Reading Challenge Week 3: The Second Shepherds’ Play

A play that is very apt for Christmas. Decided to post this early since I don’t really want to be boring people with my posts on Christmas.

• So begins the foray of the Church into meddling with secular matters. The Second Shepherds’ Play is a Passion Play, following the story of the shepherds who came to the nativity.
• A note on semantics. Many critics argue that it should be “the second shepherd’s play” rather than the “second shepherds’ play.” The former implies this being the play of the second shepherd while the latter implies this being the second play of the shepherds. A very big difference due to a simple apostrophe.
• It is the second play of the shepherds simply because there is a first play of the shepherds although the argument is present that this second play is but a revision of the first. The argument on this being about a play of the second shepherd is due to a heightened level the dialogue of the second shepherd gives.
• Once you get past the obligatory christian prologue at the start, the dialogue gets really witty. Laughed out a few times. It is a combination of the high religious monologues with very down-to-earth banter between the shepherds.
• Mak is obviously the best character for me. He’s so wily. I’m not sure I like his wife Gill very much though.
• At its best parts, this play is farcical and shows the errors of human judgment. In Filipino, nanggagago lang.
• I must say I feel the parts weren’t tied up well with each other. The religious monologues at the start were fine as they served to show the characters of the two shepherds (contrasting with the third) before shifting to the arrival of Mak. Then the whole farcical plot (arguably the best part of the play) and then suddenly an angel arrives to announce the birth of christ and all the shepherds go to the manger and it becomes really religious. I don’t buy the shift using a modern eye – understandable in the context of religious medieval drama but in my opinion that transition is what makes this play lacking in comparison to the more allegorical Everyman.
• While I didn’t buy it very much, it was actually quite apt to read that manger scene this time of year. Yay Christmas!

Right. Next week is New Year’s Eve. It is very apt to read what many critic consider to be the BEST PLAY of all time and a part of the English Renaissance (which is the time period to be tackled next week) – KING LEAR by SHAKESPEARE. I’d also like to announce that since it is impossible to pass the Renaissance without tackling Shakespeare, this also leads to questions about his contemporaries. Do we not read Ben Jonson? John Webster? Christopher Marlowe? Even John Milton had a play. So next week we do Renaissance Shakespeare and then the week after we do another Renaissance play. Also, second announcement, I feel that doing it once a week is too long especially since I got a book entitled “The 100 Best Plays” and I feel that we should try to get all these plays over with. So, after King Lear, let’s try to do two plays a week – a review to be posted on a Wednesday and one on a Sunday. Again, this is after King Lear so King Lear posts could appear by Sunday.

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