I think Freemasonry is more than just a morality play. I know you have your own differentiating lexicon (want to type lexiconography but not sure it's a word) but I'm also going to say My Freemasonry has not just ethical elements but also social- it establishes a society of men with not just moral, but also social obligations towards each other. I think to dismiss it all as a theatrical group is to sell it short.
I honor, not dismiss it, by calling it "Theater with a moral purpose". I was clear in stating that. If it were "just a morality play", such the statement and classification would not capture all the rich nuances, tangled associations and background drama of theater. And there is plenty of all of this.
But accepting your definition for a moment, would you say the start of Freemasonry was Morality Plays ?
I don't believe so, although it would be yet another romantic notion that could be hooked on to and that someone could write a best selling Freemasonic book on.
In reality, the start of Freemasonry was when a group of Stonecraft associated tavern hopping lodges got together to have quarterly dinner parties soon realized that dinner theater spotlighting archaic style ritual with twists, turns, allegory, symbolism, metaphor, religion, philosophy and really really old words would be much more fun, exciting and attractive.
All that grew up from that one realization is what we have today, minus of course the dinner theater, singing, drinking, and thought-provoking discourse. My! have things changed a lot in just 300 years.
( and it's interesting i use the word ethics and not just morality, do "ethics" have much of a place in American Freemasonry ?
Absolutely! Morals are personal. Ethics are social. And being such, we as Freemasons pledge to be moral and to follow a code of ethics put forth by the organization.
The word is not used in our ritual but clearly is applied in our thinking, especially around Masonic Trials)
Agreed! It does apply and then some.