The celebration of Christmas
Arts On Sunday
By Al Creighton
Stabroek News
December 25, 2004
The celebration of Christmas, more specifically, of the birth of Christ, is responsible for the emergence of modern drama as we know it today in the western world. Theatre has always been a very popular form of expression in public festivals, and this is especially the case in religious festivals. Christmas is perhaps the most outstanding example of these, and it would be like one or two of the labours of Hercules to find a religious festival that has generated more drama and theatrical exhibition, more 'pagan' ritual and popular myths than Christmas. Perhaps more than in any other religious festival, these have developed to the extent that the popular traditions take on a script of their own entirely outside of the original religious text.
Easter, another Christian festival, is also known for drama and theatre, and was associated with these forms from the very beginning along with Christmas, but the associated popular folklore is not as great. While making this claim for Christmas, however, it must be stated that there are other religions with highly theatrical festivals, public performances, associated traditions and rituals. These include the Hindu with the great corpus of drama around Diwali, the Ramayana and Ram-Leela; the Yoruba and the Ibo (Igbo/Ijo) of West Africa with several theatrical manifestations, mythology and ritualistic performance. Like Christmas, theatre has been a part of these from the beginning, but there might not be a single festival within any of them that can challenge Christmas for its history of theatrical customs that have so captured the popular imagination of the world.
It is of great significance that the revival of drama in mediaeval Europe was due to the church, and in particular Christmas. Western theatre had declined because it had become too 'bloody,' 'vulgar' and 'lustful' on the stages of the Roman Empire, and had become practically non-existent. But mediaeval theatre developed again in church during services for Christmas and Easter, when sections of the scriptures were dramatized in order to get the message across to the congregation more effectively. It was also done because most of them could not read. These developed into special scripts written by the clergy, and grew to include stage setting such as a manger placed next to the altar and the Virgin Mary played by a girl with a baby in her arms; the Three Wise Men and choruses of angels accompanied by the organ also made their appearance.
The language used was Latin and these early dramas were called liturgies. Out of the liturgies grew passion plays dramatizing the crucifixion and nativity plays dramatizing various aspects of the Christmas story. They gradually became more complex and a very powerful means of entertainment for the population. Soon they could no longer be contained in the church buildings, moving to various outdoor locations in the streets, in fields and even travelling around on wagons. The different parts were still played by priests and monks before the men of the town took over completely.
Other Christmas plays included the cycle of shepherds' plays built around the shepherds to whom the angel appeared at the birth of Jesus. Along with these folk drama and the use of humour developed, since the shepherds and then the devil, were comic characters. Of course, once this theatre became the property of the laymen and was out of the hands of the Church, it diversified into many different forms, including more laughter and elements for the entertainment of the masses. Foremost among these was the morality play, the forerunner of Elizabethan theatre and Shakespeare. Out of these, drama as we now know it, steadily developed.
Modern versions of nativity plays still exist, but through the centuries after mediaeval times, not only did the Christmas celebration generate modern theatre in general, but it demonstrated the capacity to attract other seasonal forms. These were performed at Christmas time but had no connection to the story of the miraculous birth and nothing else that could identify them with the season. Among these was the practice of mumming. This act known in England, might already have faded, but it encompassed the practice of small groups of mummers in costume going from house to house at Christmas, entertaining the householders and partaking in refreshment. Another is the English pantomime, a musical drama with a mixture of comedy, stock characters, romance, roguery and reversal of roles. This tradition still persists in the UK.
Caribbean
These two forms are of particular interest to the Caribbean. Just as has happened in Europe, Christmas has had its influence on the drama of both the formal stage and the theatre of the folk in the region. In the first category is the now famous and evergreen Jamaica pantomime. This started in 1942 when the English pantomime performed by British amateurs resident in Kingston began the transformation into local theatre incorporating indigenous Jamaican elements such as Anansi and folklore. It further developed to include social commentary, satire, topical reference and the popular culture, while maintaining lots of laughter. Pantomime opens every year on Boxing Night and runs for up to five months. What used to be an amateur fantasy is now a highly developed professional musical and a flagship of Jamaican theatre.
In the other category is a folk tradition found in St Kitts known as the Mummies, in which a costumed band travels around the roadways accompanied by masquerade (maskarade or jonkunnu) music entertaining the onlookers. They pause occasionally to enact ancient rivalries and battles that reflect different influences, including mediaeval legends, English mummeries, Shakespeare, Jamaican jonkunnu drama and stickfights.
Jonkunnu
The jonkunnu itself is another of the Caribbean theatrical folk traditions performed in the Christmas season without thematic link to it. It is originally an African festival revived at this time of year to take advantage of the festive carnival season observed by the planters and the white population during slavery. In the same period, as well, martial law was declared in the English colonies, and both observances were accompanied by widespread revelry and a relaxing of oppression on the estates. The enslaved seized the opportunity for their own theatricals including the masquerade, also known as jonkunnu in Jamaica. It developed into a grand affair second only to Trinidad's carnival for its great accumulation of masques, costumes, dramatic characters, music, dance and drama. These very same Christmas-time conditions in Trinidad set the stage for carnival to evolve.
It is also in Trinidad that a unique theatrical tradition influenced by Christmas emerged. It is singular in the fact that it directly celebrates the season as a religious festival. This is the parang, which is best known for its music. But the music is just the most prominent and expressive element of what is an indigenous culture that developed in a number of cocoa growing communities among 'the cocoa panyol.'
There are many different types of songs in the parang tradition, but those that predominate are the aguinaldos, which are the most famous. These aguinaldos are gifts to Jesus, to his mother Mary, whom they praise and worship, and express the celebrants' appreciation of the birth of Christ on earth as a gift from God. The Christmas story is therefore a consistent theme in this tradition, in which parang bands used to move from house to house serenading the householders and sharing in refreshments at Christmas. In this sense they are much like the travelling minstrels of mediaeval Europe and the mummers of England. Parang songs are in Spanish because of the strong Venezuelan influence in the original communities, but they are part of a still vibrant indigenous Trinidadian tradition.
Papa Djab
Unlike the parang, which is so powerful now that it is widely promoted and performed outside of the season, Papa Djab, another very meaningful form of street theatre, is extinct. Papa Djab (Creole Patois for 'Father Devil') or Flavier the White Devil, was known to perform in the streets of St Lucia up to the 1950s, but most likely did not survive beyond that period. His act was a mixture of tragedy and comedy reflecting the Christmas message of forgiveness, selfless giving and spiritual revival. Every Christmas, he would appear on the streets trying in vain to make peace among his devilish sons who warred and killed each other. He then forgave them, using his powers to restore them to life.
Christmas has therefore had its profound impact upon theatre in the Caribbean, both folk and formal. This is no less than it has done for the whole world. In this regard, one of the outstanding factors of the festival is the way it has given rise to a popular secular mythology with its own existence quite outside of the Christian religious mythology upon which it is based. Myths surrounding the story of the miraculous birth are well dramatized in many forms of theatre.
But then there is another mythical world involving the story of Santa Claus, his personified reindeer, the elves, Christmas stockings, mistletoe and the giving of gifts to children. Endless is the corpus of beliefs, legends, music, that dramatize many aspects of the season, even including many of the principles embraced by the religion. These are dramatized in tales of Good King Wenceslas, Christmas trees, mediaeval feasts and legends.
Modern drama then, which owes its existence to Christmas, has truly repaid that debt, since the theatre has thoroughly celebrated the festival. These factors have driven the highly commercial quality of Christmas, which has been quite aided by the very complex theatre of the festival. Ironically, this theatre remains vibrant and has swamped the Caribbean where most of the indigenous drama related to the season has faded.