Roman Theater

Livy, who came from the Venetian city of Patavium (modern Padua), in northern Italy, included in his history of Rome a history of the Roman theater. Livy posits 5 stages in the development of Roman drama:

1. Dances to flute music
2. Obscene improvisational verse and dances to flute music
3. Medleys to dances to flute music
4. Comedies with story lines and sections of lyric poetry to be sung
5. Comedies with story lines and song, with an added piece at the end

Source:
The Making of Theatre History, by Paul Kuritz

Fescennine verse was a precursor of Roman comedy and was satirical, bawdy, and improvisational, used mainly at festivals or weddings (nuptialia carmina), and as invective.

Fabulae Atellanae "Atellan Farce" relied on stock characters, masks, earthy humor, and simple plots. They were performed by actors improvising. The Atellan Farce came from the Oscan city of Atella. There were 4 main types of stock characters: the braggart, the greedy blockhead, the clever hunchback, and the stupid old man, like modern Punch and Judy shows.

Kuritz says that when the fabula Atellana was written in the language of Rome, Latin, it replaced the native fabula satura "satire" in popularity.

• Roman Satire

Source:
The Making of Theatre History, by Paul Kuritz

Fabula palliata refers to a type of ancient Italian comedy where the actors were dressed in Greek garments, the social conventions were Greek, and the stories, heavily influenced by Greek New Comedy.

Plautus was one of the two major writers of Roman comedy. Some of the plots of his plays can be recognized in the comedies of Shakespeare. He usually wrote about young men sowing their oats.

Named for the clothing emblematic of the Roman people, fabula togata had various subtypes. One was the fabula tabernaria, named for the tavern where the comedy's preferred characters, low-lifes might be found. One depicting more middle-class types, and continuing the Roman clothing theme, was the fabula trabeata.

Fabula Praetexta is the name for Roman tragedies on Roman themes, Roman history or current politics. Praetexta refers to the magistrates' toga. The fabula praetexta was less popular than tragedies on Greek themes. During the Golden Age of drama in the Middle Republic, there were four great Roman writers of tragedy, Naevius, Ennius, Pacuvius, and Accius. Of their surviving tragedies, 90 titles remain. Only 7 of them were for tragedy, according to Andrew Feldherr in Spectacle and society in Livy's History.

The term palliata indicated that actors wore a variant of the Greek himation, which was known as a pallium when worn by Roman men or a palla when worn by women. Under it was the Greek chiton or Roman tunica. Travelers wore the petasos hat. Tragic actors would wear a soccus (slipper) or crepida (sandal) or go barefoot. The persona was a head covering mask.

• Toga
• Roman Sandals and Other Footwear
• Palla
• A Quick Look at Clothing for Roman Women
• Roman Underwear
• 5 Facts About Greek and Roman Clothing
• Clothing in Ancient Greece