Roman Comedy in Performance

FAIN: EH-50268-11

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC 27599-1350)
Sharon Lynn James (Project Director: March 2011 to August 2013)
Timothy J. Moore (Co Project Director: March 2011 to August 2013)

A four-week institute for twenty-five college and university faculty members, exploring Roman comedy through performance.

Roman comedy presented drama from daily life rather than legend: instead of mythical kings, queens, and heroes in mortal strife, it showed family issues, slaves facing abuse by owners, prostitutes managing clients, etc. These plays give unparalleled voice to women and slaves, and show what Romans found funny and representative of social reality. This Summer Institute for College Teachers will study advances in the study of performance of Roman comedy in ancient Rome and in modern performance, to encourage wider teaching and performance of these plays. It will experiment with aspects of performance, from Roman-style costumes and mask to modern adaptations; musical compositions will be commissioned. Participants may come from Departments other than Classics, and do not need to know Latin. Participants will work in two groups each, learning about how performance choices change the meaning and effect of a scene. The performed scenes will be put on an instructional DVD and website.