GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH DRAMA
The “origin of drama” as it is stated has been figured out in the religious instinct of mankind. This is considered to be true regarding drama of all countries with English drama as no exception. The “cradle of drama” here too rested on the cradle of the church, that resulted later into its service. The main objective was to educate people the truths of religion and teach about the life of Jesus Christ. It also aimed to teach the facts and personalities of Bible.
Initially the service provided by church was in Latin. It became difficult for the common man to understand it. Group of clerics presented tableaux or living pictures depicting the episodes or morals enshrined in sacred scriptures. By the tenth century, dialogues were chanted by the choir, actions and gesture emphasized the meaning. The narration of Bible in this manner gave rise to Liturgical Plays. Special plays were composed by clergy for the special occasion of Christmas or Easter. The performance used to be held in the interior of the church. This was the first stage that was fixed in nature of English drama.
As the time progressed, liturgical plays attracted the people of Britain. As a result the locality or stage of the drama altered from the interior of the church to the open spaces round the market place. In the beginning of twelfth century, trade guilds were entrusted with the performance of these plays. The plays were ordered to be performed according to the craft of the trade guilds. For example, the Fishmongers presented the Flood or Deluge.
and the Bakers were asked to perform The Last Supper and so on. The plays were performed on stage or platform divided into two storeys – the upper part used to serve as the stage and the lower as the dressing room for the performers. Sometimes these platforms were mounted on wheels that were movable in nature. Now, the stage was no more fixed.
MYSTERY, MIRACLE, MORALITY & INTERLUDE
From the medieval period three types of plays emerged and formed a part in the evolution of English drama; they were the Mystery, Miracle and Morality plays. The ‘Miracle Plays’ were the earliest of the era evolving during twelfth century. They dramatized the lives of legends and miracles of Roman catholic saints. The Mystery Plays were based on scenes and stories from Bible and were often performed together in a series called cycle. Four cycles have been preserved – that of Chester, Coventry, York and Towneley. They were performed on wagons that were to move from one to another around the town. Each wagon was also the responsibility of a particular trade guild.
With the continuation of the development of Medieval English drama, Morality Plays emerged during the fifteenth century. Jokes or comic scenes were tolerated in the Biblical stories to amuse the people and attract their interest. For example, in the play Noah’s Ark, Noah’s wife was unwilling to enter the ark, therefore he had to leave aside her gossips and had to beat her to lead her into the ark.
In the second Shepherd’s Play, there is a cunning scamp named Mack who steals a sheep and conceals it in the bed of his wife and later he passes it as a baby in the cradle.
The Morality Plays that emerged in the fifteenth century differ from Mystery and Miracle Plays in their theme. They focused neither on bible and Roman catholic saints but on the common man. The main character in the Morality Play represented all humanity; Everyman, Mankind, Humanum Genus and they dealt with salvation with the conflict between vice and virtue which were personifications of abstract elements.
The last of the regular Medieval drama was Interlude, which flourished about the middle of sixteenth century. As the name designates, the Interlude are short comic scenes offered as a relief in the intervals of serious drama. It possessed several distinguishing features; it was a short play that introduced real characters such as citizens and friars; there was a complete absence of allegorical figures; and there were set scenes; a new feature in English drama.
John Heywood contributed to the Interludes section. His The Four P’s: Palmer, Pardoner, Pothecary and the Pedlar is best known of all the Interludes. It is a play that deals with a game of lie among the four to decide who is the can tell great lies. The Palmer wins the game.
By the middle of sixteenth century Renaissance spirit of Italy influenced and provided an impetus to the English drama. The study of classical drama specially of Seneca and Plautus gave provided the English scholars a model on which the English drama could be built. The classical drama gave the English drama its five acts, set scenes and its divisions into comedies and tragedies. Regular comedy, tragedy and historical plays were appeared in succession and the modern English drama was established.
The first comedy was Ralph Roister Doister written by Nicholas Udall in 1541; Gammer Gurton’s Needle of 1575 followed it. The authorship is uncertain.
The first English tragedy was Gorboduc by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville. Gascoigne’s Jocasta was staged in 1566.
The first attempt in writing Historical plays was made by John Bale on his play King John. Early historical plays took the famous victories of Henry V, troublesome reigns of King John and the chronicle history of King Lear. These plays are considered as the predecessors of Shakespeare’s histories.
The University Wits
During the reign of Elizabeth I in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, a few potential young men educated in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge greatly influenced by the classical models formed a group called ‘The University Wits’. The ‘wits’ included Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe and Robert Greene from the University of Cambridge; Thomas Lodge, John Lyly and George Peele from University of Oxford; and Thomas Kyd was not a university graduate.
Lyly is better known for his prose romance Euphues, wrote eight plays out of which Campaspe, Endymion and Gallathea are considered as best. Lyly found a suitable blank verse for comedy as Marlowe found for tragedy.
Greene wrote some five plays in all namely; The Comical History of Alphonsus king of Aragon; The Honourable History of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, often considered his important and interesting work; A Looking Glass for London and England written jointly with Lodge; The History of Orlando Furioso and The Scottish Historie of James, the Fourth.
Peele’s five plays that are extant are The Arraignment of Paris, The Battle of Alcazar, The Famous chronicle of king Edward the First, The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe, and The Old Wives’ Tale.
Thomas Lodge drew on classical theme to write his plays The Wounds of Civil War.
Thomas Kyd’s play The Spanish Tragedy is modelled on Seneca’s revenge tragedy having a number of Senecan elements like murders, bloodshed, suicides, ghosts and horrifying incidents.
Christopher Marlowe is considered as the greatest among the University Wits and is considered the greatest among the pre-Shakespearean dramatists. Marlowe’s plays are all tragedies that includes Edward II, Tamburlaine the Great, Doctor Faustus; the tragedy of a Renaissance overreacher, The Jew of Malta and Dido Queen of Carthage.
Shakespeare
His successor to Marlowe, Shakespeare is considered a dramatist, his activity extends over a period of twenty-four years, from 1588 to 1612. Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays in the course of his journey. His plays are grouped into four periods.
First Period (1558-1595): This period by Professor Dowden is called In The Workshop that includes Titus Andronicus, Henry VI 1,2,3; Richard III, Richard; Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labour Lost, Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Mid-summer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet.
Second Period (1595-1601): Dowden calls this period In The World. Shakespeare wrote his famous comedies during this period: The Merchant of Venice, Taming of The Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night.
Third Period (1601-1608): This period is called Out of Depth by Dowden. Shakespeare wrote his great tragedies: Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Othello and King Lear. He also wrote the sombre plays All’s Well That Ends Well, Troilus and Cressida and Measure For Measure. He also wrote two tragedies: Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus.
Fourth Period: This includes his romances like Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline and The Tempest. This period is also known as On The Heights. Shakespeare left the stage and went to his village Stratford by bidding farewell to the stage with his last play The Tempest. Sources 
Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson is regarded as the remarkable dramatist of the period. His numerous works include comedies, tragedies, masques and lyrics, but all are associated with a varying merit with a common aim underlying his writing. Jonson followed the classical playwrights regarding his comedies and tragedies. In his comedies he aimed at certain limitations. Satirical and realistic nature of classics. In his plays he is mainly concerned with the creations of his characters. They because they introduced the comedy of humours.
Jonson’s early comedies include Every Man in His Humour, Every Man out of His humour, Cynthia’s Revels and The Poetaster. These show his inventiveness in the construction of plots, humour and wit and they are full of liveliness and fun. Every Man in his Humour is perhaps his greatest work.
The middle group of comedies includes Volpone or The Fox, Epicoene or The Silent Woman, The Alchemist and Bartholomew Fayre. Epicoene and Bartholomew Fayre are written entirely in prose, while The Alchemist is entirely written in blank verse. His late comedies The Devil is an Ass and The Staple of News show a distinct falling off in dramatic power.
His two historical tragedies include Sejanus His Fall and Catiline His Conspiracy and are composed on classical models.
Beaumont and Fletcher
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher combined to produce a great number of plays, said to be fifty-two in all. They were influenced by both Shakespeare and Jonson, but their plays are often creature, lively and entertaining, though rather loosely knit. Full of witty dialogue, the plays attain a high level of lucidity and simplicity in their style but they lack the Shakespearean wealth of imagery. Their typical comedies include A King and No King esteemed by Dryden as best; The Knight of Burning Pestle, a very agreeable farce and The Scornful Lady.
The tragedies include The Maid’s Tragedy and Philaster that is reminiscent of Twelfth Night and The Faithful Shepherdess.
George Chapman
George Chapman took part in the literary life of his time, for his name appears in the squabbles of his time for his. His first play The Blind Beggar of Alexandria was followed by many more plays, both comical and tragical in nature. Among them are Bussy d’Ambois, Charles Duke of Byron and The Tragedies of Chabot. These are historical plays dealing with events nearly contemporary with his own time. Chapman comedies include All Fools and Eastward Hoe.
John Marston
John Marston became a literary figure in London who was a member of Senecan school. specialized in melodramatic tragedies. Typical of them are Antonio and Mellida and Antonio’s Revenge.
Conclusion
The evolution of English drama reflects a continuous interplay between religious, social, and artistic influences. Beginning with liturgical plays rooted in the church, it gradually moved to public stages, giving rise to Mystery, Miracle, Morality plays, and Interludes. The Renaissance brought classical inspiration, shaping the structure and genres of modern drama. From the innovative works of the University Wits to the masterpieces of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and their contemporaries, English drama matured into a rich, diverse tradition that combined entertainment, moral instruction, and artistic excellence. This historical progression laid the foundation for the vibrant and dynamic theatre that continues to thrive today.