ROMAN THEATRE

1. ROMAN THEATRE

5. Brief Roman History • 509 B.C • Etruscan (from Etruria) ruler was expelled, and Rome became a republic (just as Athens became a democracy). • Roman theatre and festivals highly influenced by Etruscan practices

6. Brief Roman History • by 345 B.C • There were over 175 festivals a year • 240 B.C • The beginnings of Roman theatre recorded • The first record of drama at the • ludi Romani (Roman Festival or • Roman Games).

7. Brief Roman History • 55 B.C • First stone theatre built in Rome by order of Julius Caesar.

8. Roman Theatre • Borrowed Greek ideas and improved (?) upon them • Topics less philosophical • Entertainment tended to be grandiose, sentimental, diversionary

9. Roman Theatre • Included more than drama : • acrobatics • gladiators • jugglers • athletics • chariots races • naumachia (sea battles) • boxing • venationes (animal fights)

11. Roman Theatre • 3 Major Influences • Greek Drama • Etruscan influences, which emphasized circus-like elements • Fabula Atellana – which introduced FARCE (Atella was near Naples).

12. Roman Theatre • Farce • Short improvised farces, with stock characters, similar costumes and masks • based on domestic life or mythology • burlesque, parody • Most popular during the 1st century B.C., then frequency declined

13. Roman Theatre • Farce • Probably was the foundation for commedia dell ‘Arte • Productions included “stock” characters: • Bucco: braggart, boisterous • Pappas: foolish old man • Dossenus: swindler, drunk, hunchback

14. Roman Theatre • Pantomime • solo dance, with music (lutes, pipes, cymbals) and a chorus. • Used masks • The story-telling was usually mythology or historical stories, usually serious but sometimes comic.

15. Roman Theatre • Mime • overtook after 2nd century A.D. • The Church did not like Mime • Most common attributes of mime: • Spoken • Usually short • Sometimes elaborate casts and spectacle

16. Roman Theatre • Serious or comic (satiric) • No masks • Had women • Violence and sex depicted literally (Heliogabalus, ruled 218-222 A.D., ordered realistic sex) • Scoffed at Christianity

17. Roman Festivals • Held in honor of the gods, but much less religious than the Greeks • Performances at festivals probably paid for by the state. • Were often lengthy and included a series of plays or events, and probably had prizes awarded tp those who put extra money in.

18. Roman Festivals • Acting troupes (perhaps several a day) put on theatre events. • Festivals were sometimes repeated, since whenever any irregularity in the rituals occurred, the entire festival, including the plays, had to be repeated. (known as instauratio)

19. Roman Festivals • ludi = official religious festivals • these were preceded by pompa = religious procession

20. Roman Festivals • ludi Romani • oldest of the official festivals • held in September and honored Jupiter • regular performance of comedy and tragedy began in 364 B.C.

21. Roman Tragedy • Characteristics of Roman Tragedy • 5 acts/episodes divided by choral odes • included elaborate speeches • interested in morality • unlike Greeks, they depicted violence on stage

22. Roman Tragedy • Characteristics of Roman Tragedy • characters dominated by a single passion which drives them to doom (ex: obsessiveness or revenge) • developed technical devices such as: soliloquies, asides, confidants • interest in supernatural and human connections

23. Roman Tragedy • Seneca (5 or 4 B.C. – 65 A.D.) • only playwright of tragedy whose plays survived • Nine extant tragedies, five adapted from Euripides (Gr.) • Though considered to be inferior, Seneca had a strong effect on later dramatists.

24. Roman Tragedy • Seneca (5 or 4 B.C. – 65 A.D.) • WroteThe Trojan Women, Media, Oedipus, Agamemnon, etc., which were all based on Greek originals • His plays were probably closet dramas—never presented, or even expected to be.

25. Roman Comedy • Characteristics of Roman Comedy • Chorus was abandoned • No act or scene divisions • Concerned everyday, domestic affairs • Action placed in the street

26. Roman Comedy • Material from only 2 playwrights survived • Platus (c. 254-184 B.C.) • Terence (195 or 185-159 B.C.)

27. Roman Comedy • Platus (c. 254-184 B.C.) • Very popular. • Plays include: Pot of Gold, The Menaechmi, Braggart Warrior • All based on Greek New Comedies, probably, none of which has survived

28. Roman Comedy • Platus (c. 254-184 B.C.) • Added Roman allusions, Latin dialog, witty jokes • varied poetic meters • Developed Slapstick & Songs

29. Roman Comedy • Terence (195 or 185-159 B.C.) • Wrote only six plays, all of which survive, including: The Brothers, Mother-in-Law • More complex plots – combined stories from Greek originals.

30. Roman Comedy • Terence (195 or 185-159 B.C.) • Character and double-plots were his forte • Less boisterous than Plautus, less episodic, more elegant language. • Used Greek characters. • Less popular than Plautus.

31. Roman Theatre Design

32. Roman Theatre Design • First permanent Roman theatre built 54 A.D. (100 years after the last surviving comedy)

33. Roman Theatre Design • General Characteristics • Built on level ground with stadium-style seating (audience raised)

34. Roman Theatre Design • General Characteristics • Stage raised to five feet • Stages were • large – • 20-40 ft deep • 100-300 ft long

35. Roman Theatre Design • General Characteristics • Theatre could seat 10-15,000 people • dressing rooms • in side wings • stage was • covered with • a room

36. Roman Theatre Design • General Characteristics • trap doors were common • cooling system – air blowing over streams of water • awning over the audience to protect them from the sun

37. Roman Theatre Design • Scaena • “stage house” • joined with • audience to • form one • architectural • unit

38. Roman Theatre Design • Scaena frons • front/façade of the stage house • was painted and • had columns, • niches, • porticoes, • statues

39. Roman Theatre Design • Orchestra • becomes half-circle • was probably used for gladiators and for the display and killing of wild animals • if entertainment permitted, people were sat here

40. Roman Theatre Design • Vomitoria • corridors under the seats that lead onto the orchestra

41. Roman Theatre Design • Pulpitum • the stage • Cavea • the auditorium

42. Roman Theatre Design • Other structures included: • Circus Maximus • Ampitheatres

43. Roman Theatre Design • Circus Maximus • Primarily for Chariot racing • Permitted 12 chariots to race at once

44. Roman Theatre Design • Ampitheatres • For gladiator contests, wild animal fights, and occasionally naumachia • Had space with elevators below to bvring up animals, etc.

45. Roman Actors • Referred to as histriones, cantores (means declaimers), and mimes – later primarily histriones • Mostly male – women were in mimes

46. Roman Actors • Mimes were considered inferior; some believed they were slaves. • In the 1st century B.C., a "star" performer seems to have been emphasized

47. Roman Actors • Style of Acting • Mostly Greek traditions – masks, doubling of roles • Tragedy – slow, stately, • Comedy—more rapid and conversational

48. Roman Actors • Style of Acting • Movements likely enlarged • Actors probably specialized in one type of drama, but did others • Encores if favorite speeches given (no attempt at "realism")

49. Roman Actors • Style of Acting • Mimes – no masks • Used Greek or Roman costumes • Lots of music