Poculi Ludique Societas
Encyclopedia
PLS, or Poculi Ludique Societas, the Medieval & Renaissance Players of Toronto, sponsors productions of early plays, from the beginnings of medieval drama (see mystery play
Mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...

) to as late as the middle of the seventeenth century.

The group had its origins in 1965–1976 in a seminar on medieval drama conducted at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

. Now independent, the PLS operates in affiliation with the university's Centre for Medieval Studies (CMS), offering a regular schedule of plays every year.

The PLS has toured in Canada, the United States and Europe. The PLS also collaborates with the theatre history research project Records of Early English Drama (REED) at the University of Toronto.

PLS Productions, 1964–2005

1964
Everyman

1965
Wit and Science by John Redford;
St. George Mummer's Play;
Towneley Secunda Pastorum

1966
Gammer Gurton's Needle;
Mankynde;
A Christmas Revelles

1967
The Play of David;
Coventry Pageant of Shearman and Taylors;
Ralph Roister Doister
Ralph Roister Doister
Ralph Roister Doister is a comic play by Nicholas Udall, generally regarded as the first comedy to be written in the English language.The date of its composition is disputed, but the balance of opinion suggests that it was written in about 1553, when Udall was a teacher in London, and was intended...

by Nicholas Udall
Nicholas Udall
Nicholas Udall was an English playwright, cleric, pederast and schoolmaster, the author of Ralph Roister Doister, generally regarded as the first comedy written in the English language.-Biography:...

;
York Crucifixion Sequence

1968
Cambises by Thomas Preston
Thomas Preston (writer)
Thomas Preston was an English master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge and possibly a dramatist.-Life:Preston was born at Simpson, Buckinghamshire, in 1537, and was educated at Eton and at King's College, Cambridge, where he was elected scholar, 16 Aug. 1553, and fellow, 18 Sept. 1556. He graduated B.A....

;
Like Will to Like by Ulpian Fulwell
Ulpian Fulwell
Ulpian Fulwell was an English Renaissance theatre playwright, satirist and poet.He became a rector of Naunton in 1570 and became a part of St. Mary Hall, Oxford in 1578....

;
Towneley Secunda Pastorum;
Towneley Cain and Abel, Noah

1969
The Digby Play of St. Mary Magdalene;
N-Town
N-Town Plays
The N-Town Plays are a cycle of 42 medieval Mystery plays from between 1450 and 1500.-The manuscript:...

 Adoration of the Magi, Death of Herod;
Towneley Slaughter of the Innocents, Flight into Egypt;
Chester Creation of the World, Noah's Flood;
Hycke Scorner

1970
The Somonyng of Everyman;
Planctus Mariae;
More Dissemblers besides Women by Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...

;
Mankynde;
The Four PP by John Heywood
John Heywood
John Heywood was an English writer known for his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs. Although he is best known as a playwright, he was also active as a musician and composer, though no works survive.-Life:...

;
Towneley Prima Pastorum

1971
The Imposture by James Shirley
James Shirley
James Shirley was an English dramatist.He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly...

;
Johan Johan by John Heywood, and Once More
Pericles by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

;
Lancelot of Denmark and Dame Sirith;
Three Towneley Nativity Pageants

1972
Filius Getronis;
Towneley Mactacio Abel, Noah;
Witt and Wisdome;
Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue by Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...

;
N-Town Assumption of the Virgin;
Towneley Last Judgment

1973
A Re-enactment of the Coronation and the Mass of Henry V;
York Baptism, Temptation;
N-Town Women Taken in Adultery, Colifizacio, Scourging, Crucifixion;
The Franklin's Tale, The Washtub

1974
Fulgens and Lucrece;
Towneley The Talents, The Resurrection;
Officium in Nocte Resurrectionis, Music at the Time of Petrarch;
Pierre Pathelin;
Towneley Secunda Pastorum, York Herod Plays

1975
Magnyfycence by John Skelton
John Skelton
John Skelton, also known as John Shelton , possibly born in Diss, Norfolk, was an English poet.-Education:...

;
The Sport of the Friar, The Sport of the Drunken Monk by King Mahendra;
Arden of Faversham

1976
Sampson Dux Fortissime;
Bassingham Mummer's Play;
The Dance of Death by John Lydgate
John Lydgate
John Lydgate of Bury was a monk and poet, born in Lidgate, Suffolk, England.Lydgate is at once a greater and a lesser poet than John Gower. He is a greater poet because of his greater range and force; he has a much more powerful machine at his command. The sheer bulk of Lydgate's poetic output is...

;
Towneley Judgement

1977
Two Cain and Abel Plays (Chester and Towneley);
Visitatio Sepulchri;
Mankynde;
The York Cycle (48 separate pageants)

1978
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

;
Johan Johan by John Heywood
John Heywood
John Heywood was an English writer known for his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs. Although he is best known as a playwright, he was also active as a musician and composer, though no works survive.-Life:...

;
The Dead Man, The Hot Iron and The Stolen Shrovetide Cock by Hans Sachs;
Nice Wanton;
A Mummer's Play;
A Renaissance High Mass

1979
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

;
A Winter's Revels;
The Castle of Perseverance;
13th Century Spanish Music;
The World and the Child

1980
The Blessed Apple Tree;
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

;
Robin Hood and the Friar;
Towneley Murder of Abel, Abraham and Isaac;
The Brome Abraham
The Brome play of Abraham and Isaac
The Brome play of Abraham and Isaac is a fifteenth-century play of unknown authorship, written in an East Anglian dialect of Middle English, which dramatises the story of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac.-The play:In the opening scene, Abraham prays to God, thanking Him for His...



1981
Tom Tyler and His Wife;
The Toronto Passion Play;
Hyde Park by James Shirley
James Shirley
James Shirley was an English dramatist.He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly...



1982
Ralph Roister Doister
Ralph Roister Doister
Ralph Roister Doister is a comic play by Nicholas Udall, generally regarded as the first comedy to be written in the English language.The date of its composition is disputed, but the balance of opinion suggests that it was written in about 1553, when Udall was a teacher in London, and was intended...

by Nicholas Udall
Nicholas Udall
Nicholas Udall was an English playwright, cleric, pederast and schoolmaster, the author of Ralph Roister Doister, generally regarded as the first comedy written in the English language.-Biography:...

;
Towneley Noah and Secunda Pastorum;
Fool Surgery;
The Pie and the Tart;
Johan Johan (puppet production);
Edward II by Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...

;
The Fleury Slaughter of the Innocents;
Aminta by Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...



1983
The Play of Daniel;
The Chester Cycle of Mystery Plays (24 separate pageants);
Wit and Science by John Redford

1984
La Calandria;
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...

;
Man's Desire and Fleeting Beauty;
Coventry Christmas Plays

1985
N-Town Death of Herod;
The Dead Husband
The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

;
The Towneley Cycle of Mystery Cycles (32 separate pageants);
Wealth and Health;
Towneley Nativity Sequence

1986
The Nun Who Left Her Abbey;
Watkins Ale;
Confessions of Rifflart;
King John by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

;
York Nativity Sequence

1987
A Fourteenth Century Easter Matins
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

1988
The N-Town Pageants: A Medieval History of the World (21 separate pageants);
Homo;
Like Will to Like by Ulpian Fulwell
Ulpian Fulwell
Ulpian Fulwell was an English Renaissance theatre playwright, satirist and poet.He became a rector of Naunton in 1570 and became a part of St. Mary Hall, Oxford in 1578....

;
The Presentation of the Virgin by Phillipe de Mezieres

1989
Gammer Gurton's Needle;
The Quack Dentist

1990
The Feast of St. Ursula: Lauds and hymns of Hildegard von Bingen;
Everyman;
Jesuskind: Christmas Vespers and Procession

1991
A Looking Glasse for London and England by Thomas Lodge
Thomas Lodge
Thomas Lodge was an English dramatist and writer of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.-Early life and education:...

 and Robert Greene;
Wisdom;
No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's by Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...

;
Jesuskind: Christmas Vespers and Procession;
Youth and Hickscorner

1992
N-Town Assumption of the Virgin;
Robin Hood and the Friar

1993
Le Jeu de Robin et Marion;
The Widow's Tears by George Chapman
George Chapman
George Chapman was an English dramatist, translator, and poet. He was a classical scholar, and his work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been identified as the Rival Poet of Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Minto, and as an anticipator of the Metaphysical Poets...



1994
The Digby Conversion of St. Paul;
A Mery Play betwene Johan Johan the Husbande, Tib his wife, and Sir Johan the Preest;
A Yorkshire Tragedy

1995
Mankind;
Occupacion and Ydelnesse;
Four episodes from the York Cycle: Annunciation, Joseph's Troubles, Nativity, Shepherds;
The Play of Daniel (Joint production with The Toronto Consort)

1996
Three episodes from the York Cycle: Fall and Expulsion, Temptation of Christ, Crucifixion;
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

;
N-Town Trial of Joseph and Mary and Towneley Second Shepherds' Play;
The Wandering Scholar from Paradise by Hans Sachs
Hans Sachs
Hans Sachs was a German meistersinger , poet, playwright and shoemaker.-Biography:Hans Sachs was born in Nuremberg . His father was a tailor. He attended Latin school in Nuremberg...



1997
The Joy of Sachs: The Doctor with the Big Nose, The Wandering Scholar from Paradise, The Stolen Shrovetide Cock;
Towneley Noah's Ark;
Gammer Gurton's Needle

1998
The York Cycle (48 separate plays);
Coventry Shearmen and Taylors' Pageant;
The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd
Thomas Kyd
Thomas Kyd was an English dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama....



1999
Chester Antichrist (modern-dress);
The Woman In the Moone by John Lyly
John Lyly
John Lyly was an English writer, best known for his books Euphues,The Anatomy of Wit and Euphues and His England. Lyly's linguistic style, originating in his first books, is known as Euphuism.-Biography:John Lyly was born in Kent, England, in 1553/1554...



2000
Arden of Feversham

2001
Aminta by Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...

 (co-production with University of Toronto Graduate Centre for Study of Drama );
The Conversion of the Harlot Thais by Hroswitha of Gandersheim;
Robin Hood and the Friar

2002
Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...



2003
The Digby Mary Magdalene;
The World and the Child;
The Chester Shepherds

2004
The Chester Antichrist;
The Old Wives Tale by George Peele
George Peele
George Peele , was an English dramatist.-Life:Peele was christened on 25 July 1556. His father, who appears to have belonged to a Devonshire family, was clerk of Christ's Hospital, and wrote two treatises on bookkeeping...

;
Don Juan, Ladykiller of Seville;
The Second Shepherd's Play and Officium Stellae

2005
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay by Robert Greene;
Joseph's Trouble About Mary and Jesuskind: Christmas Vespers and Procession

2006
Jesuskind and The York Nativity

See also

  • Mystery play
    Mystery play
    Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...

  • Medieval theatre
    Medieval theatre
    Medieval theatre refers to the theatre of Europe between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D. and the beginning of the Renaissance in approximately the 15th century A.D...

  • Easter Drama
    Easter Drama
    An Easter Drama is a liturgical drama or religious theatrical performance in the Roman Catholic tradition, largely limited to the Middle Ages. These performances evolved from celebrations of the liturgy to incorporate later dramatic and secular elements, and came to be performed in local languages...

  • Passion play
    Passion play
    A Passion play is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. It is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in Catholic tradition....

  • Wakefield Mystery Plays
    Wakefield Mystery Plays
    The Wakefield or Towneley Mystery Plays are a series of thirty-two mystery plays based on the Bible most likely performed around the Feast of Corpus Christi probably in the town of Wakefield, England during the late Middle Ages until 1576...

     - a collection of thirty-two mystery plays performed in medieval and early Renaissance England
  • York Mystery Plays
    York Mystery Plays
    The York Mystery Plays, more properly called the York Corpus Christi Plays, are a Middle English cycle of forty-eight mystery plays, or pageants, which cover sacred history from the creation to the Last Judgement. These were traditionally presented on the feast day of Corpus Christi...

     - a collection of forty-eight mystery plays
  • William Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

  • English Renaissance theatre
    English Renaissance theatre
    English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642...

  • The Queen's Men
    Queen's Men
    The Queen's Men was an Elizabethan playing company that operated between 1583 and 1595. It was a popular company and its patron was Queen Elizabeth I...

    - Queen Elizabeth I's playing company

External links

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