Roman theatre
Theatre developed and expanded in many ways under the
Romans. The Romans first experienced theatre in the 4th century BC, with a
performance by Etruscan (ancient Italians) actors. The theatre of ancient Rome
was a thriving art form, ranging from festival in the street, nude dancing, and
acrobatics. Although Rome had a native tradition of performance, the
Hellenization of Roman culture in the 3rd century BC had a profound and
energizing effect on Roman theatre and encouraged the development of Latin
literature of the highest quality for the stage. Theatre spread west across
Europe, around the Mediterranean and reached England; Roman theatre was more
varied and extensive than that of any culture before it. The year 240 BC marks the
beginning of regular Roman drama as interest in full-length drama declined in
favour of a broader variety of theatrical entertainments.
The first important works of Roman literature were the
tragedies and comedies that Livius Andronicus wrote from 240 BC. Five years
later, Gnaeus Naevius also began to write dramas. While both dramatists
composed in both genres, Andronicus was most appreciated for his tragedies and
Naevius for his comedies; their successors tended to specialise in one or the
other, which led to a separation of the subsequent development of each type of
drama. Sadly none of Andronicus or Naevius plays have survived the test of
time.
The Roman theatre was laid out like a Greek theatre. There
was a backstage area, seating arrangements for the audience, and an orchestra.
Theatres started out as simple, temporary wooden structures. The layout of the
stage was the same as in later stone stages: three doors, opening to the
brothel, temple, and hero's house. The stage itself was enclosed by wings at
each side, and the scene house had a roof. The Romans didn't have a stone
theatre until the final years of the Republic; the large stone theatres seated
tens of thousands of Romans. There was no front curtain nor were performances
done in the orchestra pit (unlike Greek plays). The audiences sat on temporary
wooden benches where there was room.
Roman actors had bad reputations and their morals challenged
even the decadence of Roman society. Their performances could be lewd, highly
sexual and offensive, and they sometimes even appeared naked on stage and
engaged in sexual acts. They could also be highly critical of the political
status quo. As expected, some emperors were as critical of them and took
certain measures in an attempt to counteract their influence: Emperor Julian
the Apostate forbade Roman priests from attending theatrical performances to
avoid giving the performances respectability, and the more enlightened Emperor
Tiberius would not allow people of the stage to have any contact with the upper
classes.In the Imperial period, a number of women became famous actresses, and
earned reputations as infamous as their male counterparts. Indeed, one of the
Emperor Nero’s concubines, Acte, was an actress. According to tradition, Acte
was converted by St Paul. Over the years, a number of actors became quite
influential. Some gifted theatrical artists such as Roscius, in comedy, and
Aesopus, in tragedy, earned considerable reputations. Christian St Genesius had
a respectable reputation and was considered a gifted writer, actor and
comedian, even by the Emperor Diocletian who was present at the performance in
which he was converted.
Victorian theatre
Victorian era is the time between 1837 and 1901 when theatre
flourished and became very popular with masses. Theatrical atmosphere was no longer restricted
to certain classes of the society as it became easier to see shows because of
reasons like the plays could run for longer time which meant more profits and
an increase in the number of theatres. With the popularity of theatre growing
and an increase in the number of spectators, production of plays proceeded to
surpass the amount of production produced in the past periods of drama, as a
result, the number of ticket buyers increased. Typical audiences in those days
were mostly the citizens from the lower section of society. Theatre also
improved due to Queen Victoria’s encouragements of the Arts.
Many new theatres
were made but also the old theatres were remodel. During 1860 to 1870 the
Royalty, The Gaiety, The Charing Cross, The Globe and The Holborn were remodel.
Later in the following decade (1870 to 1880) The Court, The Opera Comique and
The Imperial were also re-built. In this
time period there was a definite improvement in the scenic design and also
during this period stage mangers were introduced. Stage managers were given
full control of the stage and all workers respected his authority during any
kind of performances.
Oscar Wilde is one of the most prominent playwrights of the
Victorian era. Wilde’s easy wit insured an immediate success for the brilliant
series of dramas that he wrote in the early 1890’s. In 1892 Lady Windermere's
Fan deputes at the St James' Theatre and was very popular, later that same year
Wilde also wrote Salome. Later Wilde released “An Ideal Husband” and “The
Importance of Being Earnest”, both was filled with wit and brilliant paradoxes.
Other important writers in the Victorian time were John
Millington Synge, whose plays include “Riders to the Sea” and “The Playboy of
the Western World”. George Bernard Shaw was another famous playwright of the
Victorian era. He wrote more than sixty plays. His plays were mostly about
social problems such as education, religion, marriage, and class privileges.
“Arms and the Man” and “You Can Never Tell” are some of his famous plays.
Nearly all the writers mentioned above have tried to
introduce laughter in their work. The plots for comedies in the Victorian era
were usually full of coincidences, mistiming and mistaken identities.
Characters were usually seen as puppets of fate as they were unable to wed, and
are either too poor, or too rich to be happy. The characters also suffer from
loss of identity due to some accident. Humour mostly consists of dirty or dark
jokes, dirty gestures, and sex. The physical actions on the stage included
slapstick, pratfalls, loud noises, physical mishaps, collisions; there is one
problem after and another in comedic plays. One of the most famous comedies of
the Victorian era was “The Importance of Being Earnest”.
