The Castle of Perseverance

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The Castle of Perseverance
Stage drawing from the only surviving manuscript of The Castle of Perseverance
Written by	Anonymous
Characters	Mankind Belial World Good Angel Bad Angel Seven deadly sins Virtues Death God the Father Others
Mute	Business
Date of premiere	Unknown (15th century?)
Original language	Middle English
Genre	morality play
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The Castle of Perseverance is a c. 15th century morality play and the earliest known full-length (3,649 lines) vernacular play in existence. It's especially important because a stage drawing is included, which may suggest theatre in the round. It survives in a unique manuscript from approximately 1440 presently housed in the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.

[edit] Drawing

One of the earliest drawings of a stage and set design is preserved in the manuscript. In the center of the drawing is the castle from the play's title. The writing above the castle explicitly says that the audience should not sit in the area. At the base of the castle is a bed on which Mankind rests. The circle around the castle is labeled as a ditch, which the audience should not cross.

The five short text blocks around the circle label scaffolds for some of the characters, including God, Belial, and World. The map is oriented with north towards the bottom, which suggests that it is not merely some abstract suggestion by the playwright or scribe, but rather a real set design that may have been implemented.

Whether the drawing truly represents theatre in the round or not is debatable. Although the ditch circles the castle completely and it is stated that the audience should not cross it, no where does the text state that the audience should sit on all sides of the play. It is possible that they sat on only one or some of the sides.