the Roman Theatre stuff

----- the Roman Theatre -----

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The theatre of ancient Rome refers to dramatic performances performed in Rome and its dominions during classical antiquity.

Ancient Roman theatre was heavily influenced by the Greek tradition, and as with many other literary genres Roman dramatists tended to adapt and translate from the Greek. For example, Seneca's Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander. The Romans were more interested in comedy however and many found tragedies to be boring and too depressing for the stage.

When comparing and contrasting ancient Roman theatre to that of Greek theatre it can easily be said that Roman theatre was less influenced by religion. Also, Roman theatre was more for aesthetic appeal. In Roman theatre war was a more common thing to appear on stage as opposed to the Greek theatre where the plays were mimed and repetitive. The actors developed a kind of code that would tell the audience about the characters just by looking at them.

A purple robe meant the character was a young man.
A yellow robe meant the character was a woman. (Needed in early Roman theatre, as originally female characters were played by men, however as the Roman theatre progressed, women slaves took the roles of women in plays.)
A yellow tassel meant the character was a god.
Roman costumes mirrored traditional Greek garments. Actors commonly wore a long robe called a chiton. Chitons were often colored to denote character and rank.

Plays lasted for two hours, and were usually comedies. Most comedies involved mistaken identity (such as gods disguised as humans).

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NOTES:

* the Roman theatre eventually became so bloody that people actually died in it.

* the tassel or robe that an actor playing a god was dyed using urine :p

* Originally men acted as women (women weren't allowed to act) but then they started bringing female slave girls.

* add more here

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Video:

The Amphitheatre was where all the stuff took place.

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Daryl

Venn Diagram

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By, Alexandra :D

Important Facts!

Hi Roman readers,

Here we have 5 important facts about the different types of theatres in Ancient Rome! Listen well, because we're going to give you a few questions to answer later!

ACTORS DEVELOPED A KIND OF CODE THAT WOULD TELL THE AUDIENCE ABOUT THE CHARACTERS JUST BY LOOKING AT THEM:
When acting in the Roman theatres, actors commonly often colored which symbolizes the character or rank. For example, a purple robe meant the character was a young man. A yellow robe meant the character was a woman. A yellow tassel meant the character was a god. Different than nowadays, chitons were used back then, but costumes are used for nowadays because of the modern civilization.

MANY TYPES OF PLAYS:
Romans preferred comedies, especially exaggerated crude ones. Romans liked and wanted pure entertainment, lots of laughs and excitement. A popular one was a Mime which would be a performance without speaking. Romans copied and modified many aspects of Greek culture such as their religion and drama to suit themselves. However, most plays were set in Greece and actors wore Greek masks and costumes.

BLOODTHIRSTY ENTERTAINMENT:
Romans liked violence and they watched it as if they were watching sport. In fact, since so much violence is held on stage, the Christian Church began to attack the theatre because of the shocking acts taking place on stage. Obscene language and actions were applauded, and bloody violence was acceptable.

COMPARING GREEK AND ROMAN THEATRES:
When comparing and contrasting Roman theatres and Greek theatres, it is obvious that Roman theatres are less influenced by religion. In rome theatres, it was more for aesthetic appeal, and war was a more common thing to appear on stage, where as, Greek theatres were mimed and repetitive.

STOCK CHARACTERS:
A stock character is what an audience will be familiar with like a braggart soldier, a strong victorious soldier, and a scheming slave. Some of these characters are recognized by their speeches. The standard costume bases was a tunic and a cloak. At first masks were common because some actors would play many characters.

Dear Journal

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Roman amphitheatre

Roman amphitheatre

Journal Entry

Dear Journal,

Today is April 22nd and we are sitting in one of the many famous theatres in Rome- Guelma.

The theatre of ancient Rome refers to dramatic performances performed in Rome and its classical antiquity. The structure and idea of Ancient Roman theatres were influenced by the Greek tradition and Hellenistic Greece. We think that the theatres in Rome compare really different than the theatres we have today like "Silver City" or "Scotia Bank Theatre". Of course, all theatres have an audience seating section, ushers, programms, advertisements...... but Ancient Rome may not have some of these same convenient aspects.

The actors developed a kind of code that would tell the audience about the characters just by looking at them. A purple robe meant the character was a young man. A yellow robe meant the character was a woman. (Needed in early Roman theatre, as originally female characters were played by men, however as the Roman theatre progressed, women slaves took the roles of women in plays.) A yellow tassel meant the character was a god. These described the different characters played in a show. Where as, we have sets, props, costumes for shows we have today to make it more clear and straightforward for the audience watching.

The frame and structure of Ancient Rome differs than theatres we have today, but still, it carries the same tradition and culture of live drama, a production, or movies. Though in different places, Ancient Rome and updated civilization don't have that big of a difference in terms of theatres- the carry the same purpose!

Yours,

Alex
Alexa
Barbara
Daryl
Ryan