~Drama~

During the time that Rome was a republic, there were sixty-six holidays in a year, but by the time Marcus Aurelius ruled as Emperor, there was one hundred thirty-five holidays a year. The Romans favoured watching gladiator fights over watching plays, but most people went to see plays on holidays. Most plays were held in the morning so that there would enough light, and also in the afternoon. Plays consisted of tragedies, comedies, farces, and pantomines. Comedies usually lasted about two hours. However, Romans prefered to watch farces and pantomines in theaters that were built at the bottom of a hill.
Slaves were the actors on stage, and worked for another man, the manager, who liked to have as little actors as he possibly could. One person ended up playing more than one part, so they used props to show the characters apart. A black wig meant a young man, a grey wig meant an old man, and red wigs symbolized slaves. A brown mask indicated a rich man and white, a woman. Smiles or frowns were painted on the masks to show different feelings. A purple gown represented a rich man; striped toga, boy; short cloak, soldier; red toga, poor man and short tunic, slave. Managers treated their slaves to dinner if the show had done very well.
Women were not allowed to act, so the masks came especially useful in that matter. The Roman way of acting was to have one actor talk, while another one mimed the action, music playing all the while. The audience loved gore and blood, so one showing of Daedaus and Icarus was the all-time favourite. The actor had tried to fly, and of course he fell, and ended up dying.