Classical Theatre And Drama In Rome

Classical Theatre And Drama In Rome

The Roman classical comedy was based on Greek New Comedy (the comedy of Menander). But there were so many changes that were put in place by the Romans. They are popular for adopting whatever they have acquired for their own purposes.

The conventions of the Roman comedy include:

·         They abandoned the chorus and did not divide their plays into scenes.

·         The music was interspersed with the dialogue. Music accompanied dialogue.

·         The comedies dealt with the life of well-to-do middle class with slaves as the most popular characters.

·         They were centered on domestic affairs like drunkenness, mistaken identity, marital infidelity, deliberate deception etc.

·         All actions in the plays took place on the street. Actors only had to report what happened indoors.

·         Terrence and Plautus were the most famous Roman comedians.

Terrence

Publius Terrence Afer (195-159 BC) was a native of North Africa. He was brought to Rome as a slave but later got his freedom. He wrote 6 plays including "The Eunuch,""The Mother-in-Law"and"The Brothers."

·         He did not use songs in his comedy but music accompanied almost half of his dialogues.

·         He emphasized the problems of lovers or parent-child relationships.

·         He used double plot, expository prologue and treated his characters delicately.

·         His works were mainly romantic comedies.

Plautus

To Titus Maccius Plautus (254-184 BC) belong these famous works:"Amphitryon,""The Pot of Gold,""The Captives"and"Twin Menaechmi."

·         About two-thirds of his lines were accomanied by music with an average number of 3 songs.

·         His plays went from issues of misunderstanding to comedies of situations (farce) and produced sentimental effects.

·         He employed a single plot and a complicated intrigue.

·         He used expository prologue.

·         He brought actors on stage when he needed them and removed them when his need of them expired.

·         He allowed characters to meet themselves (on stage) when it suited his dramatic purpose.

·         He eliminated anything that does not contribute to his principal aim.

Seneca

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4BC-65AD) was a Greek stoic philosopher, moralist and satirist. He was not a professional dramatist and hia plays were not staged but they influenced the Renaissance dramatists so much.

·         He introduced the 5 act plays.

·         His plays contained elaborately constructed speeches.

·         He wrote moral plays concluding them with proverbs which were aimed at human behaviour.

·         His plays contained many violent actions.

·         His plays were preoccupied wih magic and death.

·         He made good use of soliloquy, aside and confidants (whispers).

·         His characters were dominated by a single motive that eventually led to their doom.

·         His works were attractive to Renaissance tragedians