Faded and Revived – Folk Drama, Passion Plays and Customs In the Neretva Valley

Abstract

Folklore theatre is one of the forms of oral literary expressi­on, manifesting itself in the form of merged staging, play, acting and performance. Ten manuscript collections from the mid-20th century document field recordings of folklore material and oral literature in the Neretva Valley region. Only two provide infor­mation about folk dramatic forms that are occasionally perfor­med. Both manuscript collections were compiled by Nikola Bo­nifačić Rožin in 1964. The paper examines these two manuscript collections and presents the dramatic forms that were enacted in villages and towns throughout the Neretva Valley. Particular attention is given to carnival festivities and the dramatic forms that appear in them, as well as to Catholic passion plays and rituals that have been preserved in this region.