In March of 2005 I was a cast member in Mad Cow Theatre's production of the Morality drama Everyman. This classic tale on the condition of human dying is regarding as one of the greatest dramas of the Medieval period and is one of the first plays in the English language to be put into print. This thesis is an actor's journey into the history of Medieval theatre, the challenges of producing Everyman for a contemporary audience, and the techniques of acting implemented in the creation of allegorical characters. Medieval drama, like Everyman, is still relevant in today's world because it addresses universal themes of friendship, material wealth, and reverence towards death. It is the story of the human being, the power of beliefs, and the fear of death. This thesis reflects a group of artists' desire to give an audience the gift of insight into their common selves.

This study seeks to provide historical and literary contexts for elderly characters from English play-texts c.1580 to 1625. Its primary aim, from a literary perspective, is to draw attention to the ways that a better understanding of elderly characterisation can enrich the appreciation of much-studied play-texts, and to indicate some interesting features of more obscure ones. Its secondary aim is to suggest the value, for social historians of old age in early modern England, of play-texts as social evidence. I have examined most of the published extant play-texts of the period, and have found approximately 150 of these to be relevant (the most important of these are listed in the Appendix). Because of the problems of handling all aspects of such a large amount of material, I have chosen to consider the plays chiefly as texts to be read, with little reference to their performative aspects. However, I analyse the dramas as literary as well as social documents. Specific plays provide illustrations for observations and support for various hypotheses about dramatic representations of the elderly. In some instances, I address plays which have received little critical attention. The thesis falls into two parts. In the first three chapters, I discuss the socio-historical, cultural and non-dramatic literary contexts for representations of elderly men and women in play-texts. In chapters four through seven, I examine elderly characters in specific role or relationship categories: as sovereigns and magistrates, in sexual and marital relationships, and as parents. In the final chapter, I offer a detailed analysis of The Old Law by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley.