history roman theater

8/13/2019 History Roman Theater

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HISTORY

OF

ROMAN

THEATRE


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ROMAN HISTORY

Rome in 753 B.C. was a town dominated by Etruria,

North of Rome.In 509 B.C., the Etruscan (from Etruria)ruler was expelled, and Rome became a republic

In the 4thCentury B.C., Rome expanded, and by 265B.C. controlled the Italian peninsula, then Sicily, thenseveral Greek territories.

By 240 B.C., Greek Theatre was familiar to Romans,translated into Latin, and brought to Rome.

The beginnings of Roman theatre recorded: the firstrecord of drama at the Ludi Romani (Roman Festival orRoman Games).

Rome became an empire after Julius Caesar, 27 B.C. Republic from 509-27 B.C.Empire from 27 B.C.-476

A.D.

By 345 A.D., there were 175 festivals a year, 101devoted to theatre.In 55 B.C., the first stone theatre

(Theater of Pompey) was built in Rome by Julius Caesar


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ROMAN THEATRE

Borrowed Greek ideas and improved on them

Less philosophical Encompassed more than drama :

acrobatics

gladiators

jugglers athletics

chariots races

naumachia(sea battles)

boxing

venationes (animal fights) Entertainment tended to be

grandiose

sentimental

diversionary


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ROMAN THEATRE FORM

Roman theatre took two forms:

Fabula Pall iata

primarily translations of Greek plays into Latin,

although the term is also applied to the originalworks of Roman playwrights based upon Greek

plays

Fabu la Togata

native origin, and were based on more broadly

farcical situations and humor of a physical nature.

An author of some of the better examples of this

type of drama is Plautus (c.250-184 B.C.)


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MAJOR INFLUENCES ON ROMAN

THEATRE

Greek Drama

Etruscan influences emphasized circus-like

elements Fabula Atellana Atellan farces (Atella was

near Naples).


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FABULA ATELLANA

Short improvised farces, with stock characters,similar costumes and masks based ondomestic life or mythology burlesqued,parodied during the 1stcentury B.C., then

declinedMay have influenced commedia del lArte

Stock characters:

Bucco: braggart, boisterous

Pappas: foolish old man Dossenus: swindler, drunk, hunchback

Drama flourished under the republic but declinedinto variety entertainment under the empire


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ROMAN FESTIVALS

Held in honor of the gods, but much less religious than in

Greece Ludi Romani6thcentury B.C.

Became theatrical in 364 B.C.

Held in September (the autumn)and honored Jupiter

By 240 B.C., both comedy and tragedy were performed Five others: Ludi Florales (April), Plebeii(November),

Apollinares(July), Megalenses(April), Cereales(noparticular season)

Under the empire, these festivals afforded "bread and

circuses" to the masses

many performances Performances at festivals probably paid for by the state a

wealthy citizen, had free admission, were lengthyincluding a series of plays or events, and probably hadprizes awarded to those who put extra money in

Acting troupes (perhaps several a day) put on theatreevents
http://www.novaroma.org/ludi/index.htmlhttp://www.novaroma.org/ludi/index.htmlhttp://www.novaroma.org/ludi/index.htmlhttp://www.novaroma.org/ludi/index.html


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ROMAN COMEDYOnly two playwrights' material survives


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TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS(C. 254-184 B.C.)

21 EXTANT PLAYS, 130 + TOTAL

Very popular.

Pot o f Go ld, The Menaechm i, B raggart Warr ior--

probably between 205-184 B.C.

All based on Greek New Comedies, probably, noneof which has survived

Added Roman allusions, Latin dialog, varied poetic

meters, witty jokes

Some techniques: stychomyth iadialog with shortlines, like a tennis match

Slapstick

Songs
http://www.encyclopedia.com/searchpool.asp?target=@DOCTITLE%20Plautushttp://www.encyclopedia.com/searchpool.asp?target=@DOCTITLE%20Plautushttp://www.encyclopedia.com/searchpool.asp?target=@DOCTITLE%20Plautushttp://www.encyclopedia.com/searchpool.asp?target=@DOCTITLE%20Plautushttp://www.encyclopedia.com/searchpool.asp?target=@DOCTITLE%20Plautus


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PUBLIUS TERENIUS AFER [TERENCE](195 OR 185-159 B.C.)

Born in Carthage, came to Rome as a boy slave,educated and freed

Six plays, all of which survive

The Bro thers , Mother-in-Law, etc.

More complex plots combined stories from Greekoriginals.

Character and double-plots were his forte

contrasts in human behavior

Less boisterous than Plautus, less episodic, more

elegant language.

Used Greek characters.

Less popular than Plautus.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/12740.htmlhttp://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/terence.htmhttp://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/terence.htmhttp://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/terence.htmhttp://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/terence.htmhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/12740.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/12740.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/12740.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/12740.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/12740.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/12740.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/12740.html


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CHARACTERISTICS OF ROMAN

COMEDY

Chorus was abandoned

No act or scene divisions

Songs (Plautus average of three songs, 2/3 of the

lines with music; Terence no songs, but music

with half of the dialog)

Everyday domestic affairs

Action placed in the street


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ROMAN TRAGEDYNone survive from the early period,

and only one playwright from the

later period


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LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA(5 OR 4 B.C. 65 A.D.)

Nine extant tragedies, five adapted from

Euripides.

His popularity declined, suicide in 65 A.D.

Though considered to be inferior, Seneca had astrong effect on later dramatists.

The Tro jan Women, Media, Oedipus,

Agamemnon, etc., all based on Greek originals

Probably closet dramasnever presented, or

even expected to be.
http://encyclopedia.com/html/s/senecay.asphttp://encyclopedia.com/html/s/senecay.asphttp://encyclopedia.com/html/s/senecay.asphttp://encyclopedia.com/html/s/senecay.asphttp://encyclopedia.com/html/s/senecay.asp


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OTHER FORMS

OFROMAN THEATRE


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PANTOMIME

solo dance, with music (lutes, pipes, cymbals) and

a chorus.

used masks, story-telling, mythology or historical

stories usually serious but sometimes comic


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ROMAN MYTHOLOGY MASK

Dionysus Heracles Hermes


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MIME

overtook after 2nd

century A.D. Fabula raciniata Spoken

Usually short

Sometimes elaborate casts and spectacle

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


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ROMAN THEATRE DESIGN

General characteristics Built on level ground with stadium-style seating

(audience raised)

Skenebecomes scaenajoined with audience

to form one architectural unit Paradoibecome vomi tor iuminto orchestra and

audience

Orchestrabecomes half-circle

Stage raised to five feet

Stages were large 20-40 feet deep, 100-300

feet long, could seat 10-15,000 people


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3-5 doors in rear wall and at least one in the wings scaena fron sfaade of the stage house had

columns, niches, porticoes, statues painted

stage was covered with a roof

dressing rooms in side wings

trap doors were common

awning over the audience to protect them from thesun,

during the empire around 78 B.C, cooling system

air blowing over streams of water area in from of the scaenacalled

the proskene(proscenium)


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ROMAN ACTORS

Referred to as histriones and mimes

later primarilyhistriones

Mostly male women were in mimes

Rocius famous, raised to nobility

Mimes, however, were considered inferior; perhapsthey were slaves.

We know little about the size of troupes

In the 1stcentury B.C., a "star" performer seems to

have been emphasized 6thcentury A.D. Theodora a star actress

married Emperor Justinian of the Eastern Empire but had to renounce her profession


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THEATRE AT THE END OF THE EMPIRE

Fall of the Roman Empire

6thCentury A.D. Christianity rising Emperor Constantine(324-337 A.D.) made

Christianity legal.

Emperor Theodosiusmade any other worship illegal

By 400 A.D., many festivals abated, diminished

nogladiators by 404 A.D., and no ventiones(animalfights) by 523, but others continued

Church opposition to Theatre: association with pagan gods

licentiousness ridicule of church by mimes (sacrament and baptism)

Also, a decay of Roman empire from within andbarbarians from without.533 A.D. is the last record wehave of a performance in the Roman Empire mentioned in a letter
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/conv-const.htmlhttp://www.ghgcorp.com/shetler/oldimp/240.htmlhttp://www.ghgcorp.com/shetler/oldimp/240.htmlhttp://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/conv-const.html

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