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ROMAN THEATRE 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). Brief Roman History 55 B.C • First stone theatre built in Rome by order of Julius Caesar. Roman Theatre • Borrowed Greek ideas and improved (?) upon them • Topics less philosophical • Entertainment tended to be grandiose, sentimental, diversionary Roman Theatre • Included more than drama : • • • • • • • • acrobatics gladiators jugglers athletics chariots races naumachia (sea battles) boxing venationes (animal fights) Roman Theatre 3 Major Influences • Greek Drama • Etruscan influences, which emphasized circus-like elements • Fabula Atellana – which introduced FARCE (Atella was near Naples). 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 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 Roman Theatre • • • • • Serious or comic (satiric) No masks Had women Violence depicted literally Scoffed at Christianity 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. 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. 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 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 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. 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. Roman Comedy Characteristics of Roman Comedy • Chorus was abandoned • No act or scene divisions • Concerned everyday, domestic affairs • Action placed in the street Roman Comedy Material from only 2 playwrights survived • Platus (c. 254-184 B.C.) • Terence (195 or 185-159 B.C.) Roman Theatre Design • First permanent Roman theatre built 54 A.D. (100 years after the last surviving comedy) Roman Theatre Design General Characteristics • Built on level ground with stadiumstyle seating (audience raised) Roman Theatre Design General Characteristics • Stage raised to five feet • Stages were large – 20-40 ft deep 100-300 ft long Roman Theatre Design General Characteristics • Theatre could seat 10-15,000 people • dressing rooms in side wings • stage was covered with a room 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 Roman Theatre Design Scaena • “stage house” • joined with audience to form one architectural unit Roman Theatre Design Circus Maximus- (Circo Massimo) • Primarily for Chariot racing • Permitted 12 chariots to race at once • Largest Roman Amphitheater • Could seat 150,000 spectators