French Literature Reviews - 2026
The Stage and the Cross: Actor Performance in French Dramatic Passion Plays (14th–16th Centuries)
Theatre and Performance
DOMINGUEZ Véronique
The Stage and the Cross: Actor Performance in French Dramatic Passion Plays (14th–16th Centuries)
Turnhout, Brepols, 2007, 326 p.
326 p., ill. in color.
ISBN - 978-2-503-52317-0
EUR 64.00
Publisher's Description:
Intended for both reading and performance, French dramatic Passion plays belong to the traditions of theatrical spectacle and late medieval semiotic theories. For the Christian spectator, do the actors' bodies function as icons pointing toward the divine, or as idols exercising the seductive allure of the senses? Because historical Passion plays and sermons echo one another, the tortured body of Christ operates there as a sign of the Passion necessary for Redemption. Grounded in Thomistic scholasticism and Aristotelian mimesis—whether through similarity to or opposition against Christ—the actors' performance follows a typology that fosters meditation on the divine likeness. At the same time, each body presents itself as a singular object that the spectator must identify before decoding its meaning. Its appearance thus aligns with the nominalism reformulated by figures like Jean Gerson, as well as with the Neoplatonic definition of mimesis as the conscious production of an illusory reality. Carried by the rhythm of the rondeau and the *Planctus*, the actor delivers a performance fully aware of its dissimilarity from its divine model, thereby arousing emotion above all else. Thus, the Passion plays offer an alternative to the debate contrasting the idol with the icon, creating a space where moral edification coexists with the pleasure of spectacle.
Véronique Dominguez is Associate Professor of Medieval Language and Literature at the University of Nantes. Her research focuses on medieval French theatre and its reception in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Late medieval religious drama occupies a crossroads between liturgical observance and civic spectacle, flourishing in urban centers across France during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. These theatrical works often engaged contemporary theological debates regarding representation, devotional focus, and the limits of religious imagery. By examining how performance traditions intersected with prevailing philosophical currents, scholars of medieval theatre seek to understand the complex relationship between dramatic illusion and spiritual devotion in pre-modern European culture.
Véronique Dominguez is Associate Professor of Medieval Language and Literature at the University of Nantes, and her research focuses on medieval French theatre and its reception in the 20th and 21st centuries. In her book The Stage and the Cross: Actor Performance in French Dramatic Passion Plays (14th–16th Centuries), she explores how French dramatic Passion plays navigate the tension between the actor as an icon and the body as a singular object. The study examines actor performance through the lenses of Thomistic scholasticism, Aristotelian mimesis, and nominalism, while noting connections between historical plays and sermons. Readers interested in medieval French literature and the history of theatrical performance may find it relevant.