you tried out for the part of Motherhood will probably be quite willing to play a Hindu Woman with three lines to speak, if the spirit of the thing is kept right from the beginning. In the meantime your chorus has been selected, and I hope you will have had the help of some one familiar with the vocal possibilities of the school or community. JSText will come the selection of all those who are to play the “bits” (the parts which appear in but one or two scenes, with perhaps a few lines). As soon as you have chosen these people it will be wise to send them all into the chorus to learn the music, explaining that you will not rehearse their scenes until the choruses are ready, and that you need their voices to swell the volume of sound. You surely will need their help if you are to get along with a minimum number of participants ; besides, it is good policy in any event. It would be a very poor arrangement to keep two women who had played bits in the Animism episode, for instance, stand¬ ing back of the curtains on the sides of the stage during the rest of the performance — or until the Finale. After a certain time has elapsed, upon a cue given by you — and so rehearsed — they should return to the stage and mingle with the chorus, taking the places of others who may now leave to take part in scenes for which they have been selected. This keeps the stage picture chang¬ ing just enough to hold interest, keeps your side stage clear, and best of all your people participating every moment. The groups — priests, widows, etc., and all those who have some individual bit of action or pantomime but no lines — will be chosen from the chorus after the actual How to Produce a Religious Pageant 61 stage rehearsing has begun. As a general rule, those whose costumes are distinctive, should not appear on the stage until after their group entrance has been made. While the choruses are being learned, you will have several rehearsals with your principals to give them their positions and accustom them to their lines. During these rehearsals it will be well to appoint some one to hold the book and read all chorus lines and bits that the principals may be accustomed from the first to the many kinds of cues they must be ready to take up promptly. Now, w7hen your chorus is familiar with the music you will reverse this arrangement, and during their first stage rehearsals you will have some one read quickly such bits of scenes as are cues for the chorus. (Your stage manager, or his assistant, would be the proper one to do this — as it is as necessary for him to be familiar with the script as it is for you.) Your first stage re¬ hearsals for the chorus will be devoted to merely walking through their lines, giving them positions, action and rough groupings. In the meantime you will have called several re¬ hearsals for the people in the inner stage scenes. These may well be given over for a while to an assistant, if you have one, and certainly you should have been able to find some one capable of coaching the Vadian Priest¬ esses and the girls of the Eightfold Path in their respec¬ tive pantomimic action. In this way the whole thing is taking shape simultaneously, and everybody is busy. You are now ready to begin to assemble your parts. For the first ensemble rehearsal I would call only those in the Prologue and the First Episode. One or two episodes a night will be quite sufficient while you are doing preliminary and intensive drilling. The reason for having worked your principals alone till they were 62 A Guide to Religious Pageantry easy in their lines will be now apparent, for from now on your chorus will have to be in attendance every night — unless yon are having a little private rehearsal for some special scenes. Not until all the parts are running smoothly and yon no longer have to stop every few minutes to go back — or correct — would I announce a “straight-through- from-beginning-to-end” rehearsal. But you should be able to have at least four or five of these, and for the last three you should have the stage manager, property man, electrician, and full musical accompaniment in attendance. There may be cases where this cannot be done — as when your entire electrical outfit must be hired at the last minute — but even in that case the person who is responsible for the lights can generally be bribed into watching a rehearsal or two. A dress rehearsal is so much the part of wisdom that it is hardly necessary to mention it, but a few words of encouragement regarding it may not be amiss. Dress rehearsals are apt to be chaotic and disheartening. People take twice as long getting into their costumes on such occasions as they will on the night of the perform¬ ance — for the very reason that they are getting into them for the first time. Make-up too takes longer, and the mental confusion usually results in a very unsatis¬ factory rehearsal. For this reason it is sometimes a very good plan to have your dress rehearsal several nights before the performance, and then to call a sharp astraight-through-from-beginning-to-end’? rehearsal for the night preceding your public presentation of the pageant. One thing remember — do not be over critical at the last rehearsal. The time to be critical — and strict — is at the beginning, before the people are tired. The last minute is no time for fussing over trifles, or reminding 63 How to Produce a Religious Pageant people of faults which, if they have not been corrected by this time will not be corrected anyway. The thing to say at the last rehearsal — and I hope you can say it honestly — is : “Splendid ! Now go home and rest up — and forget all about it — because it’s sure to go beau¬ tifully to-morrow — I know it!” And above all, never let the curtain go up on the first performance without a word of encouragement and good cheer. It’s the pro¬ ducer’s business to make his people feel that every ounce of his strength and good will is with them. He knows he’s done all he can, and that now it is in their hands — but he can still do this : he can radiate such good will, such faith in them, that they will be sure to have the one quality that never fails — the irresistible appeal of a sincere desire to please. CHAPTEK VI COSTUMING SUGGESTIONS for Old Testament Characters. — The question of costuming Old Testament Char¬ acters with accuracy is a more difficult matter than appears on first consideration. To begin with, there is some doubt in regard to just how the ancient Hebrews dressed. The problem is some¬ what simplified in the characterization of dress in the later periods of Israel’s history. Of course there are certain stereotyped forms of Hebrew costume, but these forms have been largely set by the particular conceptions of artists who have since the be¬ ginning spread much paint in their endeavors to portray the great men and women of Israel. Art, then, has played a most important role in fixing in our minds these conventional modes in which we think of the peoples of antiquity. One would be dogmatic, indeed, who attempted to speak with authority on the subject of just how Moses looked, yet written into the conception of Moses held by the civilized world is the imagination of Michelangelo as expressed in the famous statue in Home. Kaphael has likewise set his stamp upon certain religious figures. Artists have fixed in the popular mind these conceptions of how the ancients looked, and for practical purposes, it is best to receive them as au¬ thoritative and use them in dramatic presentation. After all, the chief motive in religious pageantry is 64 Costuming 65 not that of accuracy in detail of dress, or even of dra¬ matic technique in its highest sense, but the presenta* tion of the spiritual. The director of a religious pageant is more concerned with the message than with the setting, as important a factor as is the latter. The art of pageantry in religious education is a means to an end, though artists are not friendly to this position, maintaining that when art exists for anything other than itself it falls short of its highest attainments. The teacher of religion, however, must agree to differ and utilize every means possible to develop in the race the sense of the spiritual and the divine. The Early Hebrew Costumes. — For purposes of general religious pageantry it is satisfactory to assume that the early Hebrews dressed after a fashion similar to the modern Arab. These costumes are familiar to all, and illustrations in color may be found in diction¬ aries, encyclopedias, magazines — such as the Geographic Magazine , Dictionaries of the Bible and other books of a general nature. Elizabeth E. Miller, in her admirable little book, “The Dramatization of Bible Stories,” makes the following observation regarding Hebrew cos¬ tumes: “It is fairly certain that among the earliest tribes a simple slip or short tunic, with close-fitting sleeves, was worn. Later a big loose mantle was usually thrown over this slip. The little undergarment was white, woven from wool, or sometimes made of skins ; the outer garment was frequently striped, a bright color with white. Among the old patriarchs the outside cloak reached to the ground. It was often in the shape of a blanket, and was draped by throwing one end over the left shoulder, then passing it across the front of the body and under the right arm, then across the back, and to the left shoulder again. “At a still later period there was the long gown, 66 A Guide to Religious Pageantry which reached to the ankles and was belted in at the waist by a girdle. This was sometimes covered by an outside robe shaped like a cape. Frequently these gar¬ ments wrere brought up over the head in order to protect their wearers from the sun. “As a rule the servants and lower class of people wore only the one garment — a short tunic, with or without a girdle. The richer men wore the outside cloaks. Kings and nobles had many kinds of cloaks which were very elaborately decorated. They had silk girdles, while the poorer men wore leather girdles.” Other helpful suggestions as to costuming may be found along with the text in most published booklets. These suggestions coming from the author of the pageant are always useful because of their specific na¬ ture. A brief quotation from one of these may be help¬ ful in a general way. Marie E. J. Hobart is the author of a very artistic mystery play Rebekah, in which the following helpful suggestion is made : “. . . tunics with flowing sleeves, made of un¬ bleached muslin, were used as the foundation of both men’s and women’s costumes. The women wore long veils draped across the shoulders, and wide sashes. The men wore short veils, fastened Bed¬ ouin fashion with circlets of bright colored worsted, and mantles and wide sashes. Some of the women wore bright colored skirts and short coats, and some of the men wore longer coats over their tunics. It is impor¬ tant to use as much color, and as vivid and startling contrasts as possible. Cheesecloth, dyed, is useful in gaining the right effects. Rebekah wore a bright skirt and coat of Oriental pattern in Scene I ; and in Scenes II and III a much handsomer white embroidered woolen skirt and coat. In both costumes, of course, she wore a broad sash and veil. Her bridal veil, which is put Costuming 67 on over her ordinary veil, should be large enough to cover her completely when thrown over her head.” Pictures and Their Value. — Pictures are very valuable in giving ideas of costuming. Perhaps the most helpful would be Tissot’s pictures which are ob¬ tainable from almost any Church publishing house. Most of these are in color and will be found very use¬ ful. Other concerns make reproductions from great paintings, and these will also be found indispensable. Suggestions for Vew Testament Characters.1 General Suggestions. — “ There should be one super¬ visor of costumes, with assistants, each of whom will be responsible for having a certain group of performers costumed at the appointed time. The costumes should be labeled, each with the name of the performer who is to wear it, and should be stored in a definite place when not in use, so that there may be no confusion or loss. Let the costumes be prepared as soon as the re¬ hearsing begins. It is as easy to prepare them early as late ; and the performers will enter more truly into the spirit of the work from the time they assume their strange garb. It will be best to have all of the costumes planned, and most of them made, by a committee or ladies’ society, instead of leaving them to individual initiative. This is particularly true of children’s cos¬ tumes. If the participants are told that their Oriental array will be furnished them, they will be much more likely to take part ; and this plan will also avoid the 1 These suggestions are taken from the little booklet of in¬ structions accompanying When the Star Sh&ne, by Lyman E. Bayard, and are reprinted with his permission. (Copyright, 1921, by Lyman R. Bayard.) While they were written specially for this one pageant they have a general value applicable to most New Testament productions. 68 A Guide to Religious Pageantry failure of any at the last moment to have their costumes ready. It will also add to the beauty and good taste of the stage picture, and will prove more economical. Some mothers cannot plan, some cannot make, and others cannot afford costumes for their children. Linings of bright colors, cambric, cheesecloth and rem¬ nants can be secured cheaply and made up by the ladies. Certain kinds of shawls — Paisley, for instance, turned wrong side out, produce beautiful Oriental effects. A few packages of dye will work marvels with old sheets, which color and drape beautifully, and with other fab¬ rics. If to each shade of dye used, there is added a very small portion of each of the other tints, the resulting colors will be very harmonious in tone. Merchants will often lend curtains or fabrics used for window-trimming. Sometimes fraternal orders will lend costumes which can be used for the richer garments. Be sure that nothing grotesque is permitted to be worn, as the atmosphere of reverence must be preserved throughout. Girls and Women. — “The usual dress for girls and women is a loose robe having long pointed sleeves and reaching to the floor. It often has a fancy colored yoke, shaped very like a child’s oblong bib, embroidered or otherwise decorated. The robe is confined at the waist by a sash of bright contrasting color. Improvised cos¬ tumes may be made out of shawls, draperies and cur¬ tains, somewhat after the manner of a man’s coat de¬ scribed below, except that for a woman this kind of costume should be sewed up in the front. “The women usually wear head scarfs from a yard and a half to two yards long, either square or some¬ what narrower. These are commonly draped as fancy dictates over a red cap which may be made by cover¬ ing a crown of pasteboard with cloth or paper. The front of the cap is decorated with rows of gold coins. Costuming 69 From the sides is suspended a chain which hangs loosely under the chin. Attached to this are coins about the size of a quarter-dollar. Imitation coins can be made by covering cardboard discs with gold or silver paper. Heavy, showy necklaces and other pieces of jewelry are truly Oriental. “Oftentimes a wide mantle is draped over the head and shoulders and covers the entire person. Some kind of kimonos, not too Japanese in character, make good tunics for girls and woman.” Boys and Men. — “The boys and men wear tunics of white or bright solid colors or stripes, much like the dress of the women, though the sleeves are more often long and broad than pointed. The tunic is worn open in a V at the neck, and is belted in at the waist. Cor¬ duroy bath robes make excellent tunics and so do draped sheets. Over the tunic is worn a sleeveless coat of bright material, open all the way down the front, and often reaching to the floor. The coat does not come together, even at the neck. It is perfectly straight on the shoulders and at the sides. There is an armhole opening of about eight inches for the sleeve of the tunic to pass through. “A very satisfactory coat can be improvised from any appropriately colored drapery of sufficient width to make the length of the coat. Place the center of one edge at the back of the neck of the person to be cos¬ tumed, and bring the ends under the arms and fasten up close to the neck on the shoulders. Sew the edges together, leaving room for the arms to come through. This garment should be fastened under the arms at the waist with a large safety-pin, so that the coat will fall apart gracefully all the way down the front. “A flat-topped or high rounded skull-cap of red or other bright color is often worn. A wide strip of cloth 70 A Guide io Religious Pageantry of contrasting color is twisted and bound round the cap. Or, a scarf, square or oblong, may be draped over the head so that it falls over the shoulders, and is fastened in place by means of a cord or twisted piece of cloth.” Footwear. — “No one in the pageant should wear shoes of the modern American kind. White or light brown stockings should be worn, with or without san¬ dals or low-heeled slippers. Where the climate permits, the boys may be barefooted.” Roman Soldiers. — “The Roman soldiers should wear red military cloaks. Imitations of leather garments fitting the body closely, with leather strips hanging down all around, may be made out of brown cambric. Silver paper may be fastened to this in appropriate places to represent armor. A kind of roofing known as Junior Malthoid makes an almost exact imitation of steel, and is very flexible, but must be fastened together with wire. Helmets and armor may be made of this, or of cardboard or stiff cloth covered with silver paper. Sometimes helmets can be borrowed from fraternal or¬ ders. If the imitation leather garments are worn over khaki trousers, and the soldiers’ sandals are laced around the calf of the leg with strips of red cloth over the ordinary khaki puttees, the effect will be very good.” Shepherds. — “The shepherds should wear the distinc¬ tive shepherd’s cloak. This may be made of a sheet with broad stripes of black, brown or dark blue basted on. The shepherds may carry staves, but not crooks, as these are European — not Oriental; and should wear flowing headdresses bound on with cords and falling over neck and shoulders. Two or three of the Beth¬ lehem boys may wear miniature cloaks like those of the shepherds.” Wise Men. — “The traditional color for the Wise Men is yellow, so the outer mantles of the three Magi should 71 Costuming be of that color. The mantle is much like a cape, reach¬ ing about halfway to the knees, or longer. If they wear purple or other rich-colored robes under these yellow mantles, the effect will be striking. Their cloth¬ ing should be as rich and elaborate as is practicable, and the garments of their train of servants should be more showy than those of the Bethlehem people. The Wise Men and the Babbi may wear artificial beards if good ones are to be had, but nothing grotesque is permissible. In general it is better to omit these. The Wise Men should wear turbans of yellow or, better, flowing yellow headdresses.” Other Characters. — “Prophecy and History should be in white flowing garments, Grecian style, without any color additions unless the name-ribbon is worn. Judith should be in white, with color in sash and headdress. Joel and possibly some other Bethlehem people may wear soft or dull colors; but most of the Bethlehem folks, and all the children, should wear bright colors, or pleasing softer shades, so as to make the stage picture varied, brilliant and beautiful. Harrow stripes are much worn in Palestine.” The Rabbi. — “The Babbi should wear, as he enters, a rather high cap, rounded at top, and bound round the brow with a twisted cloth of contrasting color. On his forehead he wears a phylactery — the little square box bound on with narrow black ribbons. In this cer¬ tain texts were kept. He is shod with sandals. His tunic is sleeved and somewhat close-fitting, and reaches to the ankles, being bound at the waist by a wide girdle or sash. He may wear a mantle draped about his shoulders and neck. These may be of any desired colors. As Joel enters, he is carrying over his arm the Babbi’s prayer-shawl — a large square piece of white cloth. Each corner has a fringe made of four white 72 A Guide to Religious Pageantry threads and one blue one, and a square of blue cloth is also sewed like a patch on each corner. Several nar¬ row stripes of blue are across the two ends of the prayer-shawl. When the Rabbi sits down to read from the Prophets, Joel will fold the shawl and place it over the Rabbi’s head (without removing the cap) in such manner that as the shawl hangs down over the shoulders the stripes will come across the arms. The Rabbi will wear this during the remainder of the pageant.” Missionary Costuming.2 Burma. — “For the skirt about two yards of bright colored silk or other thin striped or figured material is required. Sew the ends together, the pattern running around the skirt, not up and down. If the width of the goods is not sufficient to make the length of the skirt, sew the seam around the middle of the skirt, or sew a piece of plain goods around the top. The skirt is tied or pinned about the waist. “With this should be worn a short white jacket of thin material with flowing sleeves, which may be trimmed with narrow lace. A bright silk scarf is thrown over the shoulders. The hair should be piled high and decorated with artificial flowers.” Karen. — “The Karen skirt is similar to the Burman. The jacket is made of velvet or woolen cloth. Fold a breadth of the goods twice the required length for the jacket in the middle to make the shoulders, which should be without seam. Sew up the sides, leaving sufficient space for armholes at the top. Cut a V-shaped open¬ ing for the neck and trim as elaborately as possible 2 These suggestions are taken from a little pamphlet “Oriental Costumes and How to Make Them/’ published by the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society. Permission of The Board of Education of the Northern Baptist Convention (De¬ partment of Missionary Education, William A. Hill, Secretary). 73 Costuming with Persian or other bright colored trimming. Slip the jacket on over the head and wear over a white jacket or shirt-waist.” China. — “Wear a plain black skirt or wide trousers reaching to the ankles. Make the full Chinese jacket from blue or white cambric. The pattern for this jacket can easily be approximated from pictures, or possibly one can be secured from a Chinese friend. “For a boy a round cap of velvet or cloth with a long queue of braided worsted sewed to the back is very effective.” Japan. — “This requires a Japanese kimono with wide square sleeves, for which a pattern can easily be obtained, made from cotton crepe or any desired mate¬ rial. Wear with this a wide sash of silk or cambric of bright color, tied in a large square bow high in the back. Hair in butterfly bows with ornaments, fancy hatpins, tiny fans, etc.” India. — “This costume requires eight or ten yards of cheesecloth or muslin, white or of some bright color. The goods should be at least one yard wide to form the length of the skirt. Hold one end in the left hand and bring the goods tightly around the hips to the front and tie the upper corner firmly to the upper edge of the goods held in the right hand. Bring the cloth snugly around the body once and then the long end should be laicf in plaits to within three or four yards of the end. Tuck these plaits in over the knot in the middle of the front, bringing the fullness about six inches be¬ low the waist line. Pass the loose end of the cloth on over the left hip, up under the right arm and over the left shoulder, bringing it around over the right shoul¬ der where the end is left hanging loose. The loose end can be brought up over the head, if desired, to form a head covering. A short jacket is worn underneath, 74 A Guide to Religious Pageantry cut in a low V-shape at the neck and tied in a hard knot over the bust. The very tight sleeves may be cut off just above the elbow or halfway to the shoulder, or an ordi¬ nary plain white waist may be worn under the costume. All Hindu women, Brahman and others, wear the same general costume, the only difference being in the ex¬ pensiveness of material used. “Use as many bright colored bead necklaces and gold and silver chains as possible. Cover the arms with bracelets and the fingers with rings. A jeweled band across the forehead and earrings made of brass wire with beads to hang over the ears greatly heighten the effect.” Mohammedan Woman. — “A Mohammedan woman always wears in public the purdah or outside covering, and this is the most effective and distinctive costume in which she can be represented. The purdah can be made from two sheets sewed together at the sides, forming a bag open at both ends. Gather the upper edge and sew around a small circle of cloth cut to fit the top of the head. This hangs full to the floor. Cut a small triangu¬ lar opening or round eye holes over the face and fill in this opening with heavy black veiling. For speaking the triangular opening is better, as the voice can be more distinctly heard. The same effect can be secured by sewing together breadths of cheesecloth and gathering at the top in the same way.” Syria or Arabia. — “To make the long loose robe re¬ quired for this costume, fold a strip of goods over in the middle to form the shoulders, which should be with¬ out seam. Sew up the sides, inserting gores at the bot¬ tom if necessary for width of skirt, leaving armholes at the top. Sew in straight long sleeves without shap¬ ing the armholes. Tie a girdle or sash about the waist, with the knot in front, and blouse the robe both back Costuming 75 and front over the girdle. Cut a round or square open¬ ing for the neck and trim around the edge if desired. A strip of silk two yards long is worn over the head and brought over the face as a veil.” Africa. — “An effective costume for Africa is a red muslin Mother Hubbard without yoke or sleeves, a red kerchief crossed over the shoulders. The face and arms can be blackened and black stockings worn over the shoes. Necklaces of gaudy beads, bracelets of every de¬ scription, and anklets of brass or iron add to the general effect.” Philippines. — “The costume of the Filipino or Visa- yan women consists of a bright colored plaid skirt, with or without a short black overskirt reaching to the knees and caught up at one side. With this is worn a white waist cut low with a wide flaring collar. The sleeves are very wide and cover the amis as far as the elbow. A white neck scarf or embroidered handkerchief com¬ pletes the costume.” CHAPTER VII HELPS PROM PICTURES - WHERE TO GET THEM TO one who has the task of directing a pageant there is no better help than that of pictures. This is particularly true in the matter of costuming. One of the difficult problems of pageantry is that of giving a true setting, representative of the time, and historically accurate. As has been stated before, this accuracy is only relatively attained, and is found in its truest type in works of art, particularly painting. The art can¬ vasses of the world furnish a rich array of suggestions for all forms of pageantry, religious and secular. Fortunately for the teacher of religion the works of art on religious subjects are very numerous. Religion has always been a favored theme for the greatest mas¬ ters and the world’s greatest pictures have found their genesis and inspiration in the Bible. Modern methods of printing and engraving have made it possible to reproduce these masterpieces at small cost, so that everyone may see them in almost their original charm. For only a few pennies one may have the “Sistine Madonna,” the “Moses” of Michelangelo, or “The Christ” or Hofmann. For a few dollars the rich treasures of the museums of the earth may be brought into one’s own room, and there mental visits made to the Louvre, the British National Gallery, the art treasuries of Florence and those prom¬ ising ones so rapidly growing in America. 76 Helps from Pictures — Where to Get Them 77 Appropriate Picture Study. — The director of a pageant would do well to secure a group of pictures bearing on the theme of the play, and have the cast study them. Nothing will so quickly put an actor into the spirit of the time of the action and make him feel at home in the general arrangement of things. Sets of Old Testament pictures may he secured at small cost, also pictures of the life of Christ, Christmas pic¬ tures, Easter pictures, Madonnas and almost every¬ thing that has found its way into art galleries. These pictures are very cheap and may he bought as low as one and two cents each. Other helpful suggestions will he found in the second volume of Tissot’s Bible, en¬ titled “The Life of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.” Also, in “Bible Manners and Customs,” by Bev. G. M. Mackie, and in “The Bible Story,” by James Baikie, are valuable pictorial suggestions. For the convenience of those who may desire to order religious subjects, the following partial list of pub¬ lishers is given: v The Perry Picture Company, Malden, Mass. This concern supplies pictures of various sizes and prices. They have hundreds of reproductions and can furnish almost anything desired. George P. Brown and Company, Beverly, Mass., car¬ ries an attractive list of pictures of all descriptions. Old Testament, Christmas, Easter, and the Life of Christ may be secured in sets at moderate cost. Underwood and Underwood, Inc., 417 Fifth Avenue, New York, make pictures of almost everything under the sun. They sell an excellent lot of stereographic pic¬ tures showing costumes and manners of people of va¬ rious countries. Toni Landau Photographic Company, 1 East 45th Street, New York, line art publishers, furnish higher 78 A Guide to Religious Pageantry priced prints. Black and white from one or two dol¬ lars to thirty, and colored prints ranging as high as sixty dollars. The New York Sunday School Commission, 73 Fifth Avenue, New York, is the accredited distributor of the Tissot pictures, size 5" x 6". Many of these pictures are in color and are very valuable aids in costuming. These are inexpensive. A very useful little book on this subject is “Pictures in Beligious Education,” by Frederica Beard, George H. Doran Company, New York. This book will be in¬ valuable to any teacher or religious worker. All denominational publishing houses can furnish suitable pictures and can give valuable information re¬ garding religious prints. CHAPTER VIII DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF PLAYS AND PAGEANTS SUITABLE FOR USE IN CHURCHES,, SUNDAY" SCHOOLS AND OTHER RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. TO use this list effectively see below Topical Index indicating the general classification of plays and pageants, and also the General Index, which is alpha¬ betically arranged for the whole List. TOPICAL INDEX TO PAGEANT LIST . PAGE Boys and Girls . 84 Children . 87 Christmas . 91 Easter . 99 General, Community . 101 General, Religious . 103 Missions, Foreign . 116 Missions, Home . 122 Old Testament . 127 Thanksgiving . 131 ALPHABETICAL INDEX Advance the Line . 103 Adze-Head, The . 103 Alice’s Housewarming . 84 Alice Through the Postal Card . 84 America, Yesterday and To-day . 101 Bible Plays for Children . 87 79 80 A Guide io Religious Pageantry PAGE Biblical Dramas . 127 Birth of Christ, The . 91 Blue Cashmere Gown, The . 122 Book of Life, The . 122 Burden Bearer, The . 103 Call and the Answer, The . 116 Canvassers and Mr. Brown, The . 104 Child in the Midst, The . 87 Children of Israel, The . 127 Children of the Christmas Spirit . 87 Children’s Christmas Dream, The . 88 Children's Crusade, The . 88 Choice of Evils, A . 116 Christian Year, The . 92 Christ in America . 123 Christmas Guest, The . 92 Christmas Story, The . 92 Christmas Tableaux . 92 Church Victorious Through Love, The .... 104 Circle Three Sees a Vision . 123 City Beautiful, The . 104 Coming of the Truth, The . 105 Community Celebrations . 101 Conquerors of the Continent, The . . . . . . 105 Crossroads Meetin’ House, The . 106 Dances, Drills and Story-Plays . 101 David, a Sacred Drama . 127 Dawning, The . 99 Daybreak in the West . 123 Dianah, Queen of the Berbers . 106 Doors of Nippon, The — The Awakening of Japan . 116 Drama of Esther, The . 128 Drama of Isaiah, The . 128 Dramatic Games and Dances for Little Children . 88 Dramatic Sketches of Mission Fields . 117 Dramatization of Bible Stories . 88 Dream on Christmas Eve, A . 93 Eastertide . 99 Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 81 PAGE Enchanted Garden, The . 102 Everywhere . 106 Eirst Thanksgiving Dinner, The . 131 Florence Nightingale . 106 Folk Festivals, Their Growth and How to Give Them 102 Foreign Missionary Dollar and What Tt Does, The . 117 From Darkness to Light . 123 From Italy to America . 124 Garments of Praise . 107 Gate of Vision, The . 107 Gift, The . 107 Gift of Self, The . 108 Gifts We Bring, The . 93 Good King Wencelas . 94 Good Samaritan, and Other Bible Stories Dramatized 89 Go Tell . 99 Great Message, The, or Barrie’s Choice .... 124 Hanging a Sign . 118 Help Wanted for Miss Liberty . 108 Heroine of Ave, The . 118 Honorable Mrs. Ling’s Conversion, The .... 118 Hour of Waking, The . 118 How the Light Came . 118 How to Produce Children’s Plays . 89 How to Tell Stories to Children . 90 Idle and Ideal Associate, The . 108 Its Badiant Hem . 119 Jephthah’s Daughter . 129 Joseph and His Brothers . 108 Judas Iscariot . 108 Kosiki, or A Korean Village . 119 Lamp, The . 109 Land of the Golden Man, The . 109 Larola . 119 Last Passover-Night, The . 100 Lifting Hands, The . . .119 Light-Bringers, The . 124 Light of the World . 94 82 A Guide to Religious Pageantry Little Pilgrims and the Book Beloved Little Pilgrim’s Progress, The PAGE 84 131 Little Playbook, The . 99 Livingstone Hero Plays . 85 Martha Washington and the Home Mission Children 124 Message of the Christ-Child, The . 94 Mirror for Souls, A . 100 Missionary Clinic, A . 124 Mission of the Church, The .... 109 Mission Study Through Educational Dramatics . 120 Mother Goose Village Missionary Meeting 121 Mystery of Epiphany, The . 110 Nativity, The . 95 New Brooms for Old . 125 Next-Door House, The . 95 Night Before Christmas, The .... 95 No Room in the Inn . 97 Only Way Out of the Dark, The . 110 Open Door, The . 125 Our Father . 110 Out-Door Story Book, The . 90 Pageant of Brotherhood, The .... 111 Pageant of Pilgrims, A . 131 Pageant of the Church, A . 111 Passing of the Kings, The . 112 Passover-Night . 112 Pilgrim and the Book, The .... 112 Pill Bottle, The . 121 Place of Meeting, The . 96 Plea of the Pennies, The . 121 Producing Amateur Entertainments . Promise of the New Day, The .... 102 85 Prophetic Child, The . 96 Queen Esther’s Choice . 129 Quest, The . 113 Rebekah . 129 Resurrection, The . 100 Ring of Rama Krishniah, The .... 113 Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 83 PAGE Road to Bethlehem . 97 Bock, The . 113 Ruth, the Loving . 129 Ruth’s Donation Party . 85 Sanctuary : A Bird Masque .... Santa’s Allies . 103 96 Saul and Stephen . 113 Search for the Light, The . 114 Seeker, The . 114 Set of the Sail, The . 121 Shepherds, The . 96 Sin of Ahab, The . 130 Shorter Bible Plays . 91 Songs of Grateful Hearts . 90 Song They Sang, The . 85 Soul of the City, The . 125 Spirit of Thanksgiving, The .... 131 Stable Door, The . 114 Standard Bearers, The . 114 Star of the East, The . 130 Starting Right . 115 Story-Telling . 91 Striking of America’s Hour, The 115 Three Plays for Boys . 86 Three Roses and Other Christmas Plays . 96 Three Song Festival Programs . 91 Through the Sunday School Door . Triumph of Peace, The . 86 115 Two Thousand Miles for a Book . 125 Uncle Sam’s Congress of Methods 121 Uncle Sam’s Foundlings . 125 Vision of the Home-Land, A . 126 Visions of World Freedom . 126 Visitors from Ellis Island . 86 Voices of the Stars, The . 97 Waiting for the Doctor . 122 Wayside Piper, The . 126 When the Star Shone . 98 84 A Guide to Religious Pageantry PAGE Who Is My Neighbor? . 116 Why Didn’t You Tell? . 100 Why the Chimes Bang . 98 World’s Christmas Fireplace, The . 99 Youth’s Easter . 100 Boys and Girls Alice s House Warming. By Anita B. Ferris. An Americanization play from Children’s House of Friendship Plays. Characters : 6 boys and 8 girls, J unior Department. Costumes easily made. Playing time : 30 minutes. Published by the Interchurch Press, 45 West 18th Street, New York. Alice Through the Postal Card. By Anita B. Ferris. The postal-card door is arranged through which Alice comes into Japan. Play for boys and girls of Junior age. Playing time: 30 minutes. Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 15 cents. The Drama of Esther. Listed under Old Testament Plays. The First Thanksgiving Dinner. Listed under Thanks¬ giving. The Gift of Self. Listed under General Religious. Good King Wencelas. Listed under Christmas. Help Wanted for Miss Liberty . Listed under General Religious. The Honorable Mrs. Ling’s Conversion. Listed under Foreign Missions. The Little Pilgrims and the Book Beloved. By Marie J. Hobart. A mystery play suitable for boys and girls of Junior age. Characters: 30 or more. Published by Educational Divi¬ sion, Department of Missions, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York. The Little Pilgrim’s Progress. Listed under Thanksgiving. \ Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 85 Livingstone Hero Plays. By Anita B. Ferris. Four Plays: The Mill Boy, A Fight with a Lion , The Slave Raiders, and Faithful Friends. These plays consist of four incidents in David Livingstone’s life. They may be given separately or in one performance. The whole service can be given in 45 or 50 minutes. Suitable for Junior Departments. Number of characters: 12 to 50. Costumes are simple and can be easily made. Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Martha Washington and the Home Mission Children. Listed under Home Missions. Queen Esthers Choice. Listed under Old Testament Plays. The Promise of the New Day. By D. W. Jones, High School Boy’s Work Secretary, Y. M. C. A. “A pageant dealing with the foursquare development — mental, physical, devotional, and service — of a boy, setting forth the results in world progress which may be expected when boys have the advantage of an all-round develop¬ ment.” Published by the Association Press, New York. Ruth’s Donation Party. By Anita B. Ferris. Arranged for 11 Junior boys and girls. Playing time: 20 or 30 minutes. Published by Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 160 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 15 cents. Santas Allies. Listed under Christmas. The Song They Sang. By Laura Scherer Copenhaver. A missionary play for girls in which the opening scene shows a group of American girls sitting about a tea table. The pamphlet carries very helpful suggestions concerning costumes and general directions for presentation. Pub¬ lished by Literature Headquarters, W. M. S. (Lutheran), 844 Drexel Building, Philadelphia. 86 A C! aide io Religious Pageantry The Soul of the City. Listed under Home Missions. The Spirit of Thanksgiving. Listed under Thanksgiving. “Three Plays for Boys.” By Frederick L. Fay, Scout¬ master Troop 3, B. S. A., Boston, and M. A. Emerson, Ph.D., Instructor at Boston University. These three plays are written for boys and are found in a little booklet published by the Association Press, New York. (1) A Regular Fellow. A three-act play running about 60 minutes. The scene is laid in a boys’ camp in New Hampshire in which a young lad named Harold has a chance to prove to his fellow camp mates that he is a “regular fellow.” (2) Lend a Hand. A dramatic sketch given for Boy Scout demonstration in First Aid and Signaling. This little play makes a strong appeal to boys and carries with it a wholesome atmosphere of outdoor life. (3) If I Were Bob. This is another camp drama for boys. The Boy Scouts are found amusing themselves around the camp fire telling of what they would do were they old enough to become a soldier, etc. The costumes are the regular uniforms of the Boy Scouts of America. Through the Sunday School Door. By Anita B. Ferris. A Children’s Day play for boys and girls. 13 characters. Costumes very simple. May be given in any small Church or Sunday School. Published by Every land Press, 160 Fifth Avenue, New York. Visitors from Ellis Island. By Mrs. E. C. Cronk. A little play for boys and girls prepared in simple form, so that it may be given by a Sunday School or class. Pub¬ lished by Literature Headquarters, W. M. S. (Lutheran), 844 Drexel Building, Philadelphia. Waiting for the Doctor. Listed under Foreign Missions. Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 87 Children “Bible Plays for Children.” By Mae Stein Soble. A very useful book for teachers of children. Contains valuable suggestions for the teacher and the following Bible plays : The Garden of Eden The First Temptation . The First Tear . Why Pharaoh Was Wicked Mother Love Finds a Way Moses the Shepherd . The Call of God . The Golden Calf . The Promised Land . The Might of Right . A Story Play A Dramatization A Legend A Legend A Dramatization An Interpretation A Dramatization A Dramatization A Dramatization A Dramatization m * Published by James T. White & Co New York. The Child in the Midst. By Katharine Stanley Hall. This is a child pageant. The prologue is spoken by a Senior boy or girl. Playing time within the compass of 30 minutes. Published by the Abingdon Press, New York. Children of the Christmas Spirit. By Anita B. Ferris. Characters : “The Spirit of Christmas — a girl of sixteen or seventeen or a young woman, — an Austrian girl, a Dutch boy and girl, a German boy and girl — a French boy and girl — an English boy and girl — an American girl; children from ten to thirteen. American girl should be one of the older children chosen. “An Eskimo boy — a North American Indian boy — a Hindoo girl — a Japanese girl — a Chinese boy — an Arab boy : some of these children may be younger than ten if desired. The Japanese girl should be the smallest.” Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New Fork. Price, 25 cents. 88 A Guide to Religious Pageantry The Children s Christmas Dream. By Mary E. Telford. This is a little Christmas play in one act that may be staged without difficulty. In it one finds the true spirit of “giving” with a splendid missionary climax. Arthur H. Strouse Publishing Company, Chicago. The Children s Crusade. By Madeleine Sweeny Miller. This is a Centenary pageant written for the Sunday School. The author makes the following observation : “Realizing the importance and the difficulty of ade- cpiately presenting the Centenary to the young people of onr Sunday Schools, I have built up during the past months the following Pageant, based upon that fascinating episode from thirteenth-century French history, the cru¬ sade of the children, and have incorporated in it four typical missionary situations demanding of the youth of the present age the same Christian chivalry as was dis¬ played by the early French children. All of the scenes will be found to abound in animation and music. Part Two is up-to-the-minute in timeliness, conveying much of the current patriotism expressing itself in Refugee Relief Work, College Women’s Units, etc.” Published by the Methodist Book Concern, New York. The Christmas Guest. Listed under Christmas. Christmas Tableaux. Listed under Christmas. Dramatic Games and Dances for Little Children. By Carolyn Crawford. Published by A. S. Barnes, 30 Irving Place, New York. Price, $2.40. “The Dramatization of Bible Stories.” By Elizabeth Erwin Miller. “The author presents plays in the making, from the crudest beginnings to the relatively finished product as finally presented by children. All plays were prepared by children under leadership, and all the old favorites such as Joseph, Daniel, Goliath, and Moses, appear. To these have 89 Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants been added other stories both long and short, and several parables. The author also suggests a considerable number of biblical episodes which might be presented as plays, after being worked up by the processes, she describes. “The problems of scenery, equipment, costumes, time and place are shown to be easily solved through the use of the ingenuity, willing work, and imagination of the children. Suggestions are reinforced by illustrations of children in process of playing, or of properties constructed by them. The simplicity of all plans renders the book useful in the home group as well as in larger groups/’ Published by the University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Price, $1.25. A Dream of Christmas Eve. Listed under Christmas. “The Good Samaritan, and Other Bible Stories Drama¬ tized.” By Edna Earle Cole Spencer. This little volume contains 11 Old Testament stories ill dramatic form. They have been carefully worked out by an experienced teacher of children: The Good Samaritan, Paul and the Jailer , A King's Life Spared, Esther , The Brave Young Queen, Peter and the Roman Captain, Two Journeys to Bethlehem , The Story of the Twelve Spies, The Story of Joseph, Naaman and Gehazi, The Story of the Baby Moses, The Story of Little Samuel. Published by George H. Doran Company, New York. «rri How to Produce Children’s Plays.” By Constance D’Arcy Maekay. There is included in the book a history of the Children’s play movement, a chapter on its sociological aspects, and suggestions for new fields, as well as chapters on play- producing, scenery, costumes and properties. The book discusses the special needs, of public schools, social settle¬ ments and camps, and has lists of plays for such places. There is a bibliography covering the whole child-drama movement.” Published by Henry Holt and Company, New York. 90 A Guide to Religious Pageantry “How to Tell Stories to Children.” By Sara Cone Bryant. This book is rich in suggestive material. It gives valu¬ able hints as to kinds of stories and the matter of adapta¬ tion to particular audiences. This book will be found to be very valuable to both experienced and inexperienced story¬ tellers. Published by Brentano’s Book Shop, Fifth Ave¬ nue, New York. Price, $1.40. “The Little Playbook.” By Katharine Lord. The Greatest Gift (A Christmas Play). K at fen’s Garden . June Magic (A Little Play for the Garden). The Ministers Dream (A Thanksgiving Fantasy). The Day Will Shakespeare Went to Kenilworth (A Pageant Play). The Yuletide Rose (A Christmas Miracle Play). “These plays have been written especially for production by children in schools, settlements and clubs. They are so planned that the settings and costumes are of the simplest kind, and the dialogue is of such a nature that it is easily learned. A brief Introduction gives suggestions for re¬ hearsing the plays. All the plays in this volume have received the test of actual production.” Published by Duffield Company, 211 East 19th Street, New York. “The Out-Door Story Book.” By Carolyn Sherwin Bailey. This is a book of stories for very young children. They give children an insight into the beauty and wonder of nature. Published by the Pilgrim Press, Boston. Price, $1. “Songs of Grateful Hearts.” A Children’s Program for Public Thank-Offering Meetings. By Mrs. C. E. Gardner. This little service is adapted to children of the Primary and Junior departments. Very helpful suggestions are given in the introduction to the booklet. Teachers of children will find this a very helpful means of arousing 91 Descriptive List of Plays and. Pageants interest in their classes. Published by Literature Head¬ quarters, W. M. S. (Lutheran), 844 Drexel Building, Philadelphia. “Shorter Bible Plays.” By Rita Benton. These plays are designed for children, and have been used many times over in church schools : Noah's Flood, The Proving of Abraham, Moses in the Bulrushes, TJp From Egypt to the Promised Land, The Call of Samuel , David and Goliath, The Judgment of Solomon (Longer Version), The Judgment of Solomon (Shorter Version), The Good Samaritan, Manger Service. Published by the Abingdon Press, New York. “Story-Telling.” This pamphlet is published by the Playground and Recreation Association of America, 1 Madison Avenue, New York. This is a very useful booklet in that it gives a list of the best books on story-telling, with valuable suggestions of a general nature. Price, 10 cents. “Three Roses and Other Christmas Plays.” Listed under Christmas. “Three Song Festival Programs.” By H. Augustine Smith. Three little song services designed for Children’s Week : 1. “Song Festival of the Seasons.” 2. “Song Festival of the Twelve Months.” 3. “The Life of Christ.” Published by the Century Company, 353 Fourth Avenue, New York. Price, 15 cents. Why Didn’t You Tell ? Listed under Easter. Christmas The Birth of Christ. By Paul Bliss. This is a combined reading and singing service. Con¬ sists of 6 tableaux with singing and descriptive readings from the Scripture. The tableau part requires at least 8 women. Children or men might be used by special 92 A Guide to Religious Pageantry adaptation. Characters: Mary, Joseph, Three Wise Men, Three (or more) Shepherds. This Christmas entertain¬ ment is adapted for Church, Sunday School or home use. Published by the Willis Music Company, Cincinnati. Price, 60 cents. The Childrens Christmas Dream . Listed under Children. The Christian Year. By Margaret H. Wentworth. A Christmas mystery play during the days of Queen Elizabeth. At least 25 characters are necessary. The actors impersonate the Church seasons, the Saints, a village pastor and two of his peasant flock in England. Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford, Conn. The Christmas Guest. By C. D. MacKay. This play is taken from a book of children’s plays, “The House of the Heart.” Characters: 3 male, 5 female. A medieval miracle play, written in verse, 1 act. Suitable for Church use. Published by Henry Holt and Company. Price, $1.25. The Christmas Story. By Virginia A. Griswold. “This is the Bible story of the birth of the Christ, using the Bible language as far as possible. It lends itself to 4 scenes: The hill country of Judea, the throne-room of Herod, the market place in Bethlehem and the stable with the manger. It can be produced in the simplest manner on a platform, or with all the Oriental setting and accessories which the imagination and means can provide. Plays about an hour, and any number of people, adults and chil¬ dren can be used. Makes an admirable Christmas enter¬ tainment and is well adapted for the use of churches and schools.” Published by Samuel French, New York. Price, 35 cents. Christmas Tableaux. By Nora Archibald Smith. These tableaux are included in a book, “Plays, Panto¬ mimes and Tableaux for Children,” and are as follows: Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 93 (1) Christmas in England. (2) Christmas ivith the Children. (3) A Christmas Garland, Published by Moffat, Yard Company, 31 Union Square, New York. Price, $2. A Dream on Christmas Eve. Bv Ilia Home. This little play is written for children and may be given in about thirty minutes, though if desired may be length¬ ened. The costuming is simple and may be done by any religious worker who will take the time to study a group of standard Bible pictures. Published by Samuel French, New York. “The story is the dream of a little girl on Christmas Eve, in which she views the good things which she is to receive on the morrow. Santa Claus enters and while filling the stocking tells a story of the little people to whom he gives his presents. Then the Christmas pudding enters and tells how she was made. Then the pumpkin pie, the holly, mis¬ tletoe, ice cream, crackers, candy, etc., enter and tell their stories. The play is easy to give and can be given in the class room, Sunday School or home.” Price, 30 cents. The Gifts We Bring. The publishers, T. S. Denison and Company, 623 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago, give this synopsis : “A Christmas pageant in 2 episodes. Cast 60 to 500 people. Time: one hour. For community production, clubs, schools, colleges, churches, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire groups, etc. Has been given with casts of children, with high school girls and boys, with university students and with mixed groups from grades, high schools and Sunday Schools. It is the story of Christmas told by the mother. The music used is Christmas carols and familiar airs. Contains groups of snowbirds, automatic toys, jumping jacks, candles, candy sticks, colored balls, tinsel fairies, poinsettia and holly. There is old Santa Goodfellow and fairies of peace, love and good will. Simple, attractive, characteristic dances are given. An entire second produc- 94 A Guide to Religious Pageantry tion for use in churches substitutes marches and drills for the dances. It is a beautiful pageant and serves to bring out wonderfully the Christmas spirit. Contains complete directions for staging, costuming, production, etc. Music is all in one collection with the exception of a few well- known Christmas carols. Eight photographic half-tones of various scenes and dances/’ Price, postpaid, $1. Good King Wencelas. A Christmas Pantomime. “This pantomime was given at Christmastide in a coun¬ try house. The parts were taken by 3 boys, aged five, eight and ten, and a girl aged seven. It is printed for the use of those who wish to get up at short notice and with little expense and trouble an appropriate and effective Christmas entertainment, that requires only five children to fill the parts, evergreens, cotton, etc. (to represent the snow), clothes-frames or screens, and some simple cos¬ tuming (home-made) and furnishings from the children’s play-room.” Published by the Church Missions Publishing Company, 45 Church Street, Hartford. Price, 15 cents. The Light of the World. By H. Augustine Smith. A pageant for the Christmas season and for Home and Foreign Missions. (First presentation in the Imperial Theater, Tokio, Japan, October 8, 1920, under the direc¬ tion of the Author.) 5 scenes. Large cast necessary. Published by the Century Company, 353 Fourth Avenue, New York. Price, 15 cents. The Message of the Christ-Child. By Marian Manley. This little pageant is written for presentation in Sunday School. In this production is shown the great fear in the hearts of Chinese children, and what the message of the Christ-Child means to them. It is very effective for Christmas time. Playing time: about 45 minutes. 16 or more characters, several of them boys. Published by the Abingdon Press, New York. 95 Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants The Nativity. This dramatic service is written for young people and is composed entirely of selections from the Scriptures. Accompanying the play are full instructions for stage set¬ ting and other helpful hints for its production. Among the° characters is a little choir of 15 to 20 children, parts for three girls and eight boys. Samuel French, publisher, New York. The Next-Door House. By Margaret Cropper. A Christmas play by Margaret Cropper. “A beautiful Christmas mystery by an able author. The Virgin and Child visit on Christmas Eve the house of the woman, Down-in-the-Dust.” A short play, about 1 hour, 11 char¬ acters. Published by The Macmillan Company, New York. Price, 10 cents. The Night Before Christinas. By William Patterson Taylor. This little play may be given in 1 hour, though it con¬ tains 3 short acts. Published by Samuel French, New York. “The first act presents the wondrous and hurried night before Christmas preparation activities in Santa’s work¬ shop at the North Pole. The second act is a night before Christmas home bed-chamber incident, involving the des¬ perate situation resulting from a childish difference be¬ tween two brothers, which difference — “made up” true — introduces, also, the woeful possibilities of Santa’s calami¬ tous displeasure. (In this and the last act the children’s classic, ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ is dramatized.) In the third act ‘All’s Well That Ends Well.’ A quartet sup¬ plies the music. This little play has grown during years of local use by the author and others. Its unbroken success in stirring and impressing the children (and the ‘grown¬ ups,’ too — whom, also, the author aimed to reach) was urged as a reason for its publication. Strongly recom¬ mended as an entertainment for the holiday season.” Price, 30 cents. 96 A Guide to Religious Pageantry The Place of Meeting. By H. B. Allan. A mystery play of to-day. The altar is shown to be the true meeting-place between this world and the next. A Christmas scene in three acts; fourteen characters. Pub¬ lished by The Macmillan Company. Price, $1. The Prophetic Child. By the Pev. Langley Sears. This is a Christmas pageant, written in 7 scenes: The Child in the Manger, The Shepherds and the Angels, The Shepherd and the Child, The People of Bethlehem and the Child, The Wise Men and the Child, The Praise of the Child. Playing time : little less than an hour. Published by the Pilgrim Press, Boston. Price, 15 cents. Santa’s Allies. By Anita B. Ferris. These suggestive words are found in the editor’s note: Santas Allies is based upon the idea of the “summer Christmas tree.” It is intended as an entertainment to be presented at the end of the summer by a group of boys and girls who have been making gifts for a mission school, the children’s ward of a hospital, or the Bed Cross. Used in this way, it should help to promote an all-the-year-round Christmas spirit, which is but another name for the spirit of Christianity. Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. The Shepherds. By Katharine Kenyon. A Christmas play. Characters : Shepherd, Esther, Rachel, Tobias, Mark, Simon, Strange Traveler. For the tableau, the Virgin, Joseph, two or four Angels. Published by The Macmillan Company. Price, 15 cents. “Three Roses and Other Christmas Plays.” By Margaret Cropper. These little services, designed for the Christmas season, are very beautiful. Three Roses, a Christmas play for children in tableaux and scenes. The Child, on her way to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve with her gifts of three roses for the Christ- Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 97 Child, meets others without gifts and gives away her roses one by one. Characters: 7 older girls or women, 9 older boys or men, a girl, a boy, a choir of voices. One interior, one exterior, and the interior of the stable. Time : 1 hour. Published by The Macmillan Company, New York. Price, 20 cents. No Pioom in the Inn, a Christmas play in 3 scenes. Again on Christmas Eve the inn is full, no room for a strange man, woman or child. But the little son of the landlord has been watching for the strangers and directs them to the stable. Then he and his playmates and finally the other guests in the inn see the vision and offer gifts to the Christ-Child with softened hearts. Characters: the landlord, his son, a peddler, a laborer, a quarryman, a car¬ penter, a wounded soldier, a man, woman, and child, some little children. One interior, two exteriors. Time : 1 hour. Published by The Macmillan Company, New York. Price, 10 cents. The Road to Bethlehem, a Christmas play for little chil¬ dren. Children from other lands find each other on the road to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, going to offer gifts to the Christ. Very simple and beautiful, short speeches, but the tableaux at the end should be carefully arranged. An exterior, an interior. Time: 45 minutes. (From “Plays and Pageants for Parish Use, Protestant Episcopal Church.”) Published by The Macmillan Company, New Y ork. The Voices of the Stars. By Frank Moore Jeffery. A music drama requiring care in preparation. All sing¬ ing parts are written in the musical staff. “The ancient astrologers drew pictures in the sky that to astronomers have become the constellation of astronomy. To the greater planets and stars they gave the names of the characters of Mythology. “Through this mighty host, over the glittering path of the innumerable stars of the Milky Way, it is assumed in this drama that the Christ-Child came from the glories of 98 A Guide to Religious Pageantry the heavenly land to the humble conditions of earth bring¬ ing Good Will and Peace.” Published by the Century Company, New York. By Lyman R. Bayard. The characters represented : When the Star Shone. A Christian pageant. Prophecy History Rabbi Nathan of Bethlehem Joel, His Servant Benjamin, His Son Four Shepherds Three Wise Men The Wise MeWs Followers Marcus, a Roman Soldier Tullius, a Roman Soldier Judith, the RabbPs Wife Sarah, His Daughter Hannah and Other Bethle hem Women Bethlehem Men Bethlehem Boys and Girls This is a well-arranged Christmas service with all music accompanying the pamphlet. Full directions and sugges¬ tions for producing are given in an accompanying folder. Published by Pageant Publishers, 1206-1208 South Hill Street, Los Angeles. Price, 50 cents. Why the Chimes Rang. This little play in one act is written by Elizabeth McFadden. The playing time is about one and one-half hours. There is a royalty of $5 on this drama when no admission is charged. If admission is charged the royalty is $10. The publisher, Samuel French of New York, has the following to say about it : “It teaches the story of the Christ-Child, rather than the Byzantine legend of Santa Claus. It may be adapted to the ritual of any Christian denomination by slight changes of costume and setting. It offers a rare opportunity for ex¬ quisite church music. It may be given in the barest room, against a background of Christmas greens, or it may be pre¬ sented with the most lavish equipment of a professional theater, yet both productions will thrill the imagination and touch the heart. It teaches the beauty of a charity that gives heart and service as well as gold.” Price, 35 cents. Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 99 The World's Christinas Fireplace. By Madeleine Sweeny Miller. A pageant for Christmas relief for the women and children of Europe. There are 16 characters, besides the “Spirit of Christmas Giving,” and a group of boys and girls in America. This is a brief pageant and may be given in 20 or 30 minutes. Published by the Abingdon Press, New York. Easter The Dawning. By Lyman R. Bayard. A very beautiful pageant that has won many successes in various Churches. “We shall stand outside the gate of Jerusalem, with the sepulcher of Jesus to our right, and shall watch those of old time pass back and forth between the city gate and the tomb. We shall see Peter and John and Thomas and the other disciples. We shall behold the faithful women go sorrowfully to the tomb to anoint the beloved body. We shall see Joseph of Arimathsea, and Nicodemus, and the Centurion of Calvary, of whom early Christian tradition says that his name was Longinus, and that he became a Christian bishop and a martyr for the faith. We shall tarry a while with the Jerusalem children; and at last we shall see the procession come back from the glorious scene of the Ascension to face the task of conquering the world.” Published by the Pageant Publishers, 1206-1208 South Hill Street, Los Angeles. Price, 50 cents. Eastertide. By Paul Bliss. Arranged for three-part chorus of women or children’s voices. Seven tableaux with singing and descriptive read¬ ings. Published by the Willis Music Company, Cincinnati. Price, 60 cents. “Go Tell Missionary play. This is a beautiful Easter Missionary play. Characters : only 6 young girls. Time : about 35 minutes. Published 100 A Guide to Religious Pageantry by The Challenge, Limited, Effingham House, Arundel Street, Strand, W. C. 2, London. Price, twopence each. The Last Passover Night. By W. H. T. Gairdner. This brief play begins with the scene in the upper room on Good Friday eve. “The scene is simply the dramatiza¬ tion of some pages of the great ‘Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah’ by a scholar to whom both Jewish and Christian records were books unsealed.” Published by the Macmillan Company, New York. Price, 20 cents. A Mirror for Souls. By Margaret Cropper. This is an old English mystery play of exceptional beauty. The Messenger brings a mirror to the little town and all the inhabitants see themselves as they really are. Characters : 3 children, 6 women, and 4 men. Playing time: about one and one-half hours. Published by The Macmillan Company, New York. Price, 20 cents. The Resurrection. By Rosamond Kimball. Story of the Resurrection in dramatic form, told in the language of the Bible. Illustrated in pantomime and tableaux with organ and choir. A very simple service which can be produced without difficulty. Published by Samuel French, New York. Price, 35 cents. Youth's Easter. By Helen L. Wilcox. This is a morality play, designed for Sunday School and Church service. There are 16 speaking parts. 44 charac¬ ters are necessary for the cast, though as many as 250 may be employed. The play is admirably adapted for out-of- door presentation. Published by the Interchurch Press, New York. Price, 25 cents. Why Didn't You Tell ? By Anita B. Ferris. An Easter entertainment for children from five to ten years of age. 27 or more characters. Time : 30 minutes. Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 15 cents. Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 101 General, Community America, Yesterday and To-day. By Nina B. Lamkin. “This is one of Nina B. Lamkiids most successful pageants, having been produced 500 times by schools, col¬ leges, clubs and communities. It is historical and patriotic in character and can be produced by casts varying from 80 to 500 people; time required one and one-half hours. However, can be used in separate episodes as : I — Spirit of Indian Hays; II — Spirit of the Wilderness; III — Spirit of Patriotism. Contains field business, Indian dances, folk dances and symbolic dances. Music and costumes fully described and easily carried out. Adaptable anywhere as a community production. Episode II is so constructed as to make the town and state in which it is given especially prominent and in the “Town Interest” scene your local history can be inserted. Special places for Camp Fire Girls, Boy Scouts, G. A. E., soldiers of to-day, clubs, churches, schools, etc. Eight original photograpliic half¬ tones of various scenes and dances.” Price, postpaid, $1. “Community Celebrations.” By Alfred Arvold. This book is especially designed for rural communities, and gives a wide variety of entertainment. Suitable for different holidays, seasons of the year, etc. Apply to the author, University of North Dakota, Fargo, N. D. The Crossroads Meetin House. Listed under General Eeligious. “Dances, Drills and Story-Plays.” Directors of community pageants frequently find folk dances very helpful in making their presentations. This book is published by the T. S. Denison Company, 623 Wabash Avenue, Chicago. From the publisher: “Fourteen folk dances of various countries, suitable for schools, clubs, churches, settlements, etc. Twenty-six sim¬ ple aesthetic dances such as dances of the seasons, flowers, brownies, fairies, bluebirds, etc. Twenty-four drills for 102 A Guide to Religious Pageantry every clay and holiday; unusual, artistic and worth while. Forty-one Rhythms and Story-Plays to be used with primary ages in every-day recreation, in dramatizations and other entertainments. There is something in this book to fit any occasion where such material is desired. For Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, gymnasium work, play festi¬ vals, field clays, etc. Music suggested and everything, in¬ cluding costumes, fully described. Eight original photo¬ graphic half-tones of various dances.” Price, postpaid, $1.25. The Enchanted Garden. By C. D. MacKay. Adapted for May Day celebration, or may be given as a graduation play. Most of the characters are flow'ers. Among them are also the bee, the butterfly and will-of-the- wisp. 10 characters, boys and girls. Any number of children may be introduced as attendants. Plays about 45 minutes. Published by Samuel French, New York. Price, 30 cents. “Folk Festivals, Their Growth and How to Give Them.” By Mary Master Needham. “Mrs. Needham has done much here to increase the already widespread interest, and to incite others to organize the playtime of children and adults in such a way as to make the festival popular and charming. Several varieties of the festival, such as the historical pageant, the May day festival, the old-time and the modern pantomime, the ancient festivals of foreign cities, and the Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving festivals, are described, while many practical suggestions for the use of schools and societies are in¬ cluded.” Published by B. W. Huebsch, 225 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, $1.50. The Lamp. Listed under General Religious. “Producing Amateur Entertainment.” By Helen Ferris. A book full of suggestions for entertainments of all kinds. This will be a very useful volume to those who are Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 103 interested in working up community entertainments of almost any description. Published by E. P. Dutton and Company, New York. Price, $2. Sanctuary : A Bird Masque. By Percy MacKaye. “This poetic masque is a plea for the conservation of wild birds; an issue of national and international importance. The masque was first presented before President and Mrs. Wilson on the out-door stage of the bird sanctuary at Meriden, near Cornish, New Hampshire, and was enacted there by a distinguished cast, among whom were Miss Eleanor and Miss Margaret Wilson, Ernest Harold Baynes, Witter Bynner, Percy MacKaye and Joseph Lindon Smith.” Published by Frederick A. Stokes Company, 443 Fourth Avenue, New York. Price, $1. General, Religious Advance the Line. By Marie E. J. Hobart. Written for the nation-wide campaign of the Episcopal Church and awarded a prize in the Pageant Contest by the Commission on Church Pageantry. 7 characters and a choir. Published by Commission on Church Pageantry and Drama, 289 Fourth Avenue, New York. The Adze-Head. By the Rev. John S. Littell, D.D. A little play centering around the life of St. Patrick. About 10 characters, including men, women, boys and girls. Can be given very effectively out-of-doors. Playing time : about 30 minutes. Published by Church Missions Publish¬ ing Company, 45 Church Street, Hartford. Price, 15 cents. The Burden Bearer — A Mystery Play of the Christian Tear. By the Rev. Arthur Chase. The Burden Bearer requires no stage setting beyond a screen or two, and the Christmas greens, and can be fit¬ tingly given in church, as the words spoken follow closely those of the Bible or of the Prayer-Book service for the 104 A Guide to Religious Pageantry seasons, introduced in their order by the singing of a verse of some familiar hymn. “The attendants are the children of the Sunday-school and the Parish choir ; but the spoken parts are limited to the 14 children in costume.” Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford. Price, 20 cents. The Canvassers and Mr. Brown. A one-act play. From the Foreword: “The Pev. Dr. George H. Mack, the superintendent of Presbyterian wTork in Tennessee, and 1 were conducting a laymen’s meeting in Nashville in Jan¬ uary, 1916. The subject to be discussed one morning was the every member canvass. Dr. Mack suggested that, instead of talking about the canvass, we act it out. “So we prepared this ‘one-act play/ The laymen en¬ couraged us to use it still further, which we have done. Dr. Mack made use of it in a series of institutes in every presbytery in his synod. We are glad to pass it on to others for improvement, for adaption to local needs, and, princi¬ pally, to aid in the great work of the church.” Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. The Church Victorious Through Love. By Alice H. Clark and Bockwell S. Brank. A Masque adapted for Church service. 12 characters, The Church, An Angel, Love, Faith, Knowledge, War, Music, Opportunity, Wealth, Self-Sacrifice, Famine, Death. Chorus of women and girls from many lands. Playing time: about one hour. Published by Woman’s Board of Home Missions (Presbyterian), 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. The City Beautiful. This pageant was given at the Centenary Celebration in Columbus. It requires careful preparation, but is very effective. From the Introduction: Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 105 “The City Beautiful is a Pageant of the historical type, having for its central idea, ‘The Redeemed City/ The first two scenes are biblical. One by the realistic interpre¬ tation of Hebrew dramatic literature depicts the triumphal entry of David into Jerusalem. The other visualizes to the audience Christ's entrance on Palm Sunday. The third scene deals with the heroic attempts of the Crusaders to wrest the Holy City from the hands of the Infidel. The fourth shows the Forces of Evil at work among the children of the modern city. The fifth reveals the power of Christianity to overcome these Forces of Evil — Cruelty, Ignorance and Crime. The last looks forward to the ideal, the New Jerusalem, where the streets shall be full of happy children, and where Justice, Righteousness and Love shall prevail.” Published by the Abingdon Press, New York. The Coming of the Truth. By Helen Patten Hanson. This service provides the means of arousing your school and congregation to a larger pride and responsibility in the great work of Christian teaching. Among the charac¬ ters are World, War, Law, Science, Industry, Education, Church of Christ with a group of primary children, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, etc. Prepared by the Board of Sunday Schools. Published by the Methodist Book Con¬ cern, New York. The Conquerors of the Continent. By Alice Gwendoline Alhee. Twelve characters and a choir. The play is divided as follows : Prologue. 1. The Founding of the Church in America. 2. The Church’s First Missions. 3. The Church’s Work Continued in the West. 4. The Church in the Far West. 5. The Church in Alaska. Epilogue. 10(3 A Guide io Religious Pageantry Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford. Price, 10 cents. The Crossroads Meetin House. By Mary Meek Atkeson. This production will be very helpful in rural communi¬ ties. Among the characters in the play are Barnhart, Champion cattle raiser of his country — and knows it; Jim Randall, an up-to-date farmer and dairyman ; Squire Mor¬ gan, an old-fashioned, dignified gentleman of the old school; Hoskins, a good-natured but worthless farmer, afflicted with laziness; John Ryan, an Agricultural College preacher, etc. Published by The Interchurch World Move¬ ment of North America, New York. Dianah, Queen of the Berbers. By Clarice Vallette McCauley. A religious drama in 3 acts. 11 characters, besides soldiers and others. This Drama was first presented at the Centenary Celebration at Columbus in 1919. The play is historically accurate and depicts the fall of Christianity in northern Africa in the seventh century, when overrun by the Mohammedans. Playing time : about one and one-half hours. Published by the Abingdon Press, New York. Price, 50 cents. Everywhere. By May Lennard. A mystery play in four scenes as follows : Scene I, A Room in the Seekers’ Castle ; Scene II, Motherheart’s Attic; Scene III, Faithful’s Studio; Scene IY, The Vil¬ lage Green, Marsham ; Epilogue, spoken by the Angel. Published by The Macmillan Company, New York. Price, 35 cents. Florence Nightingale. By Edith Gittings Reid. A play in three acts. “A play that portrays vividly the career and character of Florence Nightingale, showing her in her English home, then laboring among the frightful conditions in a Crimean hospital, and among the soldiers at the front — growing worn and ill in their service — and Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 107 again in London working for legislation to provide in the future for the care of the wounded.” Dr. Henry Van Dyke wrote after reading the play : “It is fine — a splendid idea well worked out — a bit of mystic realism. It has the elements of a great success.” Pub¬ lished by The Macmillan Company, Hew York. Price, $1.25. Garments of Praise. By Florence Converse. A Miracle Cycle containing four beautifully arranged dramas : The Blessed Birthday — A Christmas Miracle Play. Thy Kingdom Come — A Dream for Easter Even. Soul's Medicine — A Whitsuntide Miracle of Healing. Santa Conversazione — An All Saints Miracle. “Simple plays, in which romance, dramatic situation and reverence for spiritual values are delicately blended. Suitable for acting by either children or grown-ups, but also exquisite enough in language to make beautiful read¬ ing.” Published by E. P. Dutton and Company, 681 Fifth Avenue, Hew York. Price, $2. The Gate of Vision. By M. Creagh-Henry. A modern mystical play. Characters, Anarchist, Profiteer, Miser, Painter, Light Woman, Dancer, Soldier, Rich Man, Shepherd, Artist, etc. This play was first produced at Church House, Westminster, March 21st, 1922. Published by The Macmillan Company, Hew York. Price, 30 cents. The Gift. By Marie Foley. This is a symbolic play in 1 act. It is published by Samuel French, Hew York, and sells for 35 cents. The publisher makes the following comment: “The action passes in a simple room of a little house near Judea during the lifetime of Our Lord. The charac¬ ters are two men, one woman and three children. The costumes — tunic draperies — make it easily possible to be played by an all female cast.” 108 A Guide to Religious Pageantry The Gift of Self. By Phillips E. Osgood. An allegory written especially for boys and girls. The spirit of giving one’s self is brought out effectively in this play, and it carries with it the wholesome sentiments of Christian Service. Well adapted for use in Churches and Sunday Schools or young people’s societies. Plays about 45 minutes, and has 16 characters and a choir. Published by Educational Division, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York. Help Wanted for Miss Liberty. By Naomi Fletcher. A Christian Americanization play for boys and girls. Playing time : about 30 minutes. 5 scenes. Characters : 7 older girls, 5 younger girls. This play may be given in pageant form, and in this case 20 to 40 “immigrants” will be necessary, dressed in all kinds of costumes. The Idle and the Ideal Associate — A G. F. S. Morality Play. By Elizabeth Goodspeed. “The title explains the object of the play, to entertain and at the same time instruct a group of associates. “The 6 characters bear the names, respectively, of Miss Patience Worthy, Miss Idle Weaks, Miss Idealla Strong, Hope Needem, Minnie Young and Mrs. Earnest Work¬ man.” Scene — Room in a Parish House. “The whole, which can be acted in half an hour, is in two acts." Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford. Joseph and His Brothers. By W. H. T. Gairdner. An Old Testament Passion Play in four acts. A vivid presentation of this ever interesting story. Effectively illustrated with helpful notes for costuming, staging, etc. About 30 characters. Published by The Macmillan Com¬ pany, New York. Price, 60 cents. Judas Iscariot. By Charlotte Gleason. A biblical drama arranged in a prologue and 3 acts. A play of unusual dramatic power and literary beauty. Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 109 Published by George H. Doran and Company, New York. Price, 50 cents. The Lamp. By Anita B. Ferris. A pageant of religious education, written in 3 parts. This service is one of the more elaborate types but is well written and requires careful preparation. “The Lamp is a pageant of religious education, the theme of which is the aim of the church school of to-day, namely, to develop Christian citizenship. “The pageant is designed for community use, that is, all the church schools of a town, city, or district may unite in its production. Or, the pageant may be given by a single large church school or readily adapted for the use of a small school. Again, episodes from the pageant may be found practicable for an opening program of the church school on Sunday or for a missionary meeting; or one of the biblical episodes, for instance, may be developed as a project by a single Sunday-School class.” The Land of the Golden Man. By Anita B. Ferris. “A simple little program made up of tableaux and small dramatic scenes based upon the different chapters of the book, ‘The Land of the Golden Man/ in which anywhere from 8 to 30 or 40 pupils may be used. Only two or three rehearsals would be necessary, and very inexpensive cos¬ tuming is needed. It can be used as the program for an informal social at the end of the course. It is about an hour in length, and is really a series of living pictures to accompany the narrative.” Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. The Mission of the Church. By William Chauncy Langdon. Shows the Missionary work of the Church and the needs of humanity. “The speaking and reading are confined to only three 110 A Guide to Religious Rageantry persons, the three Voices that represent three elements or aspects of religious life, — the Voice of Divine Mediation, the Word of God, and the Appeal of the Human Spirit. The parts of the attendant Angels can and should be omitted in smaller churches. The parts of the Mission¬ aries and those to whom Missionaries are sent may be enacted, as has been said, by smaller or by larger num¬ bers.” Published by the Presiding Bishop and Council, Prot¬ estant Episcopal Church, 281 Fourth Avenue, Hew York. The Mystery of Epiphany. By B. C. Boulter. Contains hymns, carols and other music. An interest¬ ing English religious play. 11 scenes: Nazareth, The Annunciation; City of Judah, Birth of John the Baptist; Hillside near Bethlehem, The Shepherds; Bethlehem, The Nativity; Bethlehem, The Kings; The Temple, Candlemas; Herod’s Palace, The Massacre of the Innocents; The Desert, Flight into Egypt; The Temple, Disputation with Doctors; Nazareth, Carpenters Shop; Bethabara, The Baptism. About 45 characters. Published by The Mac¬ millan Company, New York. Price, $1. The Only Way Out of the Dark. By Charles A. McAlpine. An exercise for Universal Bible Sunday. This brief service is published by the American Bible Society, New York, and is designed for use at the Sunday morning service, or as a Sunday-School exercise. This will find also a useful place in young people’s societies. Magni¬ fies the place of the Bible in the world, and presents many facts concerning the wide distribution of the Holy Scriptures. Our Father. By F. Poena Med ini. The scene is laid in an Army Outpost, Red Cross Hospital Hut. Characters: an American nurse, an Ar¬ menian Poet converted to the Christian faith, a physician and orderly. Published by the Abingdon Press, New York. Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 111 A Pageant of Pilgrims. Listed under Thanksgiving. The Pageant of Brotherhood . By Anita B. Ferris. From the Introduction : “This is a simple pageant of an hour or an hour and a quarter in length, utilizing largely school and playground work to illustrate the contribution of all peoples in our modern civilization. “The pageant is suitable for Sunday School, vacation school, or settlement use. If given by a Sunday School, all departments from the senior to the primary may have their share. “The spoken parts are very short. The simple folk and nature dances used are taught in the public school and on the playground. They bear no kinship to the modern social dancing, and should not be classed as such. “To give the pageant in complete form 115 participants are required, although the number easily may be increased or diminished. Simplifications or alternatives are sug¬ gested throughout the pageant.” Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 35 cents. A Pageant of the Church. By Eleanor B. Forman and Mabel Eleanor Stone. “The following pageant is an unpretentious attempt to meet the needs among girls of high school and college age for a method of presenting church history that will catch the imagination and awaken the desire to share in the corporate life of the Church. The interludes represent in each case that phase of the modern Church which has grown out of the historical incidents depicted in the pre¬ ceding episode. It is possible to leave out the interludes, combining the prologue, episodes and epilogue into one unit. The pageant has been given in the simplest way, with almost no scenery, and with costumes of the most inexpensive materials.” Published by the National Board of the Young Women’s 112 /I Guide to Religious Pageantry Christian Association, 600 Lexington Avenue, New York. The Passing of the Kings. By Nina B. Lamkin. "A pageant in 8 episodes, 5 symbolic interludes. Cast : 100 to 1,000. Time: 2 hours. This is a magnificent spec¬ tacle visualizing pictorially events in history which by their influence have changed the spirit of religious and political freedom. The period covered is from the begin¬ ning of the Christian era to the present time. Treatment is by beautiful colors, costumes, groupings and dance dramas, yet withal is highly reverent and symbolical. Prologues are from the Prophecies. Dance dramas express the changing thought of the people. The pictures are very impressive with small casts but improve in effective¬ ness in proportion to the number employed. Some events covered are : The Battle of Marathon, Roman Pilgrimage to Constantinople, St. Augustine in Britain, Mohamme¬ dans in Jerusalem, Spanish Armada, America’s Freedom, with interludes expressing Hope, New Light, Triumph, Tyranny, Freedom and Victory P Published by T. S. Denison & Company, 623 Wabash Avenue, Chicago. Price, postpaid, $2. Passover-Night. By W. H. T. Gairdner. A Bible mystery play in 3 scenes, 12 characters, play¬ ing time about 1 hour. The familiar Old Testament story of one incident in the life of the children of Israel while in the land of bondage. Published by The Macmillan Company, New York. Price, 20 cents. The Pilgrim and the Booh. By Percy MacKaye. A dramatic service of the Bible designed to be used in churches. Published by the American Bible Society, New York. The theme of the Service is the power of truth, as revealed in the Bible, to set free the human soul, in particular from the shackles of Persecution and the Fear of Death. Playing time: about one and one-half hours. This drama is well written and any church grout) will be Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 113 highly repaid for the careful preparation that is necessary for its production. The Quest . By Helen Beatrice Allan. A mystery play in which is a pageant of early saints of the British Church. “It is not only a play but a reference book of information about the early saints.” Published by The Macmillan Company, New York. Price, 60 cents. The Bing of Bama Iirishniah. By Anita B. Ferris. A Pageant-Play of Christian Stewardship divided as follows : Prologue — The Ring Received. Picture I — The Old Church. Picture II — The New Church. Epilogue — The Ring Redeemed. Characters : men 9, women 8, children 4. Published by the Abingdon Press, New York. The Bock. By Mary P. Hamlin. A play showing the character development of Simon Peter. Written in 3 acts. “ The Bock was chosen as one of the prize plays in the Religious Drama Contest of the Drama League of America by the judges, Dr. Richard Burton, Stuart Walker, and Walter Prichard Eaton. The first public performance of The Bock was given by the Pilgrim Players of Evanston, Ill., for the eleventh convention of the League. The sug¬ gestions for costumes and scenery were made by committees having these matters in charge for the first production.” Published by the Pilgrim Press, Boston. Saul and Stephen. By W. H. T. Gairdner. A sacred drama in three acts. The author says in the preface, “The only liberty taken with the New Testament narrative in this dramatization of ‘The Conversion of St. Paul’ may be defended as being ideally and dramatically, if not chronologically exact.” 20 to 30 characters. Pub¬ lished by The Macmillan Company, New York. Price, 40 cents. 114 A Guide to Religious Pageantry The Search for the Light. By Laura Scherer Copenhaver and Katherine Scherer Cronk. A pageant of man’s quest for God. Time required for production about one hour. Cast: 117 to 277 persons. • “Theme and Purpose: The theme of the pageant is: Man’s Quest for God. The purpose is : “To show the inadequacy of the non-Christian religion, to exalt Jesus Christ as the only hope and light of the world, and to emphasize the responsibility of the Church of the Living God in fulfilling its commission to carry the message of light and salvation to every creature.” Published by Literature Headquarters, W. M. S. (Lutheran), 844 Drexel Building, Philadelphia. Price, 25 cents. The Seeker. By Clarice Vallette McCauley. This is an elaborate pageant. It was produced orig¬ inally at the Centenary Exposition, Columbus, Ohio, in 1919, by a group of students of the Ohio Wesleyan Uni¬ versity. This is a very complete production, carrying with it all necessary music and instructions for its direction. There is a minimum of 75 characters with 12 conspicuous parts. This pageant will require careful preparation, but is well worth the time necessary to make it a success. Its leading theme shows by comparison how Christianity satis¬ fies the hunger of the human heart in a way that other religions are incapable of doing. Published by the Abing¬ don Press, New York City. The author of this pageant gives very specific directions in a little pamphlet, “How to Produce The Seeker Those who are producing this play would do well to secure this book of directions from the publisher. The Stable Door. By Sidney Bridgeman. A mystery play of 3 scenes and 4 tableaux. Published by The Macmillan Company, New York. Price, 60 cents. The Standard Bearers. By Margaret Cropper. Characters : an old man, 3 young men, 2 young women and others. Time : 30 minutes. A mystery play in which Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 115 the standard bearer falls by the roadside, unable to carry on. Such personages as Ease, Common Sense, Ridicule and others pass by unwilling to take up the standard. Finally Ardor and Desire come along and carry the ban¬ ner onward. A beautiful and inspiring allegory. Pub¬ lished by The Macmillan Company, New York. Starting Fight. A Dialogue on Stewardship. “This simple dialogue on stewardship is not intended primarily to give entertainment. It presents in dramatic form, through the situation confronting a newly-married couple as they plan the use of their income, the Christian ideals regarding the attitude toward property. Its purpose is to instruct those who witness it concerning the principles of stewardship and to arouse determination to put these principles into practice in daily life.” Published by the Interchurch World Movement of North America, 45 West 18th Street, New York. The Striking of America’s Hour. This is a pageant of Christian liberty and has been presented at Summer Conferences before being printed. The cast consists of about 50 people, though it may be enlarged to 150 or more. The greater part of the music called for in this pageant is found in most church hymnals. It is published by Literature Headquarters, 844 Drexel Building, Philadelphia. Price, 20 cents. Three Plays for Boys. Listed under Boys and Girls. The Triumph of Peace. By Anita B. Ferris. An entertainment for young people. “Participants : This entertainment requires 35 partici¬ pants. Younger participants may be used if desired, and the play may be given by Intermediates and young people, that is, pupils between the ages of eleven and seventeen. Humanity, Truth, Justice, Peace, War, Valor, Glory, and Patriotism would naturally be represented by the oldest pupils.” 116 A Guide to Religious Pageantry Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 15 cents. Who Is My Neighbor f By Mary Clark Barnes. Four principal characters with chorus of men and women (or boys and girls). Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Foreign Missions The Call and the Ansiver. A pageant given at the Golden Jubilee of the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. An effective presentation of the great mission cause. Published by the General Board of Promotion (Baptist), 276 Fifth Avenue, New York. A Choice of Evils. By Buth E. Jacobs. A dramatization of “Chin Hsing,” or the “Forward March of China.” “A little Chinese boy journeys to the hospital in Wu¬ chang to borrow a coffin for his grandmother, and becomes interested in Christianity through the kindness he receives from the ‘foreign devils,’ who, contrary to the report of his neighbors, do him and his household no harm.” There is humor in the scenes and good teaching. The speaking parts are 16, but many attendants can be introduced, mission school children, coolies, etc. Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford. Price, 10 cents. The Doors of Nippon — The Awakening of Japan. By A. G. Albee. An allegorical play, personifies the “World,” “The Church” and “The Nations,” etc. One Japanese girl is introduced. 21 speaking parts and some attendants. Cos¬ tumes, given in the illustrations, are easily made. All necessary stage setting can be made by screens and a large Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 117 armchair. Published by Church Missions Publishing Com¬ pany, 211 State Street, Hartford. Price, 10 cents. Dramatic Sketches of Mission Fields. By Helen L. Will- cox. This is a dramatic arrangement for missionary “Exposi¬ tions.” It is given in twelve episodes as follows : Introduction The Auspicious Day . China The Feast Day . Burma In Congo Land . Africa Prince and Peasant . Russia The Peasant’s Choice . Russia The Cross in the Sky . v Italy The Home-coming . France Brothers . France The Need of Central America . . . . Central America The Hut in the Great North Woods . . United States School-Days in Oklahoma . United States In Washington Square . United States Published by Department of Missionary Education (Baptist), 276 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price single copy, 15 cents; complete set of 13, $1.30. The Foreign Missionary Dollar and What It Does. This little service may be very helpful in showing where our missionary dollars go. The presentation is made by setting up a large piece of pasteboard covered with silver paper, representing a silver dollar. The ten members who take part hold dimes made in the same way, and as each dime speaks, it is hung on the big dollar. For convenience in small meetings a real dollar, with real dimes, may be used. This will do much to explain to some folks what we do with missionary money. Published by Literature Headquarters, W. M. S. (Lutheran), 844 Drexel Building, Philadelphia. “Go Tell ” Listed under Easter. 118 A Guide to Religious Pageantry Hanging a Sign. A presentation of Medical Missions. By Mrs. E. C. Cronk. This little play has been presented at the Missionary Education Conference, Ocean Park, Maine. “One-Half of the World is without a Doctor.” Published by Literature Headquarters, W. M. S. (Lutheran), 844 Drexel Building, Philadelphia. The Heroine of Ava. By Helen L. Willcox. “This play is based upon historical incidents. Adoniram and Ann Hasseltine Judson landed in Burma in 1812. To-day Burma is a part of the British Empire ; then it was an independent Oriental state. The capital city was Ava. There the pioneer American missionaries were at the mercy of native officials and subjected to physical hard¬ ships and mental anguish for Christ’s sake and the gospel’s.” Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. The Honorable Mrs. Ling's Conversion. By Jean H. Brown. The story of the conversion of a wealthy Chinese family. May be given by boys and girls. Playing time : about one and one-half hours. Suggestions for costumes, properties and music are given. Published by the Interchurch World Movement of North America, 45 West 18th Street, New York. The Hour of Waking. By Marian Manley. A Chinese pageant. The first part showing China sleep¬ ing. The second part shows the servants of Western Civi¬ lization, Freedom, Education, Invention, etc. Awakening China and Christianity leading the way. Playing time: about 45 minutes. Characters : 55 persons. Published byr the Abingdon Press, New York. Price, 25 cents. How the Light Came. By the Eev. F. D. Graves. A Missionary play based on the old mystery order. Characters represented: Mother Church, Africa, China, Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 119 American Indians, Alaska, St. Peter, St. John, St. James, St. Thomas, St. Matthew, St. Nathanael, St. Andrew, St. Philip, St. Simon Zelotes, St. James the Little (may be omitted), St. Mark, Cleopas, His Companion. Our Blessed Lord, manifested by a light and a voice in words of Holy Scripture. Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 45 Church Street, Hartford. Price, 30 cents. Its Radiant Hem. By Rev. Fredc. D. Graves. “A young American girl desires to devote her life to the work of foreign missions, and goes to China, with the sym¬ pathetic approval of her father but the reluctant consent of her mother, who, after a time, follows her, intending that they shall return together to their American home. After witnessing the great work in which her daughter has a part in the mission station, the mother is converted to foreign missions and gives her consent to her daughter remaining in the field.” Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford. Price, 20 cents. Kosiki, or a Korean Village. By Amy Kellogg. Six characters with about 20 attendants. Briefly written in two parts. Published by the Interchurch World Move¬ ment of North America, 45 West 18th Street, New York. Larola. By Helen L. Willcox. Editor's note : “Most of the action of Larola is based upon fact. The relations between Larola and the Professor, and the suttee of the Professor’s mother, as described in the play, are founded upon a true series of occurrences, the account of which may be found in Tndia : Its Life and Thought/ by John P. Jones (page 259). The story of Lela and her part in the plot are fictitious.” Published by the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 25 cents. The Lifting Hands. By Anita B. Ferris. For presentation in complete form, requires 34 persons, 120 A Guide to Religious Pageantry seven of whom are children, also chorus. Playing time: about one hour. This pageant may be given in a Church auditorium or Sunday School. The following brief outline is given by the author : “The Pageant of the Lifting Hands represents in very brief outline the work of the Woman’s Boards of Foreign Missions with the emphasis upon the fact that ‘in the foreign field, it is our task to found the Church and then to induce it to assume those duties for the further evangeliza¬ tion of the population that we have assumed for our own people.* The episode of the pageant attempts to suggest by brief flashes of portrayal how nobly and often sublimely the new-born Christians of the non-Christian world have grasped the Cross and are bearing it forward, shaming us many times by their pentecostal zeal. “All five episodes are based upon fact from missionary letters and are historically true. The central theme of the first episode is Consecration of Life; the second, Evange¬ lism; the third, Organization; the fourth, Christianity’s Effect Upon National Idealism; the fifth, The Working Demonstration of Christianity.” Published by the Woman’s Board of Foreign Missions (Presbyterian), 150 Fifth Avenue, New York. The Light of the World. Listed under Christmas. “Mission Study Through Educational Dramatics.” By Helen L. Willcox. “This pamphlet lays no claim to be a treatise or manual on Educational Dramatic Method. Any comprehensive treatment of that subject would require much more space than is here utilized. The attempt has been made to pre¬ pare a brief introduction to the method, with special appli¬ cation to the plays published by the Missionary Education Movement, which is now a Department of the Interchurch World Movement.” Published by the Interchurch World Movement of North America, 45 West 18th Street, New York. Price, 25 cents. Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 121 Mother Goose Village Missionary Meeting. By Mrs. G. A. Haven. Very brief, requiring only 10 or 15 minutes for presen¬ tation. 12 characters. Costumes very simple and easily made. Setting not difficult. Published by the Woman’s Board of Home Missions (Presbyterian), 156 Fifth Ave¬ nue, New York. Price, 10 cents. The Pill Bottle. By Margaret T. Applegarth. A Medical Missionary play, written in 4 scenes. Not difficult to produce. The scenes are : Sweet Girl Grad¬ uates, Three Knocks in the Night, Office Hours, The God of the Pill Bottle. Published by the General Board of Promotion of the Northern Baptist Convention, 276 Fifth Avenue, New York. The Plea of the Pennies. By Gretchen Green. (An appeal for Missionary Offerings.) “The speakers in this play are only 9 in number, viz., a girl who believes in missions and in giving towards their support, and an unbelieving boy, who becomes convinced by a dream (which we see represented at the back of the stage) in which the 7 Spirits of Missions (Love, Faith, etc.) show him the work done through the ages by the missionaries. A series of tableaux begins with the Coming of the Wise Men with their gifts and ends with the rep¬ resentation of one of our own Indian Mission Stations/’ Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford. Price, 15 cents. The Set of the Sadi. By Anita B. Ferris. A play of missions in the Philippines. Characters : 9 men, 5 women, 4 boys, 1 girl. Full instructions are given for all participants. Published by the Board of Foreign Missions (Presbyterian), 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Uncle Sam’s Congress of Methods. By Estella Sutton Aitchison. A brief missionary service with a message. Costumes and setting very simple. 122 A Guide to Religious Pageantry "The following dramatic sketch has been arranged to conserve the unique values of the present atmosphere, link¬ ing up Patriotism with Missions and turning our tidal wave of high endeavor into the channel of world-salvation. Incidentally it features our current denominational mis¬ sionary program and stresses the best methods for each department of church activity in the form most readily assimilated — the dramatic.” Published by the Woman’s American Baptist Home Mis¬ sion Society, 2969 Vernon Avenue, Chicago. Price, 10 cents. Waiting for the Doctor . By Mrs. E. C. Cronk. This dialogue is adapted to Junior, Intermediate or older girls. The subject is Medical Missions. Published by Literature Headquarters, W. M. S. (Lutheran), 844 Drexel Building, Philadelphia. Price, 5 cents. Home Missions The Blue Cashmere Gown. By Sarah S. Pratt. A plea for the Missionary barrel. “This is a short play, representing a Western Missionary and his wife and 11 or more members of an Eastern Woman’s Auxiliary Parish Branch, in the caste. “This play is very easily staged, and costumed, and can be acted with considerable humor and effective appeal.” Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford. Price, 20 cents. The Boole of Life. By Elsie Douglas. “Founded on an historical incident in the settlement of our Northwest, and the carrying of the Gospel to the Indians. It calls for 15 actors to take boys’ or men’s parts; 2 girls’ parts, and as many as desired to make up a party of attendants (who have no speaking to do). Scenes are Indian camp, and two ordinary rooms furnished as con¬ venient.” Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford. Price, 15 cents. Descriptive List of Flays and Pay cants 123 Christ in America, By Laura Scherer Copenhaver and Katherine Scherer Cronk. A pageant of Home Mission opportunity. People of various nationalities in America plead to Columbia for Christ in America, and the Church answers the request. The pageant may be given very effectively out of doors. Characters : 13 women or older girls. dSTo scenery is neces¬ sary, but a choir is essential. Playing time : about 35 minutes. Published by Literature Headquarters, W. M. S. (Lutheran), 844 Hrexel Building, Philadelphia. Price, 15 cents. Circle Three Sees a Vision, By Belle B. Clokey. "Setting of the play can be either a church parlor or a home. When the play opens the women are all present except Mrs. Curtis and Mrs. Martin and are busy with their sewing or fancy work and all talking at once. This effect can easily be gained by having them repeat the letters of the alphabet in conversational tones.” 15 characters, all members of Circle Three. Published by the Woman’s Board of Home Missions (Presbyterian), 156 Fifth Avenue, Yew York. Daybreak in the West. By Harriet M. Morrison. The history of the Church’s Mission to the Indians of Minnesota. Scenery — a Forest, a Tepee, and a room in the Mission’s House. "There are some 20 speakers in this play, Indians, Frontier-Settlers, Missionaries, and various Spirits and Sciences (‘Rapid Transit/ ‘Telephone/ ‘Sur¬ gery'), ‘Holy Church/ etc. Almost any number can be used as attendants on the speakers, and these characters can be changed, lessened, or increased, without difficulty, to suit the available material.” Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford. Price, 10 cents. From Darkness to Light. By Mrs. Frank P. Miller. "Theme. — The boast of Womanhood to Liberty of the fairness and freedom of our country. The Missionary 124 A Guide to Religious Pageantry Spirit reminds her of the spots in onr land which Liberty’s torch does not light.’’ Published by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society, Methodist Episcopal Church, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, Price, 20 cents. From Italy to America. An Impersonation, by Florence Lee Weld. This reading is given in a kind of anglicized, Italian accent, and will be found helpful in presenting our immi¬ grant problem, it is published by the Woman’s Board of Home Missions (Presbyterian), 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 10 cents. The Great Message , or Barrie's Choice. By Evangeline Chapman Cozzens. A play in 4 scenes. Setting: the Alleghany Mountains in Virginia. About 14 characters including men, women, boys and girls and school pupils. Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 45 Church Street, Hartford. The Light-Briny ers. By Alice M. Guernsey. A Home Missions pageant. Playing time : about 30 minutes. Published by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society, Methodist Episcopal Church, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 25 cents. The Light of the World. Listed under Christmas. Martha Washington and the Home Mission Children. By Mrs. E. W. Rogers. This little pamphlet deals with the Home Mission Prob¬ lem. It may be presented in 10 or 15 minutes. Suitable for use in classes of boys and girls. Published by Woman’s Home Missionary Society, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 5 cents. A Missionary Clinic. By Blanche Dickens-Lewis. A drama in one act. This little service tells a simple missionary s tory. Published by the Woman’s Board of Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 125 Home Missions (Presbyterian), 156 Fifth Avenue, Hew York. New Brooms for Old. By Bertha Reed Beck. Characters: 16 besides other children. Time required: 30 minutes. “The members of the village Home Mission Society meet to discuss ways and means of interesting young people in church work. A playlet with a laugh and a lesson.” Published by the General Board of Promotion (Baptist), 276 Fifth Avenue, New York. The Open Door. By Dorothy Woolverton. A Home Mission pageant. This little service may be given in 10 or 15 minutes. 19 characters in all. Published by the Woman’s Board of Home Missions (Presbyterian), 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 25 cents. The Soul of the City. By Bernice Hall Legg. Four Symbolic Characters : “The Soul of the City,” “America,” “Queen Esther,” and “The Church.” The theme of this pageant is Americanization, and requires a group of girls for presentation. Published by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society, Methodist Episcopal Church, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 20 cents. Two Thousand Miles for a Book. By Helen L. Willcox. This is a story of the Nez Perces Indians, who travel from the Northwest to St. Louis seeking the white man’s book of Heaven. Playing time: about one and one-half hours. 30 or more persons in the play. Three acts. Pub¬ lished by Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 25 cents. Unde Sains Foundlings. By Edna M. Cockrell. “Designed to give a General Impression of the Relation of Home Missions to the Education of the Exceptional Populations.” Playing time: about 30 minutes. Pub- 126 A Guide to Religious Pageantry lished by the Woman’s Board of Home Missions (Presby¬ terian), 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 5 cents. A Vision of the Home Land. By Emily Ingham Wilcox. “Characters. — Christian America, a young woman in white, with the national colors draped around her, seated in a large chair which is also draped and slightly elevated at the back center of the platform, facing the audience. “The eight representatives and their respective groups represent the work carried on by the Woman’s Board of Home Missions. The parts may be taken by either men or women, but the following is suggested for the representa¬ tives: Alaskan, woman; Negro, man; Cuban, Porto Rican, young boy, and Immigrant, woman.’" Published by the Woman’s Board of Home Missions (Presbyterian), 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 10 cents. Visions of World Freedom. By Angie M. Goble. “Not for America for x4merica’s sake, but America for the World’s sake.” “This pageant was written with the thought of empha¬ sizing the two Study Books — ‘A Crusade of Compassion’ and ‘ Americanization.’ It does more than that — the won¬ derful story of missionary beginnings with the great out¬ look for the future is portrayed. It was especially written for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Woman’s Baptist Mission Society of Illinois, held in Jersey ville, October, 1919.” Published by Woman’s Baptist Mission Society of Illi¬ nois. Copies of this Pageant may be obtained from 1433 Stevens Building, Chicago. Price, 10 cents. The Wayside Piper. By Mary S. Edgar. “Based upon the old story, ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin,’ but in this dramatic adaptation the music of the Piper symbolizes the appeal of Missions to the hearts and minds of girls. “Into the Piper’s flute, Faith and Hope and Love have Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 127 breathed the essence of themselves to produce a clear spiritual melody with which the Piper goes forth into the wayside places of modern life to awaken a responsiveness and call forth the latent music of individual expression from all kinds of girls.” Published by the Woman’s American Baptist Home Mis¬ sion Society, 2969 Vernon Avenue, Chicago. Price, 15 cents. Old Testament Biblical Dramas. By Plarris G. Hale and Newton M. Hall. 1. The Story of Joseph and His Brethren. 2. The Story of Jacob. 3. Moses the Liberator. 4. Samuel and Saul. 5. David the King. 6. The Story of David and Jonathan. 7. The Story of Solomon. 8. The Story of Job. 9. The Story of Elijah. 10. The Messages of the Prophets. 11. Nehemiah the Builder. 12. Paul, the Prisoner of the Lord. Published by the Pilgrim Press, Boston. The Children of Israel. A biblical drama in three Acts, by Tracy D. Mygatt. “An elaborate Biblical Drama. While extended, it is easier to produce than a pageant and it will be found admirable for dramatic work in church parish houses, summer schools and conventions.” All necessary instruc¬ tions and suggestions for its production are given in a Foreword. No singing is required. Published by George H. Doran and Company, New York. Price, 75 cents. David, a Sacred Drama. “This play is almost entirely in the words of Scripture. It has 22 parts for men or boys, and 2 women’s parts, 128 A Guide to Religious Pageantry besides attendants and dancing girls. Scenes laid in Beth¬ lehem, Hebron, Court of Saul, and in the Syrian fields/' Published by Church Missions Publishing Company, 211 State Street, Hartford. Price, 15 cents. The Drama of Esther . By the W Oman's Press, New York. Suitable for an all-girl cast. There are three acts with 20 or more characters. These lines in the foreword of the play give a good idea of its purpose : “This dramatization of the story of Esther was prepared to demonstrate the use of the drama in teaching the Bible to girls in clubs, Bible classes or similar groups. Its aim is to make the characters of the story real and to suggest the value of using other Bible stories in a similar way. Special attention was given to the Oriental setting, since so much of the beauty and meaning of the Bible is lost because of a lack of understanding of Oriental life and. customs." The Drama of Isaiah. By Eleanor Wood Whitman. This play requires careful preparation, but when prop¬ erly handled makes a valuable study of Old Testament life. It is published by the Pilgrim Press, Boston. The publishers have the following to say : “An interpretation of the message of the Prophet Isaiah. Preparation for this drama will be an interesting and worth while task for the participants, and should include a thorough study of the great prophet and his teachings. It is evident that the part of Isaiah the Prophet must be taken by some one with spiritual under¬ standing and power. This is a drama which may well enlist the cooperation of those of all ages. The older and more experienced should take the parts of prophet, kings, and councilors, while the younger may take up the Jeru¬ salem crowed." The Pilgrim Press, Boston. The drama is written in 3 acts : Act I. In the Days of Uzziah the King. Jerusalem Prosperous and Full of Injustice. Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 120 Act II. In the Days of King Aliaz. Jerusalem Attacked by Israel and Damascus. Act III. Jji the Days of King Hezekiah. Jerusalem Threatened by Assyria. Jephthalds Daughter. A one-act biblical drama written by Elma Ehrlich Levinger. There are 6 female and 5 male characters and the pro¬ duction is written in one act. “This one-act drama of the time of Esther is one of the prize plays resulting from the contest recently held by the Drama League of America in the hope of securing much needed material on biblical themes for use in the religious schools, it presents the familiar story from a new and dramatic angle, with a strong element of suspense. The characters are vividly drawn, the dialogue poetic without being stilted. It may be presented either with simple settings and a small group, or as a pageant play with elaborate scenic effects, a large cast and interpolated choruses and group dances.” Samuel French, Publisher, Yew York. Price, 35 cents. Queen Esth er s Choice. By Lucile Graham. A simple pageant for girls. There are 5 principal char¬ acters with attendants and other girls. This pageant may be given with success in any small Church or Sunday School. Published by W. H. M. S., Methodist Episcopal Church, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York. Price, 20 cents. Rebekah. By Marie E. J. Hobart. An Old Testament mystery play written in three scenes. Minimum of 18 characters. This play is very effective when given out of doors. The Old Testament story of Rebekah and her romance is vividly related. Valuable suggestions for production are appended to the play. Pub¬ lished by the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, New York. Ruth , the Loving. By Charles A. Boyd. The story of Ruth has always made its appeal to young 130 .1 Guide to Religious Pageantry people. This little production may be given effectively in any young people’s organizations or in the Sunday School. The publisher, the Pilgrim Press, Boston, makes the fol¬ lowing comment : “The story of Ruth. Nineteen characters, four acts, costumes and scenery simple. Can be given at any time but is especially appropriate for the summer months and the harvest season. Makes a beautiful out-of-doors produc¬ tion. A group of young people could present it as a part of the graduation exercises of the church school, whether these are held in June or September. All the parts may be taken by young people, although if possible the ‘elders’ should be older men. The presentation of this drama may well follow the study of the book of Ruth as given in the ‘Books of Ruth and James/ by Sidney A. Weston. (Inter¬ national Graded Lesson, first year, senior, part 4.)” Paper, 15 cents. The Sin of Ahab. By Anna Jane Harnwell. “A highly dramatic presentation of this Old Testament story.’’ Price, 50 cents. The Star in the East. By Anna Jane Harnwell. This is a biblical drama in 4 acts. There are 9 male and 4 female characters and plays a full evening. The pub¬ lisher, Samuel French, of New York, gives this synopsis of the play : “This four -act drama is one of the prize plays resulting from the contest recently held bv the Drama League of America in the hope of securing much needed biblical scenes for use in the religious schools. A drama of the Book of Esther. It is written in blank verse, and adheres closely to the Bible narrative. Mordecai is the star role for a man, but the characters of Esther, Vashti and the King are almost equally good. The very beautiful and dramatic setting of the Old Testament story makes it quite as inter¬ esting as a secular production, though it is especially suit¬ able for church or Sunday School use. Settings as simple or as elaborate as desired.” Price, 35 cents. Descriptive List of Plays and Pageants 131 Thanksgiving The First Thanksgiving Dinner. By Marjorie Benton Cooke. A little Pilgrim play designed for boys and girls twelve to fourteen years of age. Arranged for seven boys and three girls. Plays 25 minutes. Published by Dramatic League Book Shop, 29 West 47th Street, New York. Price, 35 cents. The Little PH grinds Progress. By C. D. MacKay. A morality play which may be given by either boys or girls. Pilgrim costumes are used, and the setting is very simple. Because of its moral tone, it would be very appro¬ priate in a religious service. Published by Samuel French, New York. A Pageant of Pilgrims. By Esther Willard Bates. The publisher, the Pilgrim Press, Boston, has this to say : "A pageant setting forth the historical story of the Pilgrims, and interpreting the vital significance of their ideals and actions to all mankind. The meaning of the pageant is made clear by two symbolic figures, Questioner and Interpreter. The First Episode is laid at the inn upon the old North Road, Scrooby, England. A prayer-meeting is broken up by the arrest of Brewster, and the Pilgrims resolve to leave Scrooby. The Second Episode shows the landing in America, and the first treaty with the Indians; the third, how the Pilgrims, even in the darkest hour, resolved to celebrate Thanksgiving Day/’ Paper, 75 cents. Postage, 5 cents. Production fee, $10 ; if no admission is charged, $5. The Spirit of Thanksgiving . By Laura Wade Rice. This little Thanksgiving service is written for Junior boys and girls. It is very brief. Playing time : about ten or fifteen minutes. It may be given with only a card bear¬ ing name of country represented, or with flags, or in cos 132 A Guide to Religious Pageantry tuine. The leading character is the Spirit of Thanksgiv¬ ing, who carries a sheaf of grain and a Bible. Published by Literature Headquarters, W. M. S. (Lutheran), 844 Drexel Building, Philadelphia. Price, 5 cents. A Few Helpful Books “The English Religious Drama.” Katherine Lee Bates. The Macmillan Co., New York. “Educational Dramatics.” Emma Sheridan Fry. Moffatt, Yard & Co., New York. “Community Drama and Pageantry.” Beegle-Crawford. Yale University Press, New Haven. “How to Produce Amateur Plays.” Barrett H. Clark. Little, Brown & Co., Boston. “Play Production in America.” Arthur Ervin Crows. Henry Holt & Co., New York. “Amateur and Educational Dramatics.” Hilliard-McCor- mick-Oglesby. The Macmillan Co., New York. “The Kingdom of the Child.” Alice Minnie Herts Heni- ger. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. “The Dramatization of Bible Stories.” Elizabeth Erwin Miller. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. “Mission Study Through Educational Dramatics.” Helen L. Wilcox. Missionary Education Movement, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York. “Pageantry and Dramatics in Beligious Education.” Meredith. The Abingdon Press, New York. Dramatic Sketches of Mission Fields. Helen L. Wilcox. Missionary Education Movement, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York. Pamphlets edited by Norman E. Richardson, The Abing¬ don Press, New York: “The Mother as Playfellow.” “The Dramatic Instinct in Children.” “The Use of Dolls in Child Training.” “Dramatics in the Home.” “Story-Telling in the Home.” 133 134 A Guide to Religious Pageantry “How to Produce Children’s Plays.” Constance D’Arcy Maekay. Henry Holt & Co., New York. “Costumes and Scenery for Amateurs.” Constance D’Arcy Maekay. Henry Holt & Co., New York. “Making Missions Peal,” Jay S. Stowell. The Abingdon Press, New York. “The Mediaeval Stage,” E. K. Chambers. Clarendon Press, Oxford, England. “English Miracle Plays.” A. W. Pollard. Home Univer¬ sity Library. “'English Drama.” Felix E. Schelling. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. “Corpus Christi Pageants in England.” M. L. Spencer. Baker & Taylor Co., New York. “English Pageantry.” Robert Withington. Harvard Uni¬ versity Press. “Dramatized Bible Stories for Young People.” Mary M. Russell. Geo. H. Doran & Co., New York. “Bible Plays for Children.” May Stein Soble. J. T. White & Co., New York. “The New Movement in the Theater.” Sheldon Cheney. Mitchell Kennedy, .New York. “The Open Air Theater.” Sheldon Cheney. Mitchell Kennedy, New York. “Festivals and Plays.” Percival Chubb. Harper & Bros., New York. “The Theatre of To-morrow.” Kenneth McGowan. Boni, Liveright, Inc., New York. “The Art of Theatrical Make Up.” Cavendish Morton. The Macmillan Co., New York; Adam and Charles Black, London. “The Technique of Pageantry.” Linwood Taft. A. S. Barnes & Co., New York. Date Due rt rnm&iW IPR a-fl. f. iS f PRINTED IN U. S. A.