Page 28 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2003 #41

The Roman Academy produced
comedies and occasionally a tragedy by
Seneca. Academies in other cities
followed, mostly staging Roman plays.
They also assisted princes to stage
performances. A group of scholars and
aristocrats joined forces to form the
Olympic Academy. From this arose the
first lasting endeavors to build a
permanent theatre on the classical
model.
Italian scholars shunned their native
tongue. Although Italian had served
Dante and Petrarch perfectly well,
many families even Latinised their own
names. The leader of the Roman
Academy, Giulio Pomponio Leto,
became Julius Pomponius Laetus!
Nevertheless, the academies expounded
the virtues of drama and assisted in its
development by launching competitions
between various academies.
The Roman Academy performed on
the Capitoline Hill and at the tomb of
the emperor Hadrian. The form of the
settings is uncertain. Perhaps it was
multiple stages and arcades, as utilized
in the Entries. If so, the stage would
show four or five doorways curtained
under arches and separated by ornate
columns. Each character therefore had
a ‘house’ with his name neatly lettered
above his door. The Terence edition
published in 1493 depicts a setting of
this kind. One of the curtains is open
and shows an inner room with a
window.
Scene painting and stage design
Cardinal Riario earned praise
because he ‘first equipped a stage for
The Farnese at Parma, combining beauty with ingenuity: moveable scenery, ‘flying’
Tragedy beautifully’ for an outdoor
performers and the means to flood the stage for sea battles.
production, probably between 1484 and
1486. It is also recorded that the
Teatro Olimpico is the oldest surviving Teatro Farnese was rebuilt
Cardinal ‘first revealed to our age the
permanent indoor theatre of Europe. It following damage during World War II.
appearance of a painted scene.’ Scenery
is resonant of the past rather than a It is evidence of the endeavors of
was not necessarily relevant to subject
glimpse of the future. For that, one academics, artists, princes and popes to
matter. For example, elephants and
must look to Parma. recreate the permanent stage.
other images of Caesar’s triumphs were
Teatro Farnese at Parma is a leap The Academies inexplicably presented as backgrounds
into the world of modern theatre
The academies of the Renaissance to comedies of Plautus in the great hall
design. Architect Giambattista Aleotti
were powerful institutions, the passion of the Marquis of Mantua in 1490.
created a horseshoe of raised seats and
for learning instilled within them Nevertheless, by the 1480s scenery to
a proscenium-arch stage, both wide and
touched churchmen, nobles and create illusion was in use. Ercole d’Este
deep. The theatre held 3,500 spectators.
scholars. Scholarly examination of produced Mechaechmi in a courtyard at
The orchestra floor is known to have
classical art, architecture and literature Farnese on a wooden stage with five
been deliberately flooded for at least
made study of the era fashionable. battlement houses. Each house featured
one production.
Aided by the printing press, the a window and a door. A ship carrying
When it opened in 1618 it did not academies were able to promote ten persons and fitted with oars and a
have a curtain, although curtains were learning throughout Europe. From the sail crossed the courtyard in a ‘most
in use in court spectacles. The typical 1480s their impact upon the theatre was realistic manner.’
Renaissance curtain descended into a profound.
trough, rather than rising to the ceiling.
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