The Theatres of Pompeii

FRANCIS REID VISITS THE THEATRES OF POMPEII Roman theatre remains are to be found all waves, contained virtually every phenom that one is reminded of the theatres which around the mediterranean. As far as I can enon ever associated with the wrath of the were constructed as ruins in eighteenth ascertain, the ones which are most complete gods-an event over which Vesuvius century gardens by noble ladies who liked to (or perhaps it would be more accurate to say maintained a grumbling presence through play shepherdess. less incomplete) are those at Sabratha in out subsequent centuries. The Odeon is a beautifully proportioned Libya and Merida in Spain. Until Libya One of the joys of Italy is that their archi space, scaled for music, mime and reci becomes a less traumatic area for tourism, tectural heritage is so extensive that they tation. It was roofed whereas the larger Sabratha will have to remain but a tantalis have no alternative but to treat it casually. theatre had only an enormous velarium ing hope for a future journey; however I Somehow the general unkempt air of canopy which protected the seating area have positive plans to combine Roman Pompeii, the weeds, even the occasional from sun and rain . (It was supported by Merida with eighteenth century Almagro. fugitive squashed coke can, promotes a poles fastened in rings which can still be Meanwhile my feeling for Roman perform feeling of reality. Imagination completes the seen behind the topmost seating row .) The ance conditions slowly builds up as I sit on picture in a way that a full restoration never Odeon is a purely Roman theatre whereas a series of tiered stones that have known could. Visiting the theatres is primarily a the larger theatre developed out of the orig Roman bottoms, strut upon variously frag revelation of scale. Not just the way in inal Greek one on the site. mented stages which once supported the which they are scaled to catalyse the actor In both theatres it takes little imagination thespians of the ancient world or contem audience experience, but their relationship to recreate the reality of the original cavea plate the records made by painters of what with the city's public, commercial and where the audience sat. It is the architectural they thought they saw. domestic buildings and road system. backing to the stage-the scaenae frons with A visit to Pompeii adds a new dimension The large theatre of Pompeii was orig its doors, niches and statues-that can only to that search for the elusive nature of inally built in the Greek form around be a conjectural image. However there is Roman theatric experience. Here we have 200BC, undergoing a number of transform enough wall structure remaining to allow theatres in the context of a city whose people ations into the Roman with the remodelling satisfactory speculation based on the they served. We can leave the houses, walk probably being just before the destruction of various wall painting fragments that remain along the streets, visit the shops, pass Pompeii-the city underwent considerable elsewhere as an illustration of standard through the forum and take our seats in the reconstruction following an earthquake just Roman practice. theatre. We need to choose which one five years before the great Vesuvius erup Curiously though , I found that the influ because the Romans tended to build their tion. The experience of sitting in the audi ences which fed my own imagination most theatres in pairs. (A tradition currently ac torium has similarities to visiting a strongly while sitting in these Pompeii tive in the German Stadtheater practice of Georgian theatre whose thrust has been theatres were the renaissance architects who and adjacent Grosses Haus and Kleines removed. The audience tiers focus on the sought to rediscover the staging conditions Haus.) Or if we seek a more gutsy entertain orchestra whereas in the final decades of of the ancients. The scaenae frons of ment, there is an amphitheatre down the Pompeii the actors had retreated to the stage Palladio in Vicenza, the outwardly turned road. and the audience had infiltrated the vacated ends to the seating of Scamozzi in Our knowledge of ancient theatres is more space. Sabionetta and the orchestral entrance doors extensive in plan than in elevation. Foun The feeling of intimacy is strong even of Aleotti in Parma (all from the renaissance dations are often reasonably complete and when one sits in near solo occupancy: with and still existing today)-these helped me to there is frequently a clear indication of the a full house of 5000 the atmosphere must flesh out the marvellously scaled ruins of audience seating arrangements, particularly have been quite claustrophobic. Facilities Pompeii. None of these renaissance theatre when built into the natural slope of a hill for modern performances have been pro builders were able to include Pompeii in side. But as we move upwards from the vided in a very simple way that does not floor , our knowledge of the structure has to intrude. Steel framing allows the stage to be be based increasingly upon speculation. The floored and the seating tier gaps filled by stage buildings, inevitably, have mostly supporting temporary timber planking. disappeared: the slow disintegration of time These steel ribs do not hide any of the orig fTil Lancelyn accelerated by removal of building ma inal structure: indeed they act rather like a terials for recycling elsewhere. line drawing in emphasising shape. The l!dJ Lighting In Pompeii the agent of destruction was rust, being compatible with the generally Theatre also a means of preservation. Although the weathered aspect of the site, helps to keep this modern material from intruding. rm STAGE Equipment volcanic fall-out from Vesuvius sliced off i!dJ MAKE-UP the topmost layers of the city 's buildings, it Interestingly, the gentle weathering of also preserved -the remains by placing the Pompeii often imparts something of a rm SCENERY KITS AND site under a very effective planning blight. romantic ambience, rather as if one is view l!dJ FOLDING ROSTRA Redevelopment was totally inhibited by up ing classical remains through the eyes of the rm WIGS. BEARDS plume for our fuf/ catalogue i!dJ & DISG UISES Lancelyn Lighting Oxford to twenty feet of ash , combined with the fear early romanticism of an eighteenth century 102 Wahon St. Oxford engendered by folk memory of the apoca pastoral. This is particularly so in the (0865) 511 522 (Sales) rm SC ENIC Eleciric Avenue. Ferry lyptic nature of the destruction. The combi smaller theatre (or Odeon) which has some i!dJ MATERIALS Hinkscy Rd. Oxford. (0865) 722522 (Hire) nation of a volcanic activity which included rather fetching greenery climbing over the Lancelyn Lighting North Wes! rm STAGE LI GHTI NG Poul1on Road, Bebington debris, poisonous gases and a blacked-out stage wall , together with weeds implanted i!dJ SA LES AND HIRE Merseyside 05 1-334-8991 (24 hrs) sun, with lightning, earthquakes and tidal amidst the stones so randomly yet delicately 23 .

Load more