The Art of Living in Season
History of Pastorales
The noëls were eventually incorporated into short plays, scénettes that were performed locally during the Christmas holiday. Unlike the medieval mystery plays, these early plays were often farcical, pure entertainment. In a sense, they were low-budget musicals that could be easily adapted from one town to the next, and one year to the next, as the locals felt free to integrate the story of their own lives into the Christmas story – a good theological instinct!
These plays eventually gave way to longer versions that were fixed in writing, now called pastorales. These more elaborate versions extended the simple scenarios of the noëls, developing some of their characters (and their backstories) and integrating them into the longer story about the group’s pilgrimage to see the newborn Christ.
Over the years, one particular pastorale written in 1844, achieved a more prominent place, above all others, eventually becoming part of the Provençal cultural heritage. Maurel's subtitle, The Mystery of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, recalls its roots in the medieval mystery plays. A century later, Yvan Audouard wrote a newer, more accessible version, specially adapted for a younger audience not as familiar with the Provençal language. His, and Maurel’s, are the two best-known, semi-authorized versions of the story of Christmas in Provence. They are plays about the people, for the people, and by the people.
These two are the primary sources I have used for my book, The Art of Living in Seasons. Both feature a company of Provençal pilgrims on their way to a Bethlehem that looks strangely familiar, like home (if you come from Provence), complete with companions having friendly squabbles about this and that. Both versions borrow liberally from the noëls. Both include anachronistic details, and both display a good deal of humor and inventiveness. And, in both plays, the finale of course takes place at the manger, where most of the characters have some kind of conversion experience, or at least a moment of repentance, acceptance, and forgiveness from God; some even find healing. The two plays also have their differences, however, as I shall now explain.
La Pastorale Maurel (1844)
In Maurel’s pastorale, the characters speak in verse and sing in Provençal in what amounts to a piece of musical theater. The pilgrimage to Bethlehem starts with shepherds in the hills of Provence, to whom the angel Gabriel announces Jesus’ birth and encourages them to visit the baby with gifts. As they proceed, they share the good news with the people they pass, who eventually decide to join the shepherds and go along, dealing with various adventures and arguments along the way.
When the “tambourinaire” (traditional drum and fife musician) at last leads the villagers and shepherds to their pilgrimage’s end, they bow down to Jesus, apologize for their silly behavior along the way, and worship the promised Savior of the world. The Magi eventually join the company at the manger for the last scene, traditionally played on the day of Epiphany: they proceed in season.
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Such, then, is the basic plot of the pastorale typically seen as the “authorized version” by Provençal purists. The play was an important element in the “second renaissance of Provence” in the mid-nineteenth century, when the people tried yet again to recover their mother tongue in a land governed, as Israel was by Rome, by a foreign power: “imperial” France.
Yvan Audouard, La Pastorale des Santons de Provence (1960)
The second pastorale from which I draw is spoken rather than sung and was written in French rather than Provençal. It opens with an angel who proceeds to narrate the events surrounding Jesus’ birth, complete with southern French accent and humorous colloquialisms. It all started, he observes, on a cold night, the 24th of December to be exact. Once the baby was safely delivered, the Good Lord (“le bon Dieu”) graciously bestows little graces (which I call des petits miracles, in my book) to celebrate the safe arrival of his Son, little graces that work sudden changes in the hearts of various characters who consequently feel an urge to go, give, and worship (see chapter 2 of my book).
The play ends with the angel telling the audience that each one of these people has been transformed into a little saint forever (transformé en santon pour toujours) - one could say immortalized into figurines standing on their little bases at just the moment when they have become, in Christ, new creations. Now we understand what the santons are doing in a biblical manger scene!