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How were pageant wagons used in English mystery plays?
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Western theatre
Anubis weighing the soul of the scribe Ani, from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, c. 1275 bce.
In English mystery plays, pageant wagons were specialized wheeled vehicles used for processional staging, a practice that became common from the 14th century onward. These mobile stages allowed for a unique form of performance where the plays were brought directly to the audience.12
The use of these wagons involved several key elements:
- Mobility and Staging: Each play in a cycle was typically mounted on its own pageant wagon, which served as both a scaffold stage and a dressing room. These wagons were paraded through a town, stopping at designated stations where actors performed their specific play for the gathered spectators. Once a performance concluded, the wagon moved to the next station, and the audience waited for the next cart in the cycle to arrive.132
- Construction: Built and decorated by local trade guilds, the wagons often featured scenic locales known as mansions. Guilds frequently chose plays relevant to their craft; for instance, shipwrights might stage the building of Noahās ark.12
- Flexibility: Depending on the production, a wagon might be used alone, pulled alongside a separate scaffold, or positioned against a fixed platform stage.1