Performances of plays were generally oriented toward the annual cycle of festivals in English life. The two most important occasions were Christmas and Shrovetide. (Shrovetide is a period of a few days immediately prior to Lent, and its celebration is quite analogous to Mardi Gras.)

Revels could occur upon any festive occasion, including ones that were celebrated only within a particular local area. The ones listed here are the principal ones that were recognized throughout England. They presented opportunities for public entertainment to be scheduled. Revels would not necessarily occur in every community for every one of these occasions. Within London, there were theatre productions throughout the year, except that productions during Lent were generally less popular and were, at various times, outlawed. There was also a general concept of a festive season, which traditionally began on November 1 and ended upon the beginning on Lent. The festive season was primarily of interest at court -- in other words, it was the season during which Revels needed to be available for the royal family.

The development of theatre in England had a strong religious basis. Beginning in approximately the 9th or 10th century, Catholic priests would organize miniature plays during a Sunday mass at certain times of the year. These were known as miracle plays, since the topic was one of the principal miracles of Christianity such as what occurred at Christmas or Easter. Later, the most common type of theatre was the morality play. The purpose of these plays was to demonstrate the fate of a typical person, named Everyman, depending on whether he did or did not follow the teachings of the Church. With this background, it is not surprising that later theatre, even if principally secular in nature, would be performed at times oriented around the annual religious calendar.

There were also significant contributions to theatre from outside Christianity. Just as Christmas was a principal time for Revels in England, other cultures also had an important celebration in late December. One reason for this archetype is the date of the Winter solstice. As time proceeds through autumn into late December, the days become shorter and there is a primal fear that the darkening trend will continue and the light of day will be forever extinguished. The reversal of the trend, with days becoming longer again, is an event of great joy. In much of northern Europe, the festival of Yule centered around this joyous event. Similarly, during the time of the Roman Empire, the feast of Saturnalia had an analogous role. One principal connection between Rome and England is the concept of the Lord of Misrule. In Roman times, Saturnalia was an occasion for breaking class distinctions and letting slaves temporarily rise to the level of their masters. An English tradition, occurring at the time of the Christmas Revels, is that a servant or minor official from the royal court was elevated to absolute power. In other words, the level of festivity was increased by letting the public pretend that their lives were free of the authority of the established government.

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