Roman Theater:
The roman theatre was a very well constructed building, were Romans
offered and thanked their gods by putting them food on a table, but
mainly they did plays that were about fables, comedies and tragedies.
Roman theaters were usually open to the sky. The big wall at the back
of the stage once had 76 decorative stone columns and three doors by
which the actors entered to the stage. Women were not allowed to sit
near the front.
In present times The Roman Theatre is one of the most beautiful and
best-preserved theatres in Europe. This beautiful monument was built
in 1 bc by the great sculptor Agrippa.
The origin of the roman theatre was mainly the festivities in honor of
the Greek god Dionysus. The main drama of the Romans was the
same as the Greek drama, tragedy and comedy. But in this aspect
the Roman people were not original. Roman Tragedy, was an
adaptation of tragedies from Latin and Greek. Some examples of
Roman fables presented in stage were Fable Palliata, Fable Togata,
and others. Several examples of roman comedies were Captivi, Persa
and others. Also some examples of roman tragedies were Medea,
Troades, and some others
Entertainment was very important to daily life in Ancient Rome.It
seemed that all Romans were interested in "bread and circuses”.
Classic dramas were performed by male , wearing masks, and they
usually took place during religious festivals. These performers always
present behind the same background. Since Ancient Romans
celebrated over 200 holidays a year, there were many opportunities for
plays to be performed. Someone had to pay for the play, actors
received a small payment. Usually a wealthy noble would pay the bill,
in honor of the gods, and give the play to the people as a gift. Each
actor played different roles. They wore simple costumes that could be
changed quickly and in public. The actors held up happy face masks or
sad faced masks, to help the audience understand what was going on
in the play. Over time, masks became very elaborated. The actors
used dance, music, hand gestures, facial expressions, and costumes
to present the play.
Pantomime was a dance program that involved one male dancer, a
chorus and musicians. Pantomime was mostly a presentation of ballet.
Some of these dancers would become small celebrities.
Mime- Mime was another type of performance in theaters that was very
popular. No masks were used in mime, males and females could be
mimes and take place in performance. Most women did not perform
mime, mostly the males were the ones who performed. Mime plays
usually involved adventure plots, with sex and violence added for
entertainment.
The origin of Roman Theater was Greek, but the difference was that it
had semicircular structure. The rules of the architecture design and
structure were all based on the engineer and architect vitrubious.
The building was made on travertine and limestone extracted from
quarries and arenizas.
It is inscribed in a semicircle of 87 meters in diameter.
The decoration of this theatre is luxurious with marble, columns which
the whole design is applied to Roman architecture.
Parts of the theater:
Scenae frons (stage front), normally composed of a double row of
columns.
- Orchestra: semicircle or a little more than a semicircle in front of the
stage on which sat the authorities, acted choir and stood an altar in
honor of Dionysus.
- Aditus: entrance of the lateral halls to the orchestra.
- Cavea: semicircular structure in which, according to social structure,
spectators stood, assigning the highest ranking the best locations. It
was divided into “ima cavea” with 13 stands, “media cavea” with 5 tiers
and “summa cavea” with 6 tiers, divided by horizontal corridors
(diazomatas). It is divided in circular sectors (cunei). These steps were
built taking advantage of the hills.
- Vomitoria: passages to acces to the cavea.
- Proscaenium (apron): Space in front of the scene in which the play
elavorates.
- Porticus post scaenam (porch behind the scene): Patio columned
portico behind the scenes.
Capacity: The theater was built for a capacity of 50,000 people.