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ROMAN THEATRE

ROMAN THEATRE. 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. Brief Roman History. by 345 B.C There were over 175 festivals a year

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ROMAN THEATRE

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  1. ROMAN THEATRE

  2. 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

  3. 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).

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

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

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

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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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.

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. 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.

  14. 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)

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

  16. 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.

  17. 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

  18. 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

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

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

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

  23. 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

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

  25. 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.

  26. 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.

  27. Roman Theatre Design

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

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

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

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

  32. 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

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

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

  35. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  42. 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

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

  44. 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")

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

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