Consequences in structure and aspect

(Repetition) The needs of the uneducated spectators in Csíksomlyó were met by the structure and aspect of the plays. All plays start with a pro-logue and end with an epipro-logue, both mediating and repeating the most important messages. The prologue calls attention to sins and the need for penitence, lists the scenes of the play and explains the typological connections, often emphasizing the fact that the play is not for enter-tainment. The epilogue usually sums up the plot, and, again, repeats the ideas of the prologue. The main messages are also repeated within the text of the drama. As we see, the authors were deeply concerned with the message reaching the audience, by means of repetitions as well as bloody naturalistic scenes. In 1739, the performance was so successful that the spectators interrupted it and attacked the soldiers who wanted to arrest Christ: the unfortunate student actors had to flee to the nearby wood.¹¹

10 Sticca 1988, 108.

11 Pintér 1993, 25.

(Personalized involvement) Naturalism was doubled: the long and detailed scenes of torture and suffering were shown on the stage and also expressed verbally in the text. The authors did not simply want to teach and deeply affect the audience (which was presumably the main aim of the Western performances), they wanted to encourage deep devo-tion, forcing the audience to take part in the recollection of the Lord’s Passion and also to get involved in the performance itself. The Stations of the Cross during the Good Friday procession made the involvement of the spectators quite easy. The message sent to the spectators was rather direct: the Lord’s suffering was always connected to the sins of mankind, not in general, but they were personalized as the spectators’ own sins;

similarly Christ’s torturers were always identified with every single per-son of the audience committing sins and thus killing Christ again and again every day – just like in the passion play being performed. Western medieval dramatic tradition was based on the personal involvement of the audience, mainly through the suffering Christ’s words addressed to the spectators.¹²

(‘Happening’) Some scenes (or sometimes the whole drama) consist of a rather strange dialogue, practically two parallel declamations: one, a call for penitence, recited – or maybe sung – by an Angel or some al-legorical figure, and another, a planctus (lament) of penitence recited (in effect as a response) by the Sinner, repeating not only the motifs high-lighted by the Angel but almost his whole text. At this point, the per-formance might have changed into an active ‘happening’ created by the student actors and a part of the audience who were supposed to join the reciting. The laments, prayers and chants inserted in the plays created a special atmosphere and called for the audience to get involved, not only as spectators but as players. If our assumption about the spectators’ involve-ment is correct, we may well suppose that parts of the text were either well known to the audience, or were rather similar to their prayers and chants – thus they could easily learn and repeat them on the spot.

(Music) Involvement of the spectators was most likely possible through singing. Many songs well known to the population were in-serted, and the audience would sing along with those on the stage. The

12 Cf. “In the great speech from the cross, the dramatist turns the tables on the audience in a most striking manner.” Christ addresses “all men that walk by way or street”.

(York Mystery Plays, 1984, 211-212.)

manuscripts do not contain any notes and in most cases they do not cite the text of the song. (If we are lucky the title or the first line of the song to be chanted is given with reference to another tune). Most songs referred to within the drama texts can be identified with the chants of the precious collections of János Kájoni (1629/1630–1687).¹³ Kájoni, a Franciscan monk of Csíksomlyó, collected and copied European and Hungarian music; his most important work, from the point of view of the drama corpus, is his Cantus Catholici (or Cantionale cum cottis scrip-tum), first published by the then new printing house of Csíksomlyó in 1676.¹⁴ The passion plays often refer to several chants of Kájoni’s collec-tion, either quoting it or giving new verses to his music. Kájoni’s songs became extremely popular, thus many religious popular songs and folk songs were based on his notes and text. With the exception of some of the later dramas, all the passion plays of Csíksomlyó were written in verse (which form was considered increasingly anachronistic on the 18^th century Hungarian stage). Most of the verse forms are quite mo-notonous; thus when the monotonous verse shifts to some other form we may well guess the appearance of a chant. Since, unfortunately, we know almost nothing of the performances and staging, we cannot sepa-rate the recited and sung parts of the plays; nevertheless, we might con-clude that many more parts of the plays were sung than are indicated in the manuscripts. The fact that the Csíksomlyó drama corpus might contain quite a few well-known songs has been emphasized by Réka Kővári, the music historian of the critical edition.¹⁵ Kővári identified many parts of the dramas with several pieces of Kájoni, as well as folk chant collections.

13 See his important manuscripts: 1. Kájoni-codex copied by M. Seregélyes, B.

Tasnádi, completed by János Kájoni, 1634-1671. 2. Collection of Latin and Hungarian songs, poems and hymns. 3. Sacri Concentus. Diversorum Authorum, praesertim Ludovici Viadanae. Opera ac studio R[everendi] P[atris] Fratris Joannis Kájoni, Organistae, et Organifabri [...], 1669. 4. Antiphonae de Sanctis Ordinis Minorum. Opera, labore ac industria Patris Fratris Joannis Kájoni Ordinis Min[orum]

Organistae, et organifabri ac Guardini Residentiae in Szárhegy, 1670. His printed works: 1. Organo Missale. Opera ac studio Fratris Patris Joannis Kaioni Ordinis Minorum Organistae et Organifabri, Guardini Conventus Mikhaziensis, 1667.

14 Cantionale hoc Catholicum, labore Admodum Reverendi Patris Fratris J^oannis K^ajoni [...]. The 1676 edition was followed by several more. Its modern edition completed with notes: Kájoni 1979.

15 Cf. Ferences iskoladrámák I.

(Christ’s figure) Unlike in the earlier medieval liturgical plays, where Christ was a rather dignified figure, an emperor or a king, the Csík-somlyó Christ is quite similar to that of the late medieval dramas writ-ten mainly in the vernacular and depicting Christ as “the most humane of men”:¹⁶ the frail, suffering, dying and thus poignant figure of Christ could stir up penitence. Due to the Baroque aspect, Christ’s torture must have been shown in long detailed scenes.¹⁷