Скачать с ютуб Curious British tradition - Mummers' plays в хорошем качестве

Curious British tradition - Mummers' plays

Among the most curious of British Christmas traditions must be the mummers play. Almost certainly the survivors of a pre-Christian custom, mummers and their plays were once to be found all over the country. Mummers' plays are folk plays performed by troupes of amateur actors, traditionally all male, known as mummers or guisers. It refers particularly to a play in which a number of characters are called on stage, two of whom engage in a combat, the loser being revived by a doctor character. The Ashdown Mummers are a group dedicated to the performances of a traditional Sussex Mumming ritual, and some lesser known ancient fertility dances. Their name is taken from the forest where they were founded, in the heart of Sussex, England. Their play is the same at every venue, basically telling a tale of good versus evil. Members of the cast include; St George, Mad Johnny Jack, a Turkish Knight , Father Christmas (all dressed in green) the devil plus a few other assorted characters. It is short, around 15 minutes but this varies depending on the degree of improvisation that actors employ during their performance and of course heckling from the crowd. The Ashdown mummers only perform their play one weekend a year, it’s always the Saturday and Sunday before Christmas and this year they performed in 10 Sussex pubs largely chosen for their good beer and friendly atmopshere