THEATRE HISTORY Roman Theatre 200 BC475 AD n

THEATRE HISTORY

Roman Theatre 200 BC-475 AD n. Rome invaded Greece n. Took over their art n. Took over their literature n. Took over their theatre

Roman Theatre 1. Theatre was frowned on by the educated Romans 2. Theatre was mainly for the lower classes 3. The lower classes wanted spectacle and vulgarity 4. Theatre was decadent and hollow 5. Tragedies awful, Comedies vulgar slapstick

Roman Theatre 1. The Senate was hostile to theatre 2. Pompeii- 61 BC builds a theatre put a statue of Venus in it and said it was a temple 3. Caesar wanted a theatre too

Caesar’s. Theatre 1. Two wooden semicircles 2. Turned them to create seats for chariot races and gladiator contests

Roman Theatre- features 1. Raised stage - called a pulpitum- semicircle 2. Back wall- three story wall- ornate- scanea fronsthree doors 3. Seating area connected to the stage 4. Audience area- covered with a roof and “air conditioned by aqua ducts from the mountains

Roman Theatre- changes to the stage 1. Added a front curtain- rolled up from the floor along tracks 2. Used a claque- a person who clapped or booed

Roman Theatre- Writers- Comedy Plautus n Copied Greek plots n Set plays in rural setting n Developed stock characters: Bucco- braggart Pappus- comic old man Maccus- gluttonous fool Dossenus- frightening hunchback n Plays were a model for Shakespeare and Moliere

Roman Theatre- Writers- Comedy Terrence n n Borrowed plots from the Greeks Eliminated the chorus Lines accompanied by music (musical? ) Influenced the comedy of the Renaissance

Roman Theatre- Writers- Tragedy Senecan n n Plays have 5 -6 actors Very gory plots Influenced writers in Europe in the Renaissance

Roman Theatre-costumes and masks n n n Masks covered the head Made of linen Had hair attached Wore togas/tunics Stock characters had their own basic costumes Mimes wore no masks

Roman Theatre-Decline Plays overshadowed by spectaculars: Gladiator contests Christians fed to lions Special coliseums held water and had sea battles Slaves on the ships fought- killed each other Helped get rid of excess slaves and prisoners Everyone was killed by the time they ended

Roman Theatre-Decline n n n The fall of Rome- 475 AD Christian Church takes over Theatre banned Theatre in Europe, Greece, Italy became dormant The only place theatre continued was in Asiathe Orient