Plautus in Performance: The Theatre of the Mind (Greek and Roman Theatre Archive,) [Hardcover]

Niall W. Slater (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 9057550377 | ISBN-13: 978-9057550379 | Publication Date: June 1, 2000 | Edition: 2nd Revised edition

Plautus was Ancient Rome's greatest comic playwright, Shakespeare drew heavily on his plots, and his legacy is prevalent throughout modern drama. In this expanded edition of his successful book, one of America's foremost Classical scholars introduces performance criticism to the study of Plautus' ancient drama. In addition to the original detailed studies of six of the dramatists's plays, the methodology of performance criticism, the use of conventions, and the nature of comic heroism in Plautus, this edition includes new studies on:
* the induction into the world of the play
* the scripted imitation of improvisation
* Plautus's comments on his previous work
* the nature of 'tragicomedy'.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2nd Revised edition edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9057550377
• ISBN-13: 978-9057550379
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,838,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plautus duly appreciated, August 14, 2002

By 

Petrides Antonis (Nicosia, Cyprus) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plautus in Performance: The Theatre of the Mind (Greek and Roman Theatre Archive,) (Hardcover)

This is one of the most important contributions in Plautine studies since Erich Segal's "Roman Laughter". A close reading of six "plays about play-making" (Epidicus, Persa, Asinaria, Casina, Bacchides, Pseudolus), the book closes down on the cardinal Plautine figure of the servus callidus as the conductor and master-puppeteer of the playworld. This is a book with a thesis: that Plautine theatre is non-mimetic, non-illusory, non-realistic; that, inasmuch as it imitates not life but previous text, it is metatheatrical and intertextual at the outmost. Disadvantages? Slater sometimes overstates his case: for instance, the thesis that in the "Persa" the pimp Dordalus represents the "world of tragedy" (p.53) is one example of such overdrawn conclusions. But not many of those are to be found. Throughout the book, Slater offers specimens of sophisticated performance analysis. The book should perhaps be read in juxtaposition with Slater's newly published volume on Aristophanes.