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 THEATRE

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THEATRE

(Paris. 1830), 648-73; Ia Claviere. St. Gaelan (Paris, 1901), tr. Ely (London, 1902) : Ldben, Der hi. Cajelan von Time (Ratis- bon, 1893); Rastoul, Le R. P. Ventura (Paris, 1906), Vila delta Vcn. Suor Orsola. scritta da un Padre Tealiru) (Rome, 1796); Bagotta, Viia delta Venerahile Orsola Benincasa: BoNi, La chiesa di S. Andrea delta Valle (Rome, 1907): Ragonesi, Delia vita di S. Andrea AvelUno (Rome, 1908); de Maulde, San Gaetano e la Ri- /orma Callotica (Rome. 1480-1547), tr. Salvadori (Rome. 1911).

Franciscos Ragonesi. Theatre, The. — Considering the tone of what is

edge him as their master (P. G., LVI, 263; LVII, 71, 426; LVIII, 120, 188, etc.). Even Julian the Apostate forbade access to the theatre to the new pagan priest- hood he was anxious to create. Almost alone amongst the Fathers, St. Augustine ("De Civ. Dei", ii, 8) seems to make some distinction between the gross indecency of the mimes and the classical drama of an earlier age, approving the study of the latter for educational purposes. It is not entirely clear

preserved to us of the works of the Greek tragedians from the "Confessions" of the same writer (iii, 2)

and even of the comedies of Plautus and Terence, it seems at first difficult to understand the uncom- promising attitude adopted towards the theatre by Christian wTiters of the early centuries. But the fact remains that by the Fathers of both East and West all forms of the drama were banned indis- criminately and in terms of the severest reprobation. We can only infer that the pla\'s and mimes most popular under the Empire were as a rule grossly indecent and poisonous to virtue. The surviving plays of Aristophanes would alone suffice to show how inconceivably lax public opinion was, even at the most cultured periods of paganism, while the infamia which markci I the legal status of an actor at Rome is sig- nificant of the degra- dation involved b_\' such a profession. I'nder the Empire tragedies and even the better class of comedies were not much represented in I)ubhc. They were regarded rather as

literature, and at best read aloud in a select circle Spain, about A. D. 302, it was decided that actors might of friends. The most jiopular form of play was the be baptized, but only on condition of their giving up mimus, and, a.s Diomedes, a rhetorician of the fifth that way of life. At Aries in 314 theatrici and agita- century, implies, the note of indecency might be lores (actors and charioteers in the games) were said to enter into its very definition. (Mimus est declared excommunicate. Somewhat later the Sy- factorum et dictorum turpium cum lascivia imitatio: nod of Laodicea directed that the clergy who were cf. Ovid, "Tristia", II, 497, and Valerius Maximu.s, present at wedding festivities or banquets ought not ii, 6 and 7, etc.) Further, there is a good deal of to remain for the plays that might be performed evidence that in the third and fourth centuries the afterwards. At Hippo in 393 it was forbidden that

whether the performance of serious tragedies was still maintained in his youth.

Vile and degrading as were the more popular forms of scenic representation under the Empire, the pro- letariat were so wedded to them that even the Chris- tian emperors dared not altogether suppress such amusements. Still something was done. By the Theodosian Code (XV, 5), omnis theatorum atque circensi.um voluptas (all diversions in the theatre and circus) were prohibited on Sundays, festivals, and seasons of special sanctity. Disabilities of various kinds, in- cluding restrictions as 1 o dress, were imposed ujion actresses, etc., )ut on the other hand t he laws of caste were set aside and it was now made possible for an actress, upon lecoming a Christian and quitting this way of life, to acquire a status of respectabil- ity. At an even ear- lier tlate some of the Christian councils had dealt with the subject. At Elvira in

parody of Christian rites formed a regular feature of the mimes. Probably the Christian (4 xP^<''^^<"'°' Kuiiiifdovfifyot) was almost as famiUar an object of ridicule at these representations as is the pantaloon in a modern pantomine (Greg. Nazianz., "Orat",

the sons of bishops or of ecclesiastics should be pres- ent at plays or give them. With regard to actors it was decided that, if they wished to become Chris- tians, their baptism need not be postponed indefi- nitely. In 401 a Council of Carthage decided that

II, 84; P. G., XXXV, 489). There are Acts of the plays ought not to take place on Sundays and feasts.

martyrs, no doubt more or less legendary, in which ia recorded the conversion of an actor brought to know the truth by the very rite of baptism, which he simulated on the stage. PorphjTius (4 Nov.) and Genesius (2,5 Aug.) are thus commemorated, while the storj' of St. Pelagia (8 Oct.), however apocry- lihal it may be, presents the actor's profession in

and fulminated against actors being decoyed hack to their old way of Ufe (but cf. Cod. Tlieod., XV, vii, 13). Finally, the Council in Trullo in 692, for those that recognized it, condemned plays altogether, threatening degradation against all clerics and ex- communication against the laity who assisted at the performances (Hefele-Leclercq, "Conciles", I, 256,

even darker colours (see Delehaye, "Lcgendes 283, 10.32; II, 87, 89, 126, 471 ; III, 50f), . 509). The

hagiographiques"). But even accepting these facts, the violence of the language in which the Fathers condemn all scenic representations is remarkable. Tertullian in his treatise "De Spectaculis" strikes the key-note and, as Chambers observes, "his vivid African rhetoric is no imfair sample of a catena of outspoken comment which extends acro.s.s the third century from Tatian to Lactantius" ("Mediicv. .Stage", I, ii(. For C'hrj'sostom and nearly all his contemporaries the theatre is the temple of the Evil One, andall who frequent the theatre thereby acknowl-

tone of all this legislation is milder than the language used by individual Fathers, but it is quite clear that the actor's profession was looked upon a-s that of a Ijublic sinner and most of the early bishops would have agreed with St. Cyprian (Ep., ii) that it was preferable to maintain such a man out of the funds of the Church rather than allow him to continue in his calling.

With the debased drama of the Roman Empire the theatre of Shakespeare, Calderon, Moliiire, and Schiller has no direct connexion. Tiie isolated mimi