A Mystery Play in Honour of the Nativity of our Lord — John Shaqi
A Mystery Play in Honour of the Nativity of our LordBenson, Robert Hugh
Religion
A Mystery Play in Honour of the Nativity of our Lord
Benson, Robert Hugh
Christmas plays
The _Burnous_, then, is generally worn simply as a wide and voluminous
cloak, fastened by the hook and eye; but in the case of one or two the
arms may be put through the holes. It should be made of heavy stuff,
and should hang loosely and even clumsily. It may be variegated with
effect by long strips of stuff or some other colour attached down the
front of the folded wings and straight over the shoulders down the back.
3. The _Girdle_.—This may be of rope in the case of the poor, and of
rich stuffs in the case of the rich. When the girdle is wide weapons
may be thrust into it.
4. The _Head-dress_.—This is of two kinds:
(1) The turban proper, made of voluminous thin material
wound round the head and tucked into the top.
(2) A large thin piece of stuff, made to fit the head
by a ring of elastic on the inner side and flowing
down behind over the shoulders and back.
5. The _Foot-gear_.—This must consist of sandals, with the addition,
in the case of those whose skirts are worn to the knee, of voluminous
stuff wrapped round the leg and tied there by cris-cross bindings of
string or leather, or the material used by gardeners for tying up
plants.
Now, if these principles are followed, the rest is easy. (The “Kings”
and the “Angels” need separate treatment.)
1. _Mary._—She wears a night-dress to her feet. Over this she wears a
tunic of dark-blue muslin, also coming to her feet; a white burnous;
a long white veil; and sandals. In the fifth scene she is, after the
first fall of the curtain, robed in a white cope, and crowned. A
sceptre is also put into her hands.
The _crown_ was an imperial one, constructed of cardboard covered
with crumpled gold paper, with strings of jewels and brooches, over a
crumpled cap of dark-blue velvet. The sceptre can be made in the same
kind of way.
2. _Joseph._—He wears a white tunic to his feet, with heavy white or
yellowish girdle; a dark-red burnous striped with white; and a white
handkerchief over his head and shoulders. He is bearded and browed with
grey over a stained face. [See below.]
3. _Tobias._—He wears a dark-blue tunic with broad brown girdle,
brown burnous and turban of “Rhodian” silk. He is girt to just below
the knee, and wears hose and sandals. His face is stained and eyebrows
darkened.
4. _David._—He wears simply a short-sleeved dark-green tunic and cord
girdle; hose and sandals.
5. _Zachary._—He wears a long yellowish tunic to his feet, a brown
burnous striped with white, a brown handkerchief on his head; and
sandals. He is bearded and browed with grey over a stained face. [See
below.]
6. _Ezra and Ben-Ezra._—These are in short dark-brown tunics and are
wrapped in deer-skins. If skins are not available, burnouses must
be substituted. _Ezra_ wears a red handkerchief on his head, and
_Ben-Ezra_ a white turban. They carry spears.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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