Room, Room, Ladies and Gentlemen: An Introduction to the English Mummers' Play

Folklore, April, 2005 by Jacqueline Simpson

Room, Room, Ladies and Gentlemen: An Introduction to the English Mummers' Play. By Eddie Cass and Steve Roud. London: The English Folk Dance and Song Society in association with The Folklore Society, 2002. 120 pp. Illus. 12.95 [pounds sterling] 1.50 [pounds sterling] p&p (pbk). ISBN 0-854181-85-7

It is good to see that the excellent research done over the past decades is now being translated into a clear, concise and interesting format that will appeal to hundreds of performers and would-be performers (and their audiences). This short book comes from two experienced scholars in this field; it is packed with descriptive and historical information, and is copiously illustrated by photographs old and new, many of them by Doc Rowe or taken from his archive collection. Selected passages quoted from older writers vividly convey the flavour of the custom. Nine play texts are given in full, as representative of various regional subtypes. A whole section is devoted to practical advice for school groups or others wanting to put on a performance.

Presumably some readers from the "general public" (especially journalists!) will be disappointed, perhaps even shocked, to see cherished old theories about ritual pagan origins, magic and symbolism crumbling within the first few pages under the impact of one simple fact: there is no evidence that these plays existed before the eighteenth century. Hopefully, they will appreciate the more complex historical and sociological interpretation outlined here. Whereas an earlier generation of scholars concentrated almost exclusively on the action of the plays, Cass and Roud argue that the best clues to their origins will be found in close study of the verbal texts. These draw upon many strands of working-class culture of their time, both oral and written, notably fairground plays.

The enduring appeal of the mummers' play is obvious from the popularity of today's many revivals; this is the ideal book to lead anyone who has enjoyed a performance into a deeper understanding of what it is they have seen

Jacqueline Simpson, The Folklore Society