Roman Theatre
By Dominique and Ethan
Roman History Overview
- By 240 B.C., Greek Theatre was familiar to Romans and then translated into Latin, and brought to Rome
- The beginnings of Roman theatre state that the first record of drama was at the Ludi Romani
- By 345 A.D., there were 101 festivals devoted to theatre
- In 55 B.C., the first stone theatre was built in Rome by Julius Caesar
Roman Theatre
Roman Theatre
- Roman theatre borrowed Greek traditions and ideas
- Entertainment tended to be grandiose, sentimental, diversionary
- Performers were called "Histriones"
Influences
- Greek Drama
- Etruscan influences (circus-like)
- Fabula Atellana
- May have influenced commedia dell ‘Arte
Stock Characters
- Bucco: braggart, boisterous
- Pappas: foolish old man
- Dossenus: swindler, drunk, hunchback
Roman Festivals Brief Overview
- Held in honor of the gods, but much less religious than in Greece
- Held in September (the autumn)and honored Jupiter
- By 240 B.C., both comedy and tragedy were performed
Forms of Roman Theatre
- Pantomime: solo dance, with music and a chorus
- Used masks, story-telling, mythology or historical stories, usually serious but sometimes comic
- Mime:
- Spoken
- Usually short
- Sometimes elaborate casts and spectacle
- Serious or comic (satiric)
- No masks
- Had women
- Violence and sex depicted literally
- Scoffed at Christianity
Roman Comedy
- Roman comedy was by far the most popular
- Titus Maccius Plautus- 130 plays
- Publius Terenius
- Characteristics
- Chorus was abandoned
- Songs
- Everyday domestic affairs
- Action placed in the street
Roman Tragedy
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca
- Closet Dramas- not performed
- Characteristics
- Five acts
- Elaborate speeches
- Interest in morality
- Violence and horror onstage, unlike Greek
- Characters dominated by a single passion – obsessive (such as revenge) – drives them to doom
- Interest in the Renaissance
Roman Theatre Buildings
The first permanent Roman theatre built 54 A.D.
Characteristics:
- Built on level ground with stadium-style seating (audience raised)
- 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
- Built on level ground with stadium-style seating (audience raised)
Roman Actors and Styling
- Actors
- Referred to as histriones and mimes – later primarily histriones
- Mostly male – women were in mimes
- Styles
- Greek based
- Tragedy- slow
- Comedy- rapid
- Mimes
- Used a ton of music
The Roman Fall
The Roman Fall cont.
Church opposition to Theatre:
- association with pagan gods
- ridicule of church by mimes (sacrament and baptism)
533 A.D. is the last record we have of a performance in the Roman Empire.