Got an event? Grab your friends, some archetypal and silly costumes, and do some mumming!
What is mumming?
Mumming arises out of the same tradition as sword dances, and ethnohistorians believe they both grew out of ancient agrarian societies. They have their origins in ritualized sacrifice to ensure the renewed fertility of the land and the people as well as the battle between the eternal opposites — the old and new year, winter and spring, the darkness and the light. In the past 200 hundred years, a group of Mummers might perform for members of a household, people on the street, people at an event (especially weddings), or on the Twelfth Day of Christmas.
Typically, an event with Mummers also includes singing, dancing, and relevant storytelling, either by elders or recognized storytellers. The Mummers themselves might be working from an ancient bit of script, a modern version of a medieval script, or a structured improvisation with stock characters pertinent to the event.
How do I put together a mumming event?
A script or clearly structured improvisational outline comes first!
Most ‘scripts’ have a Doctor, a “George” (Prince, Sir, King, Knight, whatever), a Turkish Knight, and often a clown and/or Father Christmas to work the crowd.
Similarly, an event-specific script should include stock, archetypal characters from that event (such as a bride and bridegroom for a wedding) and:
- Doctor or person who makes the intellectual decisions
- Knight or persona mostly likely to take up arms and defend the kingdom (with a silly weapon)
- Pretty lady (played by a man)
- Manly man (played by a woman)
- Morris dancers
Your script should be very very simple, with a character-specific problem to solve, lots of comic idiocy, and something mysterious and wonderful that happens as part of the solution that isn’t really explained. Remember that the higher the social ranking of the character, the more ridiculous their actions should be and the characters on the low end of the social ladder are the smartest ones.
How do I pull off my mumming performance?
Practice
Even if it is improvisational, you should practice, so people have a chance to explore their characters, develop exaggerated silly walks and swaggers, discover hilarious moments and routines, and figure out what the pitfalls are going to be. It will also help you to practice building suspense, keeping the energy going, comic timing, and pacing.
Costumes
This doesn’t have to be a huge, pricey undertaking (and, in fact, it shouldn’t be). Rags, torn strips of newspaper taped or stitched on, twigs and leaves, silly, ill-fitting, mismatched or outrageous clothes — whatever is at hand will work.
Audience
Remember to really include the audience! Ask questions, tell jokes, get them to help the magic moment, blame someone for farting, goofily accuse an audience member of doing something bad that you yourself did behind another character’s back.
And most importantly, HAVE FUN. This form, especially in modern times, is light and ridiculous. Think of A Midsummer Night’s Dream or Commedia Dell’arte shows, then add something sweet and sublime.
