Plautus

I did some research before choosing a translation. There’s a rather good essay knocking about somewhere on the internet that recommends Segal’s translations. I can’t find it now, but I took the chap’s advice. I got off to rather a rocky start.

The Braggart Soldier has puns and word-play and lively poetry, yet all this talent is in service of buffoonery and clowning about. As it happens, I read Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ history of Rome last year and what struck me was that Rome at show more this time was not the great civilisation we all know and love. At this time the Romans were a bunch of semi-literate barbarians with no native culture worth exporting. Rome was a fort in which they kept their slaves. Livius Andronicus had staged the first play in Rome in 240 BC, when Plautus was 14. It didn’t come as much of a surprise that what the Roman’s had chosen to preserve was as low-brow as you can get. Not that I have anything against low-brow. The Braggart Soldier reminded me of a Mr Bean episode. I’ve not seen a script for one but I bet you could scribble it down on a tissue. Not much fun to be had in reading it. The glory of Mr Bean is all in the physical performance. I reckon if you could get a couple of physical comedy geniuses like Rowan Atkinson and Andrew Sachs then this play would be a success on the stage. Reading the bare text isn’t much fun. Still, I figured I’d finish the book.

Next up was The Brothers Menaechmus. I understand that Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors is a reboot, but can’t compare as I’ve not read it. Menaechmus is a pleasure to read. Simplistic perhaps, compared to what playwrights got up to during the Renaissance, but nevertheless and good, solid piece of writing. Complex enough considering that Plautus’s audience was most probably drunk. I enjoyed it.

But this is the book that keeps giving. I’m going to stick my neck out and say that The Haunted House is a masterpiece. Tranio’s speech at line 348 is a masterclass in how to write. I would wish more writers would play attention, but I’m sure I see a direct influence here on Faulty Towers. Take a look at the episode ‘The Builders’. Basil is the analogue of Tranio and Sybil is Theopropides. Just as Tranio gets up to mischief in Theopropides’ absence, so Basil does in Sybil’s. Tranio’s terrified speech on the return of Theopropides at line 348 matches Basil’s when he realises Sybil is coming back and will realise what he’s done. The whole sequence where Tranio pulls the wool over Theopropides’ eyes is mirrored in Basil doing the same to Sybil, and you’ll notice buildings and building works are involved in both instances. Finally Theopropides discovers the truth and at first Tranio doesn’t know that he knows, just as, for a few moments Basil and Mr O’Reilly don’t know Sybil knows. There’s also the farcical scene where Callidamates is carried off drunk. I realise Faulty Towers is a farce and this kind of thing is common (normally corpses), but Manuel is carried at one point. And Tranio’s joke at line 359 about crucifixion reminded me of Life of Brian: “Right, hands up if you don’t want to be crucified”.

I’ll have to switch to a different translator as there are all Segal wrote, but I’ll be dipping into Plautus again. show less

Interesting, though somewhat predictable, plays from the Roman Empire. Familiar themes from the classical period - love intrigues, gods, and sneaky servants. As with many plays of the time, the author presents the standard customs of the day with regard to male-female relationships, but in such a way you begin to suspect his sympathies lie with the women. While there are no signs of nascent feminism (I'm not going to reach that far), the author seems to have realized it wasn't particularly show more easy being a woman without any say, and presented his female characters with some sympathy. One weakness of the collection is that large chunks are missing from all three plays, in one case the ending and in another a key climactic moment. One of the plays had also suffered the indignity of having a prologue and an epilogue tacked on at some later date (possibly within only a few decades of being written), which did little to add to the play. An interesting period piece; I have enjoyed reading this author before. show less

Works by two Roman playwrights, translated into English and modernized. It's difficult to tell whether the contemporary sound of these plays is in the original, or the translation, but they sound remarkably modern. The characters, of course, are stock characters common in the Roman theatre, and their names indicate who and what they are, but the situations don't seem that odd for a modern reader. Ranging from unwanted pregnancies resulting from rape to unwanted relatives who decide to move show more in on you to pimps who demand their due, the characters are not unfamiliar to a 21st century audience. The role of women is obviously not one many of us would accept in a modern setting, but we can still sympathize with women who are just pawns and are determined to improve their situation, and the hapless men (and extremely clever slaves) who finish the cast. Definitely a fun read. show less

One of the best Broadway librettos ever, of course, and the only successful musical farce. One of the few scripts that repeatedly makes me laugh out loud.

This edition (Applause) includes lyrics from cut songs, a few of which have found a life outside the show: "Invocation," "Love is in the Air," "Farewell," "The House of Marcus Lycus," "Your Eyes Are Blue," "I Do Like You," "There's Something About a War," "Echo Song," "The Gaggle of Geese."