Lucifer Descending
“You are writing a what???”
“A Morality Play.”
My friends joke that I am somewhat of a heathen, so when I told them I was writing a Morality Play based on the first completed Christian Bible dating from 382, a few eyebrows raised. The fact that I can read Vulgate Latin wasn’t what surprised people who know me, I am a language nerd when it comes to ancient texts, it was the fact that I was penning a play that is so entrenched in Judeo-Christian principles and teachings that shocked them.
“What’s the twist?”
“To answer that question, you will have to come see the play.”
Morality plays were one of the most popular forms of theatre for several centuries and seldom are they now performed. Frankly, they can be boring to read. Most modern readers will read the scripts and find them utterly tedious and with good reason. By nature they are very episodic, and do not have a strong plot line, for each scene serves to teach a lesson. What most modern readers fail to understand is that these plays were really meant to be seen. Because they would be performed inside a Church or in the courtyard in front of the building, there would be no “real” stage and a few costume elements would be used. It required the actors to use their bodies, and communicate via their emotions and actions the feeling of what was transpiring. If done well, the plays would keep audiences entranced with the high drama unfolding in each scene as lessons were being taught. They were didactic, but entertaining. They were written to illuminate and teach the audience lessons from the Bible. Each one of the lessons learned would then be a part of the greater message of the play.
I have kept this traditional construct in penning this script. The play opens with a monologue that hints at the overall message of the drama. Then each scene teaches a lesson, with a final revelation at the end.
The 10 lessons taught in this play will become familiar to all of you as the play progresses even though the lines are spoken, sung, or chanted in the original Vulgate Latin during each scene transition. The individual lessons about the 10 rules to live by presented in this production will fit comfortably with the modern view of the world and religion, yet it is through these ten teachings that a grander point is made. It is here that the play diverges with most people’s concept of Lucifer and Hell. In other words, I use the Bible itself, and the words written within it to propose a different understanding and view of the morality of Lucifer. Yes, I say morality, not immorality, because after all, Lucifer was created by God.
Is the play scary? Yes. Is it funny? At times. Is it sad? That, too. Like all morality plays, it targets human emotions, because if you feel something about what you are learning then you are more then likely to retain it.
So sit back and enjoy the ride that is “Lucifer Descending”.
Sweet Dreams,
Mark-Brian Sonna
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