A History of Dunmeri Theater: Tamrielic Period

Tamrielic Period

There is no strict border between the Indoril and Tamrielic Periods because the transition was very gradual. Some historians identify the recognition of Nerevar Incarnate as the start of the Tamrielic Period, as this event forced cultural reform and opened the gates to ideological change. Others insist that it began earlier. This time is named as such because it represents the diminishing of Dunmeri isolationism and new open-mindedness towards Imperial customs. These changes could only happen slowly and out of curiosity, as the Dunmer have always been a proud and nationalistic race. If the Empire had forced its customs on the people of Morrowind, they would have been adamantly rejected. Arts were no exception.

To understand Morrowind’s Tamrielic Period, one must recognize the outside influences. The pioneers of the period were mostly expatriate authors such as Carlovac Townway, Plitinius Mero, and the infamously satirical Crassius Curio. These were followed by several Dunmer authors. As the custom of adapting all forms of writing into plays only increased in the Tamrielic Period, these authors were very important to the world of drama.

Serial novelist Carlovac Townway is best known for 2920, The Last Year of the First Era. While neither controversial nor popular in its first publishing in Cyrodiil, this novel shocked and interested the Dunmer for a few reasons. The first is that it describes history from a personal perspective. Historical novels, including historical fiction, were scarce in the East. The second is that while 2920 is not pornography or horror, it contains graphic violence and sexual situations. This was also uncommon in Morrowind, as graphic content was usually restricted to particular genres. But the most controversial element was the characterization of Vivec, Almalexia, and Sotha Sil. 2920 was one of the first books published in Morrowind that focused on the human emotions of these characters, excluding any god-like imagery and even referring to Vivec as “not a god.” Many Indoril districts banned Townway’s book, but the fact that it was even allowed to be published in Morrowind shows considerable progress since the Indoril Period. Parts of 2920, The Last Year of the First Era were to undergo theatrical adaptations by Meryn Othralas during the late 3rd Era.

Plitinius Mero is arguably the most influential, and the most controversial, of Tamrielic Period expatriates. His novel The Real Barenziah is known all across Tamriel today, and ironically enough, is most popular among the Dunmer. It has a countless variety of theatrical adaptations, though the most famous is also by Meryn Othralas. On its first publishing, The Real Barenziah shocked both Imperials and Dunmer. Mero was not the first expatriate to be bold in his writing, but he took it to the next degree in his unrestrained narratives of Queen Barenziah and even Tiber Septim. Mero’s execution was interrupted by the queen herself and the book was unbanned in Morrowind (provided the censorship of one passage, which historians are still struggling to uncover). Most Dunmer were appalled by the book, but nobody could deny the power of its message to the artistic community of Morrowind.

Crassius Curio, Councilor of the Great House Hlaalu, was widely unknown during his career, but he later became one of the most discussed authors of the Reformation. “The Lusty Argonian Maid,” Curio’s most famous play, was first dismissed as “smut.” However, the scorn from the Dunmer quickly turned to amusement; “The Lusty Argonian Maid” eventually became a popular joke among Dunmeri youths. It was not until the mid 4th Era that this play was revisited and given contextual meaning (be it true or false). This refers to Raven Rock’s vicious debate between New Temple priest Elder Oreloth and his associate Aphia Velothi. The debate began with Oreloth writing an essay and reading it out loud in Raven Rock’s town square. The thesis painted “The Lusty Argonian Maid” as a direct allegory to Vivec’s treatment of the Buoyant Armigers. Priestess Aphia Velothi wrote an essay in disagreement with this claim, which she read out loud as well. The rebuttals flew back and forth until the two priests met for a final debate. It is unknown who “won,” but the debate ended with Velothi expelled from the local temple. This petty affair is remembered today only because it re-ignited the popularity of Crassius Curio’s writings. “The Lusty Argonian Maid” is no longer performed by itself, but is often alluded to in Dunmeri comedies.

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These authors were part of the first movement of the Tamrielic Period, which was dubbed the “Sowing Movement” because it “sowed the seeds of Imperialization in the Dunmeri arts.” The Sowing Movement took place right before the rise of Nerevar Incarnate. The fulfillment of the Nerevarine prophecy was the beginning of the Sapling Movement, named according to the Sowing Movement as a metaphor of the last movement’s seeds sprouting. This meant the rise of several Dunmer pioneers who sought to reform the arts. The decline of the Tribunal opened the culture to secularization.

Baloth-Kul is one of the most famous pioneers of the Tamrielic Period. Having studied drama in Cheydinhal for several years, he was the one to popularize the use of spoken voice in Dunmeri theater, particularly through his most famous play: “The Horror of Castle Xyr.” The most popular transcription of the Kul Philosophy of Acting is as follows:

”The duty of the Actor is to bring the Story to Life, and Life to the Story.”

Conflicting accounts report that this originated from a positive review of Kul’s plays, and that the playwright’s actual words were “I like to hear my audience scream.”

No matter the truth, all sources show that Baloth-Kul valued realistic portrayal of emotions onstage. This philosophy was a blatant contradiction to the status quo. Kul wrote “The Horror of Castle Xyr” as a message to the public, to prove that certain emotional effects can only be achieved with the inclusion of spoken dialogue. In this case, the emotional effect was fear. “The Horror of Castle Xyr” has all the elements of a horror play: short and suspenseful, and the villain prevails in the end. The play first premiered in Mournhold under unique circumstances.

Meryn Othralas was Baloth-Kul’s associate and the leader of a small troupe of actors. His background alone makes him a pioneer for the Tamrielic Reformation. Othralas had no political status or birthright. He grew up as part of a middle-class family in Mournhold, and is rumored to have learned the art of drama from a retired actor who worked as a custodian in the gardens of Godsreach. Unemployed Othralas took to gambling and stock investment. He earned moderate wealth from luck, while writing comedies as a hobby. Some acting students took an interest in Othralas’s writing and offered to form partnerships. Eventually, Meryn Othralas had a group of about a dozen people and a reputation in Mournhold. They called themselves “The Players” and performed recreationally in the Bazaar District.

Baloth-Kul recognized Othralas’s lack of skill as a playwright, but admired his perseverance and business sense. He sent Othralas a letter proposing him to stage his new play, “The Horror of Castle Xyr.” Othralas accepted and the two became close friends in their partnership. From Kul’s ideology, Othralas created the first formal method of teaching drama. This method was called “Recall Method” because it involved the recalling of past memories to project certain emotions through action. The Recall Method is used worldwide today.

“The Horror of Castle Xyr” was strongly anticipated, predicted to show for at least a month. However, it only showed twice. This had nothing to do with the play itself, but with the Morag Tong. On the night of the premiere, High Ordinators notified Kul and Othralas that an assassin was caught aiming an arrow at Tarvus Beleth, who played the role of Clavides. Determined for the showings to continue, Othralas hired someone skilled in combat to be a decoy. The plan failed and the “understudy” was dispatched on the second night. This event later became known as the Player’s Folly.

Baloth-Kul saw Othralas’s scheme as cruel and unethical, and became very angry. He even blamed Othralas for using his own ideas without permission. The two grew distant and the conflict settled, but “The Horror of Castle Xyr” was over. Still, art enthusiasts heard the play’s message. The version most people know today is a reconstruction developed by skilled historians and playwrights of the 3rd Era. Other historians attempted a different revival with the aim to stay truer to the original, but the number of transcription errors makes this revival unsuitable for performance.

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The Players lived on after the unfortunate events of Castle Xyr. Kul halved his funds and Othralas resigned, but the Players had already made a footprint in the local artistic community. Gureryne Selvilo took over Othralas’s role of director and the Players were renamed to the Bazaar Players. The Bazaar Players continued to specialize in short and suspenseful plays, creating adaptations of “Night Falls on Sentinel,” “Marksmanship Lesson,” “Trap,” “Unnamed Play” (formerly “Unnamed Book”), and other popular short stories. They gained a huge presence in the city of Almalexia, turning from a gathering of outcast amateurs to the favorite spectacle of fashionable city folk. When Baloth-Kul died in the beginning of the Oblivion Crisis, the Bazaar Players disbanded. Many members left to teach the Recall Method in other provinces.

The Oblivion Crisis was a devastating event, marking a pause in the Tamrielic Period of Morrowind, but Meryn Othralas survived with his ambition intact. He escaped to Vvardenfell in search of opportunity. At this point, much of Othralas’s inspiration came from the Ashlander tribes. He befriended Hassour Zainsubani, a rogue tribesman in Ald’Ruhn who taught him about Ashlander arts and traditions. Othralas was inspired by the minimalism of Ashlander performing arts and began to create a new acting style which would come to be known as Perceptualism. Perceptualism was one of the defining movements of the Tamrielic Period.

As a side note, Hassour Zainsubani was the one to formalize Ashlander folk dance, as well as giving it the current name of Resdaynian folk dance. He opened the first College of Resdaynian Folk Dance in Ald’Ruhn. This art form has started to expand to other provinces in the last decade. It is also typically studied along with drama.

Perceptualist plays all followed a story, but the story was either abstract or metaphorical. Physical action was as vital as spoken word and costumes were either minimal or nonexistent (actors appeared in their everyday clothes). Othralas wrote his first Perceptualist play in the refuge of an Ald’Ruhn inn. This play was called “The Mudcrab’s Anuad,” though the significance of “Mudcrab” in the title is still a mystery, as mudcrabs have no place in the script. The Anuad is a staging of the standard Creation myth. It had a cast of three characters: Anu, Padomay (also spelled Padhome), and Nirn. The dialogue consisted of idle conversation about philosophy and metaphysics.

Othralas searched Ald’Ruhn for actors and found the city devoid of any people of the arts. He travelled to nearby cities as well. According to oral tradition, Othralas found his actors by accident. Intending to give up and return to the mainland, he stopped to rest at the House of Earthly Delights Cornerclub in Suran. The exotic dancers on display there intrigued him, so he offered to teach them the Recall Method (as well as a larger salary than they were used to), and they became the first cast of “The Mudcrab’s Anuad.” As such, the play involved many non-pedestrian movements and gestures. As tribute to the first three Perceptualist actresses, Othralas set the play in a cornerclub. “The Mudcrab’s Anuad” was written in Vvardenfell and based on the largely undeveloped idea of Perceptualism. As a result, it was one of Othralas’s least popular plays, but he was to remake it very successfully in a few decades. The remake was a short mime segment, designed to be more exciting and appealing to the public, but some historians believe that the original “The Mudcrab’s Anuad” has a hidden meaning which we have yet to uncover.

Othralas traveled back to the mainland with his small troupe. He changed his name to Meryl Othrel. In the absence of the Bazaar Players, Othrel’s troupe received more attention than he had expected. This was not positive attention however. Critics referred to “The Mudcrab’s Anuad” as “inane,” “disturbing,” and “boring.” Their feedback was to make adaptations of literature, as was the popular custom. This hurt Othrel who was used to being greatly respected in Mournhold.

Meryl Othrel decided to accept the advice and begin making adaptations again. He also hired a small group of acting students along with his original three. However, Othrel’s choices of literature were unconventional to say the least. His first few plays were mime pieces, based on “The Lunar Lorkhan,” “The Red Book of Riddles” and “The Yellow Book of Riddles,” and even religious texts such as “The Book of Dawn and Dusk” and the “Cantatas of Vivec.” These received mixed reviews. Each play was better received than the last. It did not take long for Othrel to become popular again.

Othrel’s most loved plays were written in the dawn of the 4th Era. These were adaptations of The Real Barenziah, 2920, “Chance’s Folly” and “Surfeit of Thieves,” as well as more cryptic depictions of the Battle of Red Mountain, the Velothi Exodus from the Summerset Isle, and more recent events such as the Nerevarine Prophecy and even the Oblivion Crisis.

We have no more plays from Meryl Othrel, for Red Year cut his life short. We do have his associates and students of his associates teaching the Recall method in every province. We also have his existing plays, which have recently spread to Cyrodiil with good reception. Even after Red Year, the Dunmer have not forgotten Meryl Othrel.

Conclusion

Dunmeri culture is currently in a nationalist movement and has reverted back to more traditional customs. In drama, the Tamrielic Period came to an abrupt end. While the Dunmer have kept the use of spoken voice and secularism, most plays have a nationalist agenda and are presented for political means. Whether this will pass like a petty phase or give rise to something beautiful is unknown.

Information is limited. Not everything in this report may be truth. Yet as citizens of Tamriel, we cannot deny the influence Dunmeri theater has on us.

Thank you to anyone who read this text wall. I really appreciate it.

It's a long shot, but can you guess what exactly inspired this?

Chapter 1; Velothi Period: http://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/2edfnw/a_history_of_dunmeri_theater_velothi_period/

Chapter 2; Indoril Period: http://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/2eedej/a_history_of_dunmeri_theater_indoril_period/