Q&a History of Theatre

1. Discuss the development of the Roman theatre building.

Roman theatres are based off the design of the Theatre of Pompey. The Theatre of Pompey was the first Roman theatre built to be permanent. The earlier stages of Roman Theatre unlike Pompey were build out of wood and were temporary. As time and engineering progressed through the ages, building the theatre eventually moved to a square stone design made to last.The Cavea (seating) was wedged-shaped sections. These sections would be designated for senators, knights, and commoners respectively. The stages measured 20-40ft deep and from 100-300ft wide.

2. In a carefully worded couple of paragraphs discuss the influence that Plautus, Terrence, and Seneca had on the Elizabethan playwrights.

Seneca provided a good base to Elizabethan playwrights such as Shakespeare. There were few during that time period who were learned enough to read older greek plays, and Seneca proved to be a baseline for tragedies. Plautus and Terence however, were used as baselines for more comedic playwrights. The Italian Renaissance heavily referenced styles of writing from Plautus and Terence in their early dramas.

3. Select one or two conventions associated with the Roman theatre (scenic, choral, audience, staging) and describe the convention and discus its influence on the performance of the Roman theatre.

The scenic conventions associated with the Roman Theatre revolves around the scaenae frons. The scaenae frons is the decorated background of the stage. This was usually elaborately decorated and had many entrances to the stage. The scenic convention provided the setting for the audience, but unlike the greek Skene, it was not a backdrop of paintings, rather an architectual piece that also served as a dressing room for the actors. The scaenae frons could sometimes be up to three stories tall. Having this elaborate stage setting influenced the popularity of the theatre. With a permanent stage and built background, it provided a more...