The Play of Daniel

At the Picardy town of Beauvais, New Year's Day in the 13th century must have been a remarkable occasion. Known as the Feast of Fools, January 1 was the day when each year the sub-deacons (the junior clerics) were allowed to rule the Cathedral. Not only did the sub-deacons take this as an opportunity for indulging in their sense of the ridiculous - a donkey procession being one example - they also promoted the performance of a full-scale drama, the anonymous Play of Daniel.

All this was housed in the new cathedral at Beauvais which after 1272 was (briefly, until it collapsed) the tallest cathedral in Europe.

This costumed and semi-staged performance of The Play of Daniel was part of the 1988 New Zealand International Festival of the Arts.

Programme

Download poster (283 kb)