Plautus: The Darker Comedies. Bacchides, Casina, and TruculentusThe plays translated in this volume represent everything one would not expect either from the third-century B.C. playwright Plautus or from Roman comedy in general. A common theme in all three comedies is the triumph of women over men. In Truculentus, prostitutes snare all of the men in the play; in Bacchides, the victims include fathers and sons. In Casina, Plautus creates a fantasy that turns traditional social and sexual roles upside down. The plays' mordant, cynical treatment of the normal plots and casts of Roman comedy, their dark humor rooted in homosexuality, oedipal encounters, cruelty, larceny, and prostitution, and their pervasive lack of romance or sentimentality have alternately puzzled and offended the few audiences that have seen them since the Renaissance. Now these unusual plays have been rescued from obscurity in the best possible way—through performance. James Tatum's translations, revised from actual productions, demonstrate that these are among the most entertaining and theatrically effective of Plautus's comedies. The speakable, performable scripts, along with Tatum's introduction, notes, and critical essays summarizing his own experiences in producing them, make this a gold mine for troupes wishing to produce these classics on the contemporary stage as well as for students of classical drama. |
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... greetings ! NICOBULUS : Chrysalus ! By the immortal gods , where is my son ? CHRYSALUS [ miffed ] : Well , you could have at least returned my greetings first . NICOBULUS [ impatiently ] : Well , greetings . Mnesilochus ? CHRYSALUS ...
... Greetings , Mnesilochus . MNESILOCHUS : Greetings . PISTOCLERUS : We must have a dinner to celebrate your home from overseas . safe arrival MNESILOCHUS : I have no desire for a dinner that would upset my appetite . PISTOCLERUS : Oh dear ...
... Greetings , Cleostrata . CLEOSTRATA : wife ? ALCESIMUS : And greetings to you , Alcesimus . Where is your She's waiting to see whether or not you'll invite her . Your husband asked me to send her to you to help you out . You want me to ...