| Term Paper Title | ROMAN THEATER |
| # of Words | 1302 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 5.21 |
ROMAN THEATER
“The appearance and size of a theater are not so important as the imagination of the audience, the talent of the actors and the subject of the play”. (World Book)
Adventure and romance, invention, and brilliance, combined with scenic
effect and wisdom, were the gifts of the Roman Theater (Encarta). The Roman Theater was quite possibly the predecessor to the aspects of what we recognize as the world of plays, movies and performers of our current times. What we consider to be entertainment today actually can be traced to the drama’s, the tragedies, the comedies, the dancers and the music of the Roman Theater.
Native Roman drama did not really develop until the 3rd century BC. It is thought that Roman drama was originally associated with religious festivals. Soon though, the spiritual natures of the events were lost and drama became a more secular entertainment. Next, as this type of entertainment gained in popularity, the forms of entertainment that became the most popular were comedy and farces. Many believe that the greatest period of Roman playwriting began in the 2nd century BC and was dominated by the comedies of Plautus and Terence.
Most of the plays written during this time period generally involved domestic matters and intrigue. Some critics feel that the plays written by Terence have a moral value too. These plays were probably comedies, and interestingly, it is thought that up to two-thirds of the lines were probably sung, not spoken.
The acoustics of the early theaters were rather crude, by today’s standards. They were often rather large and seated between ten to forty thousand people. In addition, most of the theaters were outdoor theaters. As a result of these factors, everyone could not hear the actors. The performers wore masks, and at times there were small megaphones inside the masks to help the audience hear. At first, all the actors were men, with the women’s parts acted by young men.
There were some Roman tragedies performed during this period, although the only real surviving tragedies are from the 1st century AD from Seneca. These plays were based on Greek myths but were heavy on the violence and supernatural elements. It is possible that these plays were actually intended to simply be read or recited, not actually “acted”. This is because the public interest, therefore, the audience was too limited to have a sustained interest in performances of tragedy. Farces, even more than comedies were much more to their liking and therefore the most popular in the theaters.
Roman Theater was derived from Greek Theater. The earliest and first Roman Theaters were not permanent in nature, they were part of circus-like events. The “stage” or performing area was built for the piece that was being performed and then dismantled, or destroyed after the performance. In some instances, the “stage” was consumed or destroyed actually as part of the performance. If a play had a fire in it, or some other act of destruction, the actual performance setting would be sacrificed; the performers allowed it to actually burn or to somehow be destroyed.
Only three permanent theaters were constructed in the city of Rome. It is thought that so few permanent theaters were built because, in part, the Romans were fearful of offending one god by building a theater in honor of another. While the Greek Theaters were built into natural slopes and hillsides to support the seating area, the Roman Theaters were more of a “freestanding” construction.
Of particular architectural interest was the use of the “arch” in the construction of the permanent Roman Theater. While the Greek Theater had relied heavily on the use of a chorus, in the Roman Theater the use of the chorus was not so significant. Rather, there was an area for an orchestra and the players were seated in a semi-circle in front of the “stage”. The Roman Theater had a large stage, about eighty to one hundred feet wide. It was backed by an elaborate three-stor...Read entire document
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