Le convenzioni sceniche della palliata

The comedies of Plautus and Terence have provided us with a series of scenic conventions, largely derived from New Comedy. These conventions are characterised by a fixity that tends to recur as a constant in the fabulae palliatae: the number of doors that open onto the public street, the exit that opens onto the forum or the harbour or the countryside, the sound of squeaking hinges that announces a character entering, etc., all these conventions constitute a basic dramaturgical language that is also functional in helping the audience to fully understand the scenic event. At the same time, however, these constants contain so many variables and are exploited by playwrights with so much freedom that little remains fixed within the substantial representation. Roman audiences showed a clear familiarity with these theatrical conventions: so much so that the conventions themselves were often used, especially by Plautus, as a purely comic element in themselves.