1. Mostellaria By Plautus
2. Mostellaria Plautus

Aug 24, 2008 - In Plautus' comedies, the themes, instead of talking about politics as in those of. Mostellaria is Latin and its English translation is “The Ghost. Mostellaria is a Roman comedy by Plautus. Although there is uncertainty about the date of performance and its Greek original, it has been suggested that the play was staged after 193 B.C. And may be based on the non-extant New Comedy Phasma (Ghost) by Philemon.

• • by Dimitris Mantzilas
  • •

• • by Dimitris Mantzilas
  • •

• • by Camilla Tosi
  • •

• • by Dimitris Mantzilas
  • •

• • by Marden Nichols
  • •
  • 11

• • by Dimitris Mantzilas
  • •

• • by Dimitris Mantzilas
  • •
  • 9

• • by Bruna Oliveira
  • •
  • 7

• • by Ortwin Knorr
  • •

• • by Debbie Felton
  • •

loading slideshow...

• Senior Peter Kotiuga sets an Archilochus poem to song

• Professor James Uden performs with the Fish Worship Band

• Grumio (Will Murphy) and Tranio (Sarah Weiskittel) trade witty banter… and punches!

• Philematium (Katrice Kemble) enjoys a refreshing shower, courtesy of Scapha (Zsuzsa Varheyli) and her attendants (Ju Hyun Lee, Annalisa van Wagner, and Doruk Uzel)

• Philematium (Katrice Kemble) gets some advice from Scapha (Zsuzsa Varheyli)

• Philolaches (Paul Slater) reclines on an attendant (Doruk Uzel), and muses about life.

• Philematium (Katrice Kemble) puts on makeup, courtesy of her mirror (Annalisa van Wagner)

• Daniel Libatique dances, as other members of the Graduate Student “Chorus” look on

• “Chiton! Chiton! Chiton!” (Attendants: Michael Howard and Dylan Drollete)

• “Toga! Toga! Toga!” (Attendants: Michael Howard and Dylan Drollete)

• Philolaches (Paul Slater), Philematium (Katrice Kemble), Callidamates (Meghan Kelly), and Delphium (Sydney Shea) party while Philolaches’ father is away!

• A slave (Erickson Bridges) brings Tranio (Sarah Weiskittel) a comically large key to lock the house up!

• Philolaches’ father, Theuropides (Jeff Henderson), arrives home to find his house in disarray; Tranio (Sarah Weiskittel) comes up with a plan!

• Tranio (Sarah Weiskittel) tells Theuropides (Jeff Henderson) that the house is haunted!

• Ghost Cameos: The Ghost of Aristophanes Past (Stephanie Nelson), The Ghost of Aristophanes Present (Ann Vasaly), and The Ghosts of Aristophanes Future (Josh Allbright and Lili)

• Ghost Cameos: The Ghost of Aristophanes Past (Stephanie Nelson), The Ghost of Aristophanes Present (Ann Vasaly), and The Ghosts of Aristophanes Future (Josh Allbright and Lili)

• A banker (Sasha Nikolaev) comes to collect a debt that Philolaches owes!

• A wife (Patricia Johnston) declaims about how poorly women are treated in Roman Comedy!

• Simo (Herb Golder), Theuropides’ next door neighbor, chats with Tranio (Sarah Weiskittel), who wants to use his home to trick Theuropides

• Attendants (Doruk Uzel and Ju Hyun Lee ) with Livia, Simo’s ferocious watchdog

• Two of Callidamates’ slaves (James Uden and Steve Scully) approach Theuropides’ house, in search of their master

• They find Theuropides (Jeff Henderson) himself at home!

• Tranio (Sarah Weiskittel) seeks refuge at the altar of Apollo

• Callidamates (Meghan Kelly) grabs a judge’s wig and gavel, and defends Tranio and Philolaches. Theuropides pardons them both, and they live happily ever after!

• Callidamates (Meghan Kelly) grabs a judge’s wig and gavel, and defends Tranio and Philolaches. Theuropides pardons them both, and they live happily ever after!

For the first time in the hallowed history of the event, the Department of Classical Studies and the Core Curriculum’s annual “Aristophanes” play was a Roman comedy: Plautus’ Mostellaria (The Haunted House). It featured clever slaves, foolish young men, and prostitutes with complicated back-stories, getting mixed up in hair-brained schemes involving love, lust, living large and, yes, ghosts!

While his father (Professor Jeff Henderson) is out of town, a young man (Paul Slater) spends all of his money on lavish parties and women. When his father suddenly returns, it is up to the crafty slave (Sarah Weiskittel) to come up with a scheme and save the day!

Particularly exciting was the fact that this year’s play was produced in conjunction with the Roman Comedy course (CL 229). The talented students in this class were each assigned a section of the script and asked to transpose the original plot and characters, update arcane jokes and idioms, and recreate some of the “verbal fireworks” of Plautus’ Latin for a modern, English-speaking audience, taking into account the cultural, practical, and theoretical concepts and contexts they had been studying all semester. By workshopping the individual scenes in class and seeing them performed at the event itself, the students were able to explore and experiment with the material in a dynamic, hands-on, and collaborative way.

There were two opening acts this year: graduating senior Peter Kotiuga performed an Archilochus Ode on the guitar and the blues band Fish Worship, featuring the department’s own Professor Jay Samons and Professor James Uden, performed a set which included an original song written for the occasion by Professor Brian Jorgensen of Core. As always, the play itself was performed by undergraduates, graduate students, and members of our distinguished faculty, clad in togas, tutus, beanies, bowties, and a variety of other colorful costumes. The event thus carried on the grand tradition of Professor Stephanie Nelson’s Aristophanes productions, bringing together members of the larger classics community for a memorable evening of music, pizza, and comedy.

-Dr. Sophie Klein

Curious about Roman comedy? On Wednesday, March 26^th, the Department of Classical Studies & the Core Curriculum are sponsoring a free public performance of the Mostellaria by the Ancient Roman comic playwright Plautus. V. Sophie Klein, a lecturer at BU as well as an accomplished playwright herself, is ‘facilitating’ the production (she’s keen to give all the credit for direction to her students!).

‘Roman comedy is the precursor to the modern sitcom’, she says. ‘These are domestic comedies, with everyday people, not gods or kings or heroes. The characters in Plautus’ comedies get into everyday sorts of troubles – mistaken identities, miscommunications, dilemmas about love and money. Then everything is wrapped up with a ‘happy ending’, though it’s often happier for some more than others’.

Despite its fanciful title, ‘The Haunted House’ offers many of these stock elements, albeit with a supernatural twist. ‘The play is about the follies of youth’, says Professor Klein. ‘A young man is left to his own devices when his father leaves town. He lives it up, but when his father returns, he has to face the consequences. There are plenty of jokes about what it’s like to be a college kid on the brink of adulthood, which should resonate with the students in the crowd. Of course, it’s all pushed to comic extremes!’

Mostellaria By Plautus

Professor Klein’s own students have been active in every aspect of the production. ‘The members of my Roman Comedy class [CL 229] have each adapted part of the script, updating its topical references, working in dance numbers, and trying to replicate the verbal fireworks of Plautus’ Latin. Through this play, they have been learning about the cultural, theoretical, and practical background to Roman comedy’. As for the cast, it will be made up of Professor Klein’s students together with other students from the Classics community, plus the usual hilarious cameos from faculty members from the Classical Studies department. ‘I aim to carry on the grand tradition of Professor Nelson’s Aristophanes plays’, she says. ‘The audience can expect kazoos, tutus – all manner of silliness. It’s a really fun event’.

But what about the outrageousness of Aristophanic comedy? Aren’t the Roman plays more restrained? They may be less profane, she says, but they are no less funny. ‘Plautine comedy is full of innuendo and double entendre. Characters don’t insult each other with four-letter words. Instead, they use a barrage of creative wordplay and vivid images – and, in the end, that’s just as funny’.

WHEN? Wednesday March 26^th, 2014.

WHERE? Conference Auditorium, GSU 2^nd Floor

TIME? 6:30. Come early (at 5:30) to hear Professor Jay Samons’ band, Fish Worship, with musical guests!

This event is free and open to the public.

Mostellaria Plautus

Story by James Uden.