Douglas Morse

Everyman: the Medieval Morality Play for Actors and Directors Douglas Morse

Nearly all versions of Everyman use recycled text that hasn't been reexamined in over sixty years. This all new edition returns to the printed texts of the early 1500s and is specifically designed for actors and directors. To that end, the play does not have modern editorial punctuation, stage directions, or critical notes that can clutter the text. This is the ideal edition for use as a company performance text. This edition of Everyman arises out of Douglas Morse?s work adapting the medieval morality tale for film. The essay, Adapting Everyman for the Screen discusses in detail the process of analyzing, adapting, and directing the play. Copious stills from the film production and woodcuts from the original 1530 edition illustrate the book. Included are analogues and source stories for the play such as ?The man with four friends? from Barlaam and Josephat. ?A man who had four wives,? a parable told by the Buddha. In addition, medieval liturgical texts, including an excerpt from ?The book on the craft of dying,? illuminate the religious traditions that inform the play. The Story God instructs Death to collect the soul of Everyman and bring him to his final judgment. Everyman is loath to follow and tries to buy Death off to no avail. Everyman discovers he is allowed to take a companion with him on his journey to face his reckoning before God. The Summoning of Everyman is a spiritual tale of aging, dying and death.