Costumes -
The costumes were often very colorful, and each player would wear a mask at
all times.
The performers wear masks to determine each character and aid the audience in
quick character recognition. This way one actor can play several different
characters and get away with it. The mask of a character reflects the general emotional state of the character
during the play; Euclio's female slave is in a constant state of emotional stress. The clothing worn also has some signifigance past appearance and character
recognition. The color can sometimes have attached meaning - Euclio's clothing
is bright yellow, the traditional color for greed.
Typically, six actors performed nine roles in one play production on account of the many diverse masks used in the performance. This also allows men to play women regularly, since women did not perform in the theatre. The women's parts were played by young men with high voices and frail physiques. With maturation and the deepening of men's voices, actors took on the roles of men. If their voices or physiques did not mature, the actors' roles were limited and their careers could be jeopardized. The status of citizenship did not really matter when it came to acting. Slaves were trained to act, but free men who wanted to act took on apprenticeships under the acting company's maximus actor. The main actor could make a healthy sum of money during the course of the year. The slaves would get paid, but all their profits would go toward their masters. The actors' lives were not always pleasant, since the audience would occasionally taunt, badger, or hurl objects at them, and apprentices were often treated as slaves.
Stage Setup -
The stage usually included an open area with a screen of wood behind, and
three doors were set into the screen. The main door in the middle was a folding door, which was slightly larger than the other two. The actors would enter the scenes through this door, and then they would exit through this one only at the end of the act. Usually if they had to exit in the middle of an act, they would use either of the side doors.
In front of the stage was a small open area where the orchestra was located. There were steps at the side of the orchestra where musicians played thematic music and interludes between acts. Past this there was a section of
seating reserved for those of senatorial rank, usually marked off by some rope or purple cloth. After these few select rows was
the seating for the general public. If all of the public seats were taken,
then the audience would stand and watch. For the most part, slaves would stand in the back. There were also ushers who would help silence the crowds, announce the time remaining until the beginning of the play, and direct people to their seats. In general, the audience would not know what play was to be performed until it began. However, they were familiar with the storylines of nearly all the play productions. The Roman audience, in contrast to the Greek, became more involved, since actors would come out into the audience during the course of the play.
Few, if any, stages were permanent structures. Most were temporary and constructed out of wood unlike their permanent Greek counterparts made of stone.
Certain traits characterize a Roman comedy...
Slapstick comedy - often the humor in a Roman comedy is supplied by ridiculous
violence between the characters. For instance, Euclio throws his slave out of
the house and then threatens her with further violence if she does not obey
his orders.
Plot themes - a young woman will be captured by vandals or a man will be
shocked to discover that he is heir to a huge fortune, or that his bride-to-be
is actually his lost-at-birth twin sister. These common plot themes appear
time and time again in Roman comedy. The audience is not critical of the
recurring plot elements, but care more about the extra elements of word play and
slapstick comedy.