The History Of European Theatre

Episode 44:

A detailed look at the Roman art of Pantomime which was the preeminent form of dramatic art during the Imperial period.

Dr Elodie Palliard's thoughts on why Pantomime dominated and how it was used by the Emperors.

The origins of Pantomime

The performers Pylades, Bathyllus and their relationship with Emperor Augustus

Pantomime as a non-verbal performance style

Description of Pantomime and the regiment for it's supremacy over other forms by Lucian

The banishment of performers and their reinstatement by Caligula

Caligula and pantomime

The morality of pantomime

2nd century description of pantomime by Apuleius.

Dr Paillard is Honorary Associate in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Sydney and lecturer and scientific collaborator in the Department of Ancient Civilizations at the University of Basel. She is currently leading a research project on Greek theatre in Roman Italy, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. She is the author of 'The Stage and the City. Non-élite Characters in the Tragedies of Sophocles' (Paris 2017).

She is currently co-editing two forthcoming collective volumes, one on Greek Theatre and Metatheatre: Definitions, Problems & Limits and one on Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World.  In parallel to her interest in ancient Greek theatre, she is also working on the social structure of Classical Athens and the emergence of democracy.

You can connect with her on Twitter @elopai 

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Episode 43:

The history of Roman Mime, one for the two dramatic forms that dominated theatre in the Roman Imperial period.

A word on Horace and his work The Art Of Poetry, one of the most influential works of dramatic theory. His rules for the stage and where he did and didn’t agree with Aristotle

The differences between Mime and other dramatic forms

The origins of mime in Greece ad the Greek colonies in Italy

Mime in Rome and at the Ludi festivals

The limits of textual evidence for mime

Some descriptions of mime plays and titles

Moral issues with mime because of the content relating to adultery

Mime of political satire, including stories from Tiberius, Caligula, Nero and Vespasian.

Mime as part of religious festivals

Women performers in Mime

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Episode 42:

This episode takes a detailed look at Phaedra, Seneca's version of the Hippolytus myth.

The two versions by Euripides and how Seneca used these

A summary of the play

The differences in Seneca's version from Euripides -

The position of Phaedra as innocent or responsible

Greek shame Vs Roman guilt and repentance

Phaedra and the Roman bas step-mother trope

The play in relation to Stoic philosophy

The motif of the hunt, the hunter and the hunted

Presentations of the play in the medieval period

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A short trailer for THOETP guest appearance on The History Of England Podcast with the story of the short life and death of Christopher Marlow.

Episode 41

In this episode I take a detailed look at Seneca's version of Medea. The story of a woman who is a foreigner and a witch suited his form of dark tragedy perfectly.

A summary of the narrative of the play

The impact of the language used and how it becomes overblown.

An analysis of the final scene and why Seneca might have chosen to make this the only moment of visual drama in the play.

Questions about how and if the play was staged and the use of stage machinery

Medea as a witch and how that plays into Roman tropes

The character of Jason an his effect on the play

A comparison of the Euripides version to Seneca's

The legacy of Seneca's tragedy on the medieval period.

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Episode 40

The life and tines of Seneca - Philosopher, Playwright, Poet and Statesman who operated in the time of emperor Nero.

The origins of Roman Tragic drama and the little we know about it's exponents.

The life of Seneca from his birth in Spain and education in Rome.

Seneca's rise to political office. The accession Claudius and the rise of his wife Agrippina and her son Nero.

Court intrigues and an eight year exile in Corsica.

Rehabilitation and tutor to Nero.

Life under Nero and Seneca's fall from favour and death.

An overview of his nine plays

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Episode 39

The Brothers, dated to 160 BCE, is Terence’s last surviving work.  We have that date exactly because the play is recorded as being presented at the games held to honour the Roman general Lucius Aemillus Paullus.  

The first presentation of the play and who was Lucius Aemillus Paullus?

The prologue to the play and Terence's defence of his use of Greek plays to create a new piece.

A synopsys of the play

The Brothers as a play of ideas and a discussion of it's main themes about the best way to raise sons.

The external influences in an expanding Roman Republic and how they influence the play.

The main characters Demea and Micio as more complex and developed characters than have been seen before.

The role of Sannio the slave dealer and other minor characters.

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Episode 38

A look at 'The Self Tormenter' by Terrence. Written in 162 or 163 BCE this is the story of disagreements between fathers and sons over the choice of women and how a clever slave almost wins the day.

A synopsis of the pay with some comments about the Prologue, the action of the play and the general style.

The way Terence changes the standard stock characters and makes them more rounded characters than anything we have seen before, including how the portrayal of the clever slave and the courtesan are more subtle than in previous plays.

Some of the issues with the play.

How Terence continued to use metatheatre and how he changed it.

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Episode 37

Terence had a short life and left only six complete comic plays, but he moved the genre on from Plautus and other earlier dramatists.

The story of his beginnings as a slave and how he came to Rome

The circles he moved in and how he got support from the Practician class and Caecilius Statius the best known comic dramatist of the day.

A short word on the history of Caecilius Statius and Ambitious Turpio, producer and actor.

Contemporary criticisms of Terence and his use of Greek comedies

A brief review of the six surviving plays.

The untimely death of Terence and his legacy

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Episode 36

The influence of Plautus and other Roman playwrights has long been understood, but what are those influences and how did the Roman plays come to the attention of Rennaisance playwrights?

How manuscripts survived after antiquity and were rediscovered in the early Renaissance.

The growth of secular drama in Italy and the role of Duke Ercole d'Este in Ferrara

Terence Vs Plautus as the Roman plays became known and appreciated in northern Europe.

How early English plays used the Roman models and how the growing education system in Elizabethan England used Latin plays.

The influence of Plautus on Shakespeare and similarities in settings, characters and plots.

Ben Johnson's debt to Plautus

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