From masks, to actors, to the audience: Ara Pacis exhibition opens, a look at theatre in ancient Rome

Also of note in the variety of exhibits selected are miniature masks of Greek tragedy and comedy from the island of Lipari; statuettes of actors, dancers and jugglers from the Magna Graecia world; the depiction of the 'birth of Helen from the egg' on a Magna Graecia vase from the series depicting the 'Phliacian' comedies; and a series of theatrical miniatures, many never before exhibited in the exhibition, from the contexts of Tarquinia.

With respect to the area of stage music, rare and delicate original musical instruments such as tibiae, remains of lyres, crotales, sistri, many of which have been faithfully reproduced for the occasion so that the visitor can experience their sound; a 'sampler' of mask models never exhibited in Rome from the workshop of a craftsman in Pompeii; the large wall frescoes of a 'dressing room' for the theatre company from the Roman theatre of Nemi; a series of 12 gems from the Roman era with a theatrical subject; the extraordinary portrait of Marcellus and the bronze mask of Papposilenus from the Fondazione Sorgente Group collection.

The exhibition route runs through seven sections, with a narrative thread in a chronological sense. Each section is enriched by multimedia installations: aerial shots, videomapping, interactive stations, and interventions recited by actors giving voice to the authors and protagonists of ancient theatre. The first section, entitled Genesis, recounts the importance of the Dionysian cult at the roots of the Greek theatre tradition and the value of theatre for democratic life in Athens. Next, the second section, entitled Italic and Magna Graecia, highlights the contribution that Etruria, Magna Graecia and the Italic peoples made to the rise of Latin theatre. The Comedy in Rome, the third section, presents the Roman comic tradition, moving from the construction of the characters, veritable masks of human types in Plautus, to the reflective and introspective spirit of Terence's characters; the fourth section, entitled Tragedy in Rome, presents the main protagonists of tragic production in the Republican period, of which little remains, then focusing on two characters of great stature such as Seneca and Nero. The lives, often on the edge, of actors, dancers, musicians, mimes through testimonies that tell us what they did on stage and what "beyond the stage" are the focus of the fifth section, entitled The protagonists and music. Aspects related to the organisation of the performances are recounted here, such as the composition of the theatre companies and the production of the craftsmen who made the masks. Among the performers, a specific space is reserved for the phenomenon of mime and pantomime shows in the imperial age. The sixth section, entitled The Architecture, intends to reflect on the monumental legacy left by ancient theatre, through architectural ruins, in many cases majestic and still functioning. The transition from Republican Rome to Imperial rule (the great transition of the 1st century BC) also saw the construction of the first permanent theatres in Rome and the codification of their form. In the short space of a few decades the three great Roman theatres in masonry were built, in the order of Pompey's theatre (61-55 BC), capable of seating some 20,000, surrounded by porticoes and gardens, of which little remains except in the topography of Rome, that of Cornelius Balbus (dedicated in 13 BC), also lost, and the theatre of Marcellus, almost contemporary, named by Augustus to the memory of his beloved nephew.

The route closes with an encounter between ancient and modern. In 1961, Pier Paolo Pasolini translated Plautus' Miles Gloriosus commissioned by Vittorio Gassman and Luciano Lucignani for the Teatro Popolare Italiano company. The writer and poet had already successfully translated Aeschylus' Orestiad, which had been staged the year before in Syracuse, but his Romanesque adaptation of Miles remained closed in a drawer for two years. On display is the typescript text, with handwritten corrections by Pasolini, entitled Il grande generale and some stage photographs documenting its first performance. Il Vantone, this is the definitive title, debuted in November 1963.

"Theatre. Authors, actors and audiences in ancient Rome', from 21 May to 3 November at the Ara Pacis Museum. Exhibition curated by Orietta Rossini and Lucia Spagnuolo. The exhibition is promoted by Roma Capitale, Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali with the organisation of Zètema Progetto Cultura.