Although Roman drama, stagecraft and theatre architecture had far greater influence upon the development of modern theatre than did the theatrical legacy of the Greeks, these subjects have been relatively neglected by academic investigation and discussion. The Roman Theatre and its Audience traces the history of Roman theatre - from its origins in the fourth century BC to the demise of formal theatrical activity at the end of antiquity - with the purpose of identifying and describing that theatre's most important characteristics and legacy. A major theme and focus of the study is the way in which the Roman audience both influenced and reacted to the nature and occasion of theatrical performance, and the insights which this aspect contributes to our understanding of Roman stagecraft. Dr Beacham has himself translated Roman drama and produced it for contemporary audiences upon a carefully researched reconstruction of the type of temporary stage on which such drama was first performed, and the book draws extensively on his first-hand experience. As the work of a theatre historian and theatre practitioner, it synthesizes and extends earlier studies which have analysed the Roman theatre from particular perspectives of philology, literary criticism or archaeology. Its discussion of the vexed subject of Roman scenic practice is particularly intriguing, as is the detailed account of how a typical Roman comedy functions in performance.
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The Roman Theatre and Its Audience deals not only with every era but with every genre that entertained the sons of Romulus...Beacham charts the transformation of sedate Hellenistic comedy into raucous entertainment suitable for the Roman spectators described by Horace as potus et exlex ('drunk and disorderly').
--Erich Segal (Times Literary Supplement )
A fine piece of work...[Beacham's] theories about mime, pantomime, and Roman wall painting will stir much discussion, and his book will be valued by all who are interested in the theatre of the ancient world.
--Patricia A. Johnston (Classical Philology )
--Erich Segal (Times Literary Supplement )
A fine piece of work...[Beacham's] theories about mime, pantomime, and Roman wall painting will stir much discussion, and his book will be valued by all who are interested in the theatre of the ancient world.
--Patricia A. Johnston (Classical Philology )
About the Author
Richard C. Beacham is Professor of Theatre Studies, University of Warwick.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful intro to a fascinating topic,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Roman Theatre and its Audience (Paperback)
This is a fascinating book. Under one cover it manages to give a comprehensive account of the Roman theatre, while also providing a detailed description of the author's own ground-breaking research in actually construcitng a temporary Roman stage, and presenting his own translations of Plautus upon it. For once we have scholarship informed by actual theatrical know-how and experiment. Beacham writes in an easy but highly informed manner, and his insights are almost always provocative and sometimes exciting. He wears his impressive scholarship lightly. A fine book, and impressive record of innovative research
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Roman Theatre and It's Audience,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Roman Theatre and its Audience (Hardcover)
Good book. Tells the accurate potrayal of Roman Theatre...from Pantomime on....really helped with my research paper...worth reading
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