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| used in theaters, front curtain on expandable poles, to hide actors from audience |
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| performances at festivals paid for by the state a wealthy citizen, had free admission, including a series of plays or events, acting troupes (perhaps several a day) put on theatre events; term refers to the idea that if the masses are fed and entertained, they can be controlled |
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| equivalent to Greek theatron; seating area for Roman theaters |
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| Roman version of kerkides—wedge-shaped seating areas in the cavea |
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| reenactments of sea battles in amphitheaters |
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| semi-circular area in front of scaena |
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| low wall in front of scaena, separating stage from orchestra |
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| raised platform on Roman stage for orators |
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| the stage house or building behind the stage; corresponds to the Hellenistic skene |
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| Front of the façade of the stage house or scaenae; pierced by three to five doors; unadorned in earlier theatres, but became increasingly ornate by the 2nd century with the addition of columns, niches, and statues decorating up to three stories of architecture |
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| painted backdrop used in front of scaena frons, but could not cover entire area |
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| created out of closed off paradoi used for audience members to throw up after overeating in the cavea |
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| gladiatorial fights, chariot races, festivals; that is, the heaviest influence on Roman theater is the Etruscan idea of circuses. |
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| stock characters used in skits, a second heavy influence on popular theater |
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Honored the gods, but were not very religious
Ludi Romani -- 6th century B.C.E. ; became theatrical in 364 B.C.E.
· Held in Autumn/September to honor Jupiter.
· Comedy and tragedy performed by 240 B.C.E.
Ludi Florales (April),
Plebeii (November),
Apollinares (July),
Megalenses (April),
Cereales (no particular season) |
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| 240 – 204 B.C.E. – First important works in Latin: wrote, translated, or adapted comedies and tragedies from the Greeks. Best at tragedy. |
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270-201 B.C.E. – "Romanized" the drama by introducing Roman allusions into
the Greek originals and using Roman stories. Best at comedy; also wrote tragedy. |
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c. 254-184 B.C.E. – 21 extant plays, more than 130 plays; popular example, The Menaechmi,
Plautus comedies all based on Greek New Comedies.
Added Roman allusions, Latin dialogue, varied poetic meters, witty jokes and used
stychomythia – dialogue with short lines, like a tennis match; slapstick; songs |
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(Publius Terenius Afer – 195 or 185-159 B.C.E. – Came to Rome as a boy slave from Carthage; educated and freed Six plays, all extant, including The Brothers, The Mother-in-Law, etc.
Plots more complex than Plautus; combined stories from Greek originals.
Known for character depiction and double-plots; contrasts in human behavior
Less boisterous than Plautus, less episodic, more elegant language.
Used Greek characters.
Less popular than Plautus |
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( 4 B.C.E. – 65 C.E. suicide)
Nine extant tragedies, five adapted from Euripides; probably closet dramas.
The Trojan Women, Media, Oedipus, Agamemnon, etc., all based on Greek originals |
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| Elements of Senecan tragedy: |
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•opening moral harangue
•five episodes / acts
•acts divided by choral odes that comment on the action
•elaborate speeches
•strong interest in morality – expressed in sententiae (short pithy generalizations about the human condition)
violence and horror onstage
•characters dominated by a single passion – obsessive (such as revenge) – drives them to doom
•soliloquies,
•asides,
•confidantes
•interest in supernatural and human connections
•used historical, mythical, classical and stock characters |
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(65-8 B.C.E.) – Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry)
•influence in the Renaissance
•interpreted Aristotle’s rules
•decorum: fittingness of language and action for age, gender, rank, social status, emotional state
•stock characters may have a unique feature so they will not be boilerplate
•tragedy and comedy should never be mixed
•separation of language and verse forms and meters used in tragedy and comedy
•5 acts
•interprets Aristotle’s complex plot as a movement toward unity of action
•interprets Aristotle’s rules of probability to include time and place (first suggestion of the unities of time and place
•chorus moves the action forward
•chorus sets high moral tone
•chorus gives good advise
•3 speaking actors at a time
•No deus ex machine except where absolutely necessary; do not overuse
•No emotional extremes
•Truth
•Violent and ugly should be kept offstage
•Purpose of drama is to instruct, entertain and turn a profit |
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Chorus was abandoned No act or scene divisions
Plautus – average of three songs, 2/3 of the lines with music; Terence – no songs, but music with half of the dialogue Everyday domestic affairs Action placed in the street |
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| Entertainment and Spectacle |
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grandiose, sentimental, diversionary
acrobatics
gladiatorial contests
juggling
athletics
chariot races
naumachia
boxing
venationes
farces
skits
musical interludes |
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solo dance with music (lutes, pipes, cymbals)
chorus
Used masks
mythology or historical stories, usually serious but sometimes comic |
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actors were considered inferior to histriones, may have been slaves
women
spoken
short pieces
sometimes elaborate casts and spectacle
serious or comic (satiric)
violence and sex depicted literally
no masks
scoffed at Christianity
ultimately criminalized by the church |
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Stage raised to five feet
Stages were large – 20-40 feet deep, 100-300 feet long, could seat 10-15,000 people
3-5 doors in rear wall and at least one in the wings
stage was covered with a roof
dressing rooms in side wings
trap doors were common
awning over the audience to protect them from the sun
78 B.C, .cooling system – air blowing over streams of water
area in front of the scaena called the proscaenium (proscenium) |
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– 600 B.C.E.
2,000 feet long, 650 feet wide
60,000 spectators
track to race 12 chariots at a time
also housed circus games, horse racing, prize fighting, wrestling, etc. |
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– 600 B.C.E.
2,000 feet long, 650 feet wide
60,000 spectators
track to race 12 chariots at a time
also housed circus games, horse racing, prize fighting, wrestling, etc. |
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gladiatorial contests, wild animal fights, and occasionally naumachia (sea battles)
first permanent one in 46 B.C.E.
Coliseum – 80 C.E. – three storeys, then 4; 157 feet tall; 620 feet long; 513 feet wide; 50,000 people.
had space with elevators below to bring up animals, etc.
used periaktoi
temporary curtains
spectacular number of performers
mechanical lifts for animals
traps
some realistic, three-dimensional scenery |
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Greek traditions
masks
doubling of roles
tragedy – slow, stately, declamatory delivery
comedy—more rapid and conversational
movements likely enlarged
actors probably specialized in one type of drama, but did others
encores if favorite speeches given (no attempt at "realism")
Greek or roman costumes
music |
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