mumming play (redirected from Mummers' play)

mumming play, form of drama developed in England in the early 17th cent., based on the legend of St. George and the dragon. The central theme of the play is the death and resurrection of the hero. The mumming play possibly evolved from some primitive folk celebration. However, it is most closely associated with the medieval sword dance, which symbolized the reawakening of the earth from the death of winter. During the Christmas season a few English villages still present the mumming play.

Bibliography

See A. Brody, English Mummers and Their Plays (1971).

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mumming play

 or mummers' play

Traditional dramatic entertainment. Mumming plays, which feature the death of a champion who is restored to life by a doctor, are still performed in a few villages of England and Northern Ireland. Originally mummers were bands of masked persons who during winter festivals in Europe paraded through the streets and entered houses to dance or play dice in silence. Thus the name has been connected with words such as mumble and mute and non-English words meaning “mask.” Mumming plays probably have links with primitive ceremonies marking important stages in the agricultural year.