"The Building of The Ark" -the play

I chose to write a dramaturgical blog on the York Cycle play, "The Building of the Ark," mainly because it was one of the only biblical stories that I was familiar with and could therefore understand. The script itself is a little hard to understand due to the Latin phrases and the old English writing, but after deciphering some of the language, the story itself is easily identifiable. 

The Script

This particular pageant play was put on by the Shipwrights Guild of Medieval York. Some of the script reveals the Shipwright's influence on the pageant itself. For instance, Noah uses some terms specifically related to the Shipwrights skill.

Ex) Lines: 98-104

Noah: Now bud it be all inlike thin,
So that it neither twin nor twine.
Thus shall I join it with a gin
And sadly set it with simmon fine: Thus shall I work it both more and min
Through teaching of God, master mine.

Translation:
Now must it be all equally thin,
So that it neither twin or warp
Thus shall I join it with a tool
And carefully secure it with good cement
Thus shall I work in every respect
Through teaching of God, my master.

This is just one of the sections of the script that talks of the proper way to build a ship and uses technical terms of the era for the Shipwrights.

These reflections back to the Shipwrights should be carefully noted when choosing to put on this particular production because the Shipwrights would have wanted to not only portray the biblical story of Noah, but to also advertise their craft.


Beadle, Richard, and Pamela M. King. York Mystery Plays: a Selection in Modern Spelling. Oxford [Oxfordshire: Clarendon, 1984. Print.

Scoville, Chester N., and Kimberley M. Yates. "The York Plays." Blackboard Learn. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. <https://courses.cwu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_4_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher?type=Course&id=_56297_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2FdisplayIndividualContent%3Fmode%3Dview%26content_id%3D_1030773_1%26course_id%3D_56297_1>.