Season 2
April 12, 2021
Roman Places Of Seeing
Episode 47 To conclude the season on the theatre of Rome this episode imagines a resident of the city in 54BCE, recounting in a letter to a sick friend, a day spent travelling to the theatre of Pompey and the time spent ther…
April 5, 2021
Roman Conclusions Part 2
Episode 46: The second and concluding part of a summary of Roman Theatre presented as my personal top ten of the most influential, interesting and surprising aspects of Roman Theatre. This episode goes from number 5 to numbe…
March 29, 2021
Roman Conclusions Part 1
Episode 45 The first part of a summary of Roman Theatre presented as my personal top ten of the most influential, interesting and surprising aspects of Roman Theatre. This episode goes from number 10 to number 6. The top 5 w…
March 22, 2021
Roman Pantomime: The Silent Art
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…
March 15, 2021
Roman Mime: It’s not what you think.
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…
March 8, 2021
Seneca’s Phaedra: Mother Lust
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 Eurip…
March 1, 2021
Seneca’s Medea: Beware Pure Evil
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…
Feb. 22, 2021
Seneca: Bloody Tragedy
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 Senec…
Feb. 15, 2021
The Brothers: How to Get The Best From Your Children
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. T…
Feb. 8, 2021
The Self Tormenter: Fathers and Sons and Lovers
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 …
Feb. 1, 2021
Terence: The Bloom of Youth
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 m…
Jan. 25, 2021
Plautus and Shakespeare: Two Brothers?
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 a…
Jan. 18, 2021
The Menaechmus Brothers: Hand in hand, not one before the other
Episode 35 The Menaechmus Brothers is taken from a Greek new comedy original and via this version by Plautus was used by later dramatists, most notably Shakespeare. In the first half of this episode I summaries the plot that…
Jan. 11, 2021
Casina: The Unseen Bride
Episode 34 In this eisode we take a detailed look at Casina by Plautus. It's a tale of two men who try to use their slaves in a plot marry the young Casina by proxy. It has a prologue of particular interest. The usual stock …
Jan. 4, 2021
Plautus: Comedy Tonight
Episode 33 The life and time of Plautus, the first Roman Playwright from whom we have surviving works. After a hard start he became the most popular of the Roman playwrights churning out comedy after comedy. This episode loo…
Dec. 21, 2020
Trackers of Oxyrhynchus with Jimmy Walters
Episode 32 An interview with theatre director Jimmy Walters about his 20217 production of Trackers of Oxyrhynchus by Tony Harrison. This version of the Satyr play 'Trackers' by Sophocles was originally performed by the Natio…
Dec. 14, 2020
The Stage and the City with Dr Elodie Paillard
Episode 31 An interview with Dr Elodie Paillard discussing her work on the non-elite characters in the plays of Sophocles and what they tell us about changes in athenian society in the 5th Century BCE. Dr Paillard is Honorar…
Dec. 7, 2020
The Development of Roman Theatre with Dr Elodie Paillard
Episode 30 An interview with Dr Elodie Paillard discussing the development of Roman theatre and the extent to which it developed out of Greek theatre. Dr Paillard is Honorary Associate in the Department of Classics and Ancie…
Nov. 30, 2020
Stages, Scenery, Props and Politics
Episode 29 A look at the detail of the staging of Roman plays, including the use of the stage, scenery, masks, props and costume. How wall paintings and sculpture may give us some useful insights into Roman theatre. The posi…
Nov. 23, 2020
Later Rome: Theatre Finds a Home
Episode 28 Theatre gets its first permanent home in Rome as Pompey builds a theatre to his own glory. The story of how he was able to do that is one of wealth, pride deception and not a little ego. Support the podcast at: ww…
Nov. 16, 2020
Early Rome: Theatre Gets Mobile
Episode 27 Theatre buildings in Rome developed over the long period of time from the Etruscan Period and through the republican period, but throughout they were temporary structures albeit on an ever grander scale. In this e…
Nov. 9, 2020
From Greek to Roman – Part 2
Episode 26 In the second part of the introduction to the theatre of Rome the Greek influence becomes more obvious and we start to get some details about the playwrights of the time. Taking this overview through to the beginn…
Nov. 2, 2020
From Greek to Roman – Part 1
Episode 25 Season 2 of the podcast begins with an overview of the transition from Greek Theatre to Roman Theatre with the history of the early Roman Republic and the early forms of theatre, starting at 364 BCE and taking us …