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Roman Theatre The Swaggering Soldier by Plautus Origins of Roman Theatre Like most things in Rome, the ideas came from Greece, in the 3rd century BC. - layout of theatre - definition of comedy - ‘stock’ characters Layout Meanings of words Pulpitum - stage Vomitoria - exits Scenae – backdrop behind stage (stage building) Orchestra – semi-circular area in front of stage for dancers and chorus Praccinto – passages from which actors enter and leave Porticus - colonnade Theatre Marcellus A definition of comedy “A play written chiefly to amuse its audience by appealing to a sense of superiority over the characters.” “A comedy will normally be closer to the representation of everyday life than tragedy, and will explore common human failings rather than tragedy’s disasterous crimes.” -Oxford dictionary of literary terms New Comedy Romans adopted ‘New Comedy’. Young lovers go through misadventures among other stock characters. A stock character is one easily recognised by the audience because they appear again and again. Stock characters Greek actors wore masks so that the audience would be able to recognise their emotions from far away (anger, sadness etc…) However, in Rome, they wore mask so that the audience could recognise the stock characters. Examples of stock characters The Fisherman The Farmer The Superstitious Man The Peevish Man The Promiser The Heiress The Priestess The False Accuser The Misogynist The Hated Man The Shipmaster The Slave The Concubine The Soldiers The Widow The Noise-Shy Man Stock characters in ‘The Swaggering Soldier’. Pyrgopolynices – the over-confident soldier Philocomasium – the concubine or prostitute Palaestro, Sceledrus, Lurcio – the slaves From Greece to Rome The Romans called their adaptations of Greek comedies fabulae palliatae ('plays in a Greek cloak'). The fabulae palliatae had characters with Greek names in Greek settings, but the audience understood that the characters were essentially Roman. This practice allowed the playwright to turn Roman mores upside down without upsetting the audience or undermining Roman morality. Ch-ch-ch-changes Perhaps the most common inversion of Roman values in Roman comedy is the mockery of the father. In real Roman society, the father's power (patria potestas) was legally undisputed. A father had the power of life and death over his family and his household (especially slaves). In comedy, however, the son with the help of a brash slave regularly outwit the father and make a fool of him. In many plays, the slave is the central character who dominates the action. The Greek setting of the plays and the Greek names of the characters made this situation suitable for Roman audiences and authorities.