Roman Comedy, Pt. I

Down through the ages, playwrights of comedy were indebted to the Roman master of farce and comedy, Plautus. Chief among them was William Shakespeare, whose grammar school education was grounded in the plays of Plautus. Scenes from Plautus' Amphitryon are contrasted with Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors, showing how the Roman comedy became, in part, the catalyst for Shakespeare's popular play. The film demonstrates the power of the large, oversized Roman masks used in Plautus' theatre. On location footage places Plautus in the Rome of his day.