THEATER. Authors actors masks of the ancient scene

The exhibition at the Ara Pacis Museum entitled THEATER. Authors, actors, masks of the ancient scene, dedicated to theatrical performances, actors and all aspects of the "ludi" of ancient Rome, gives us an important insight into the life of the Latin world.

The rich exhibition itinerary presents over 240 works from 25 different lenders, with rare pieces such as, for example, the cup of Attic production from the National Archaeological Museum of Florence with one of the very few representations of a procession in honor of Dionysus, god of the theatre; or an example of an ancient terracotta mask, perhaps for theatrical use, from the Paolo Orsi Regional Archaeological Museum of Syracuse, without forgetting the famous Pronomos vase from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, probably the most important of the theatrical finds that have come down to us .

In any case, the masks represent the common thread of this exhibition: from the oldest among those received so far - dating back to the 5th century BC. - to the Hellenistic ones of the 3rd - 2nd century BC, up to the extraordinary ones dating back to the Roman era, including those characteristic of the Phlacian farce. Furthermore, within the exhibition itinerary, it is underlined how the masks also represent scenic characters - tragic, comic and grotesque - which have persisted for a long time: the origin of many characters of modern theater in fact, dates back to ancient masks, ranging from the old misanthrope, to the young seducer, from the shrewd servant to the young lovers hindered by different social conditions.

The exhibition, with an original approach, also offers visitors a living reconstruction, in which the protagonists of the ancient scene - present in films shot specifically for the exhibition - involve the public in the atmosphere of 2000 years ago, where among the large steps of the large Roman theatres, divided by orders, housed the various social hierarchies of republican and imperial Rome. In fact, visitors are led "beyond" the scene, behind the scenes of the ancient theatre, inside the production mechanisms, in the "actors' dressing rooms", on the stages of the ancient theatres. Thanks to these multimedia interventions designed specifically for the exhibition, the public will be able to learn more about the authors and actors, their lives, the roles they played, through their stories.

In this way a story unfolds which, starting from the Greek, Magna Graecia, Etruscan and Italic origins of the Roman theatre, where the close connection with the religious festivals of the "ludi" and the first performances on wooden stages is underlined, reaches up to to the flowering and splendors of the imperial age, characterized by the frons scenae of the great theaters intended for tens of thousands of spectators; architectures which - just like the other public buildings of the forum, monumental temples, amphitheatres, basilicas and arches - characterized the forma urbis in a uniform way.

Photo credits: mask of a Phlacian farce actor, Taranto, National Archaeological Museum