Roman Comedy IV: Plautus’s Pseudolus, or Is “Comedy Tonight” Stuck In Your Head, Too?

Posted byTriumvir ClioPosted inRoman Comedy, The Romans

We’ll talk about tragedy tomorrow and comedy tonight. Okay, we’ll really talk about tragedy next week and comedy today. Yes, this is the source for Sondheim’s Pseudolus, and if you already know A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, this play should have a familiar feel to you.

Nathan Lane as Pseudolus in a scene from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. The quality isn’t great, but I wanted to find something from a stage production and not the movie.

I also found this great YouTube channel with clips from some Plautus productions put on at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Here’s what they’ve shared from Pseudolus.

A scene in Latin
In English, a la Commedia dell’Arte, which is another theatrical form that makes heavy use of stock characters
A scene in English in modern dress
In ancient dress, but as a “hip-hopera” because why not?
Ancient costumes, renaissance masks, English language — You can do just about anything with these ancient comedies!
Discussion Prompts
  1. Who do you think should deliver the prologue?
  2. AP Credit: Discuss class as presented in this play.
  3. If you were directing this play today, how would you handle the metatheacricality of it? Plus the usual questions of where and when you’d set it, your dream cast, why…
  4. AP Credit: Discuss the metatheatrical elements of this play.

Published by Triumvir Clio

I have a BA in History and Classical Civilization from Loyola University Chicago and an MPH from Western Michigan University. I've been a geometry teacher, a religion teacher, a writing tutor. I'm a writer, a knitter, a dancer, a singer, an actor. And, yes, for fun I like to reread everything that was assigned while getting my classics degree.

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