Costumes

The costumes for this show will be very artistic yet still hold some realism. I will list some examples of different characters costumes and how they came about to be that way.

Adam and Eve:
When Adam and Even first enter the Garden of Eden they are completely naked and unaware of it. Then they eat the fruit,"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons" (Bible, Genesis). So for these two they will be naked at first; which will be represented by skin colored undergarments. Then once they eat from the tree of knowledge there will be an apron of fig leaves for them to wear. This will be done artistically with fabric and possibly paint. It will try to look realistic, however, with a heavenly glow.

This is a good starting point; the leaves would be much more artistic.

Devil/Serpent:
This costume will be much more creative. Since this character starts out as the devil it will wear a black coat to mask the serpent costume underneath. This persons whole body will be covered in body paint plus feathers and sequins for the scales for the skin. This will show off the sleekness of the character, while being a pleasure to look at.

This as well is nice but there would need to be much more a stuff similar to this.

The Three Marys:
These garments will be in a very light, flowing fabric. The costumes will be much closer to the outfits of the time. The dresses will flow elegantly to the floor and cover them completely. Each woman will have her own color that depicts who she was as a person.

This image shows the style of dress well.

Sources Used:

The Bible: Genesis; http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Genesis+3&version1=9 ; bibleresources.org ; 2010

Stage and Set

Artist's Rendition of a Medieval Pageant Wagon

The York Cycle was performed all throughout the town of York. The plays were set on pageant wagons which could move around the town to different places. "Every company had his pagiant, or parte, which pagiants weare a high scafolde with two rowmes, a higher and a lower, upon four wheeles" (Nagler, p49). The levels on the pageant wagons allowed them to have multiple areas of playing space. Plus, the usually had the area on the ground in front of the wagon. This allowed for different areas for Heaven, Eden and Earth.

The plays will be performed in the Tower Theatre, here on the Central Washington University campus. We decided against pageant wagons because we could build a more elaborate set for these set of plays. The set will consist of four levels; heaven at the top, then Eden, followed by Earth and finally Hell. (This could also be done with four different playing spaces). Each area just needs to be clearly designated and readable as said space. This would mean that when an angel speaks or God speaks it will be from the Heaven, while the people would be in their space. The devil would also be in hell but cross over to Eden when it turns into the serpent during The Fall of Man.

This I feel creates a nice contrast of the areas and spaces within the plays. Plus it also gives much opportunity for creativity in all areas of the backstage work; set design, lighting, props and sound.

Sources Used:
A Source Book in Theatrical History; A.M. Nagler; Dover Publications Inc; Mineola, N.Y; 1952

Medieval Music

Te Deum Laudamus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqwV9l-U8ds
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=219JtSo_mI8
Angels' Song in The Judgment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctbR0KpOo0g

All of these songs were listed as being sung during the different plays. While there are no original scores to these songs that I could find I feel that these are great jumping off points of how the songs may sound for the feel we are going for. Even if the music is not used during the play for feel of it not needing to be there it can be used for preshow music. In the version of the script I found the stage directions are say things along the lines of, "Here He goes to the Seat of Judgment, with the singing of angels" (Cawley, p198). This is talking about Jesus going and sitting with angels singing around him. Now this can be used during the play if needed. It can also be done in two ways. Either having the actual people on stage singing or by using recordings such as these for the music. It would be done the same way in the plays that call for it.

On top of this there is also a need for preshow music. The preshow music will fit in with this music. Mostly it should just be instrumental with a possibility of some voices singing lightly.

Sources Used:
Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays; A.C. Crawley; Guernsey Press Co.; London; 1990

The Judgment

"Starting with the Creation and ending with the general Judgment, the medieval playwrights have dramatized the most significant scriptural events in which they believed God's purpose for mankind is revealed. Everything that has gone before has prepared us for the end, and so it is not surprising to find that the Judgment is full of echoes of earlier pageants. The Father of heaven has sent His Son to redeem Adam's race and to bridge the gulf between Himself and sinful mankind. On the day of doom those who have accepted Christ will be saved, and those who have rejected Him will be damned. This is the terrifyingly simple end of the long troubled story of man's relations with God" (Cawley, p 188). I feel that this sums up so well what The Judgment is all about.

Even back in the medieval times the creators of the York pageant made a way for 48 plays to come together in a large festival of theatre. It's a great feat and very well done. This play can be looked at as the big finale of all of these 48 plays and it even includes some singing of the Angels.

 

Sources Used:

Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays; A.C. Crawley; Guernsey Press Co.; London; 1990

The Resurrection

The Resurrection was put on by the Carpenters. The carpenters seemed like a great choice for this specific play. Since Jesus' body rested in a tomb it seems fitting they would be chosen. This specific play would need the skills the carpenters possessed to successfully create this piece of art. The specific play is written in a rhyme scheme of aaabab.

Within the characters of this play are the three Marys. The first is Mary Magdalene. She was, " follower of Jesus, who cured her of evil spirits (Luke 8:2); she is also traditionally identified with the ‘sinner’ of Luke 7:37. Feast day, 22 July" (ORO, Mary Magdalene). She was known as a reformed prostitute and Jesus was known to have saved her during his lifetime. The second Mary was Mary, Mother of James. She, "had followed Jesus from Galilee, and watched from a distance, together with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary of Magdala, when Jesus was crucified (Matthew 27:55-56). She was also among the women who went to the grave to anoint His body. According to John 19:25, she was a sister of Mary, Jesus' mother, and the wife of Cliopas" (Bible Prophecy, Mary (Mother of James and Joseph)). Finally there was Salome. "Salome’s name means peace. She was one of the women who were followers of Jesus, who cared for His needs in Galilee. She was devoted enough to stand with Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joses, as they watched from a distance as Jesus was crucified" (Chapman, Women of the Bible-Salome). I hope this information on these ladies of the bible can help the actresses find their characters.

So the story of the resurrection has a lot to do with these women going to the tomb where Jesus was buried, finding he wasn't there, being told by an angel that he has been resurrected and the sharing of that story with all.

Sources Used:

"Mary Magdalene, St"  The Oxford Dictionary of English (revised edition). Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  7 December 2010  http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t140.e46897

"Mary (Mother of James and Joseph)" AboutBibleProphecy.com;  7December 2010 http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/p44.htm

"Women of the Bible - Salome" Christian Living Site; Lynne Chaman; BellaOnline 2010; 7 December 2010 http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art42876.asp

The Crucifixion

The Crucifixion was put on by the Pinners and Painters. "The Pinners, or pinmakers, who joined with the painters in producing this pageant, presumably made a grimly competent job of handling the 'hammers and nails large and long' used by the executioners" (Cawley, p143). The play was written with a rhyme scheme of ababababcdcd.

The Crucifixion is about the biblical story about how Jesus was crucified and saved people of their sins. The play mainly has the people who put him up on the cross talking with some longer speeches by Jesus. In the play they actually put Jesus up on a cross.

  " ²⁷Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.

   ²⁸And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

   ²⁹And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

   ³⁰And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.

   ³¹And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

   ³²And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

   ³³And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,
   ³⁴They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
   ³⁵And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
   ³⁶And sitting down they watched him there;
   ³⁷And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Bible, Matthew 27).

Putting in this verse from the bible will hopefully help the actors read part of the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus. There is a link to an online resource where they can read the rest of the story. This will hopefully give some perspective and meaning to the script which is written in verse. Also the script is shorter, so this will be the full story plus they can find the events which led up to the part shown in the script.

Sources Used:

Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays; A.C. Crawley; Guernsey Press Co.; London; 1990

The Bible: Matthew 27; http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Matthew+27&version1=9 ; bibleresources.org ; 2010

The Fall of Man

The Fall of Man was put on by the Coopers. The coopers were, "makers of casks and buckets" (Cawley, p17) and they were the ones who were assigned to this specific play. The rhyme scheme of this play is ababcbcdcdc with a dominate iambic rhythm.

Story of the fall of man is one many already known; even some who are not religious know of the story of how Adam and Eve got banished from Eden and sent to the world. "Adam's name comes from the Hebrew meaning “man” and perhaps from the Hebrew adamah, meaning “earth.” Adam named his partner Eve (Havvah), the “Mother of All Living Beings.” The name suggests a connection to the old Middle Eastern mother goddesses, who, like mother goddesses in much of the world, were often associated with trees and snakes. As is evident from the Genesis story, Eve had a close speaking relationship with the serpent (3:1–6)" (ORO, Adam and Eve).

The story of the fall of man is that the devil disguises himself as a serpent to tempt Eve to eat an apple from the tree of knowledge. Eve ends up eating the apple and then convinces Adam to do the same. They realize the greatness of their mistake and are overcome with guilt. They tell God of what they have done and so God banishes them from Eden. They now must live on Earth for be disobedient (ORO, Adam and Eve). 

Sources Used:

Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays; A.C. Crawley; Guernsey Press Co.; London; 1990

"Adam and Eve"  The Oxford Companion to World mythology. David Leeming. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  8 December 2010  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t208.e12>

The Creation of Adam and Eve

The Creation of Adam and Eve was put on by the Cardmakers. "The cardmakers, to whom the third York pageant belonged, were a guild of craftsmen who made cards for combing wool. They are one of several representatives of the woollen industry associated with pageants in the York cycle..." (Cawley, p11). These pageants were a great way for people to advertise their goods while doing something fun and entertaining.

This play is about when God created Adam and Eve. First he created Adam and then took a rib from Adam to create Eve. They were allowed to live in Eden, or Paradise, and could have whatever they wanted. They just could not eat the apples from the Tree of Knowledge. It was forbidden to them.

This is a link to a scholarly article on Adam and Eve. It's entitled Adam and Eve as Historical People, and Why It Matters by John C. Collins. This article gives a look into the story of Adam and Eve. It provides a new way of looking at these two. I feel like this can really be beneficial to the actors who will play Adam and Eve.

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.lib.cwu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=111&sid=a7b0b3ad-88d5-41f9-a860-a861194dad6c%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=52810367

Sources Used:

Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays; A.C. Crawley; Guernsey Press Co.; London; 1990

The Creation, and the Fall of Lucifer

The Creation, and the Fall of Lucifer was put on by the Barkers company. A barker was a, "character of the fairground or itinerant theatre company, who stood at the door of the booth and by his vociferous and spellbinding patter induced the audience to enter" (ORO, barker). It makes sense for this specific company to have the first show of the grouping because they could draw an audience in and get them ready for the rest of the shows that were to come.

This play is about what you would expect, the creation and fall of Lucifer. The play is written in alliterative verse with a rhyme-scheme ababcddc and sometimes ababcccc. Lucifer is also known as the devil. So this play is all about how the devil came to be. Lucifer was, "the rebel archangel whose fall from heaven was supposed to be referred to in Isaiah 14:12; Lucifer was traditionally interpreted as the name of Satan before his fall" (ORO, Lucifer). The story is basically that of, "the pride of Lucifer, the first of the angels, and his wish to equal God. Lucifer and his followers were then expelled from the celestial paradise and condemned, for their greater suffering, to dwell eternally on earth and in the infernal depths" (ORO, demon). So overall, this play is the beginning, when God started created his first angels and then the banishment of those who turned evil. Thus, creating the devil and hell.

Sources Used:

"Barker"  The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Ed. Phyllis Hartnoll and Peter Found. Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  7 December 2010  http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t79.e223

"Lucifer"  A Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Edited by Elizabeth Knowles. Oxford University Press, 2006. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  7 December 2010  http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t214.e4206

Jérôme Baschet, Irène Sorlin "demon, demonology"  Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Ed. André Vauchez. © 2001 by James Clarke & Co. Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (e-reference edition). Distributed by Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  7 December 2010  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t179.e804-s1>

The York Cycle

I have chosen to do six plays from the York Cycle. The York Cycle was a grouping of 48 short plays that were all biblical stories. Each play would be performed on a moving pageant cart that was owned by one company. The companies usually consisted of the cardmakers or the coopers; some sort of workers from the city. (Brockett, p86-87)

When these would be performed they would travel all around the city of York. There would be marked destinations for the plays to be performed and they would move like a parade. This was to make sure that the most amounts of people could see these biblical stories brought to life. So it helped the church get the stories and teachings of the Lord out to the general public.

The York Cycle was named because this certain set of plays was performed in the city of York. This was a town in Europe that was a fairly large city for back then. P.J.P. Goldberg writes in Women, Work, and Life Cycle in a Medieval Economy that, "York was both a provincial capital, on occasion even the seat of royal government, and, since the seventh century, the centre of an ecclesiastical province" (Goldberg, p1). Goldberg continues to talk throughout this book about York and its state of economy and the journey it took throughout the years. The pageant plays would have been a great escape for people and a wonderful source of entertainment.

The plays I have chosen from this cycle are:
1. The Creation, and the Fall of Lucifer
2. The Creation of Adam and Eve
3. The Fall of Man
4. The Crucifixion
5. The Resurrection
6. The Judgment



This is a map of York (Goldberg, p41)



Sources Used:

History of Theatre: Foundation Edition; Oscar G. Brockett and Franklin J. Hildy; Pearson Education Inc.; Boston, MA; 2007

Women, Work, and Life Cycle in a Medieval Economy: Women in York and Yorkshire c.1300-1520; P.J.P. Goldberg; Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1992

Modern Adaptations

"Tug of War" from the Getty Villa Malibu Theatre

I have already shown you a modern adaptation of The Rope in my posting, "Past Productions". The Getty Villa theatre did their adapatation which they titled Tug of War. There is also one called Il Ruffiano by Dolce (1560) and Rudens by Echard (1694). Plus one of two of the plots of The Captives by Heywood (1624). All of these shows were based off of or are a close imitation to The Rope by Plautus.

It's interesting to see other's adaptations of this specific play. The Rope is in fact an adaptation of a Greek play. So even Plautus wrote adapations of other people's plays. I find it very interesting to see how far these plays come over time. Plus every translation of these ancient plays are slightly different. All the concepts are the same but one must keep in mind that they are still a translation. If you read these adaptations they can give you new ideas and concepts for character, set, plot, and even props; really any aspect of the play.

Sources:
"The Rope" The Complete Roman Drama: All the Extant Comedies of Plautus and Terence, and The Tragedies of Seneca, in a Variety of Translations, Vol 1. George E. Duckworth Associate Professor of Classics, Princeton University. Random House, 1967. 31 October 2010

Critics Say...

I'm going to post links to different scholarly articles that give their opinions on The Rope by Plautus. I feel that seeing different reviews of the script itself can open up new ideas of how to interpret the script. I think that it is helpful to see how people react to just the script. This will also provide new insight on who other's view and analyze Plautus's work.

The first link is to an article from Cambridge Journals Online. The author of this review is C.J. Herington. The overall idea of his is that the plot is not very original and simple. But that the play overall has some very funny parts and action.

Article 1

The next link is a review from The Classical Review. This review was written by H.D. Jocelyn. In this article he talks not only about The Rope but also the play that Plautus adapted it from. The article talks about how Roman morals influenced Plautus. It also talks about the different contrasts within the play.

Article 2

The final article is from The American Journal of Philology and the article is by George Fredric Franko. In the article Franko talks about Plautus's use of the chorus. He seems to the think that Plautus created these ensemble roles by changing entrances and exits of certain characters. By doing these things Plautus created a different dynamic that was not in the original play. Franko states that, "Plautus probably created ensemble scenes by rearranging entrances and exits and by endowing mute characters with speech" (Franko, pp.27).

Article 3


Sources:
C. J. Herington (1943). Rudens. Greece and Rome, 12, pp 78-79 doi:10.1017/S0017383500008160

Plautus, Rudens 83-88 H. D. Jocelyn The Classical Review New Series, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Jun., 1966), p. 148 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/708212

 Ensemble Scenes in Plautus George Fredric Franko The American Journal of Philology Vol. 125, No. 1 (Spring, 2004), pp. 27-59 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1562209

Past Productions

In this posting I would like to share some links to other productions of The Rope. I think that this will help show how others have chosen to interpret the play. I feel that by doing this we will all be able to get a look at this show through other's eyes.

The first link takes you to Limestone College's production of The Rope. They have chosen to modernize the play with costumes and set. They have also chosen to move the plays action to the United States. The sets look beautifully done and the costumes fit for the chosen time and place. Their idea is an interesting and entertaining one.

Limestone College's The Rope

This second link takes you to The Getty Villa Malibu theatre site. They have chosen to do an adaptation of The Rope; they've named it Tug of War. It seems to have the same idea beind it. The biggest difference is that they warn you on their page that the actors will break character and comment on what is going on in the play. The pictures on the site show some wonderful sets and costumes.

Getty Villa's The Rope

What to Wear?

At the time The Rope was written people were still wearing masks during their performance. At the time they found that it was easier to play many different characters with the use of different masks. It would help the audience know exactly what was going on. These masks would be very expressive and large. For our production we have chosen not to use masks, deciding that we could "modernize" the show in this way.

However, keeping to the way things were back then we would like to keep the costumes to Greek attire. In Rome when a play was of the Greek New Comedy variety, like this one, everyday attire was used as costumes. So, "...for comedies based on Roman life (the fabula togata), for which the Roman tunic covered by a cloak, or toga was worn" (Brockett, Hildy, pp.53). So for our play we would like to have all actors dressed in this classical wear. This way we can keep the play in the feel of ancient times.

This picture shows the simple dress that we would like in this play. Since they are traveling overseas and then get shipwrecked outside of larger town. The only differences are those that are shipwrecked would need to have more worn costumes.

Sources:
"Masks and Costumes" History of the Theatre: Foundation Edition Oscar G. Brockett, Franklin J. Hildy. Pearson Education Inc. 2007. 31 October 2010

African Coast in Ancient Times

The Rope starts off with some of the characters getting shipwrecked in "a wild part of the African coast near Cyrene"(Duckworth, pp849). From the text of the play it can be assumed that the place the wrecked at is not very large and is not the most beautiful city of the time. The play does however take place in an area that is right by the ocean. Since it is in Africa and right on the Mediterranean Sea, the weather was probably warmer, even after a storm.

Cyrene was not very far away from Alexandria. In fact, it was to the West a ways. Since the action of the play never leaves the coast we know that it is not quite in the city of Cyrene but is relatively close. In fact there are some stage directions in the script that say some characters in the play are coming from Cyrene. Hopefully this map will help show where exactly the play is set and give some background to help settle actors into the play.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Maps/Periods/Roman/Places/Africa/Cyrene/1.html

Sources:
"The Rope" The Complete Roman Drama: All the Extant Comedies of Plautus and Terence, and The Tragedies of Seneca, in a Variety of Translations, Vol 1. George E. Duckworth Associate Professor of Classics, Princeton University. Random House, 1967. 31 October 2010

Roman Architecture

This video shows Professor Kleiner's introduction to her Roman architecture unit. She gives a great overview of what some of the ancient buildings of the time. I felt this would be helpful for getting ideas on how to build the set pieces. The script calls for a smaller temple of Venus, which has an alter in front. As well as a cottage in which the character Daemones lives. These two buildings are in the background of the set.

            However, both of these buildings are the entrances and exits of many of the actors. Therefore they need to be built so that the actors may enter and exit in believable ways. There is also a shore that is called for to be another place of entrace and exit. This will need to be thought of in the planning process. This video will hopefully help give an idea of how the buildings could look or be built.

Venus the Goddess of Love

The Goddess Venus is probably one of the most well known mythical beings of all time. She is known as the Goddess of love and fertility. The story of how Venus was born is that she was born out of the sea. This directly correlates with how this play begins; with the cast of characters washing up on shore from the sea. The start of Venus had her as a Goddess for agricultural fertility in Rome. However, as more was learned about ancient Greek history, Romans, “increasingly identified Venus with that goddess" (myths encyclopedia) and therefore became more about love as well. The ancient people of Rome created many temples to worship her in. As Venus became more about love more of the temples appeared.

Romans used the temples of Venus to pray for matters that concerned love, fertility and beauty. All of these things directly relate to what the main point of the play is. A couple falls in love and the women take sanctuary in a temple of Venus. It is not surprising that a play from Roman time would include multiple Gods in it.
Venus was such a prominite figure in ancient times she was used in other plays as well. One source describes Venus as such in the play, "But though their strains charmed the hearts of the spectators with their sweetnewss, Venus was sweeter far; and she began to move gently and to advance with slow and lingering step and body gently balanced to and fro and softly bowing head, and with delicate gestures she kept time to to the soft sound of the flutes..."(Apuleius, pp.36). This quote I felt showed how the character Venus was portrayed on stage back in ancient times and I feel that it shows a lot about why Venus was in The Ropes and just how prominent she was.

One of the most well known paintings of Venus. The Birth of Venus, painted by Sandro Botticelli.

Sources:

"Venus" Myth Encyclopedia. http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Tr-Wa/Venus.html 31 October 2010

"Temples" Roman Temples. http://www.castles.me.uk/roman-temples.htm 31 October 2010

"A Pantomime Production" from The Metamorphoses, Apuleius (b. Ca. 124). A Source Book in Theatrical History: Twenty-Five Centuries of Stage History in more than 300 Basic Documents and Other Primary Material, A.M. Nagler. Dover Publications Inc. 1952. 31 October 2010

Who is Arcturus?

The entire play kicks off with a monologue by Arcturus. Who's Arcturus? Why is he starting off this play? First of all Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation Bootes. It is the fourth brightest star overall. In this play, The Ropes, Arcturus states that he is a constellation by night but walks around with mortals during the day. He states that he is there to make things right in the world. To return what is lost, to free those who are innocent and to curse those who do evil. And to do all of these things Arcturus must create a storm that causes a shipwreck at just the right place.
Arcturus, works for his master Jove, and there for helps maintain the good in the world. The bigger picture of this constellation is that it forms a shepherd, which in the world of the play makes sense. Arcturus is making sure that the world stays good for Jove and his time on Earth is spent watching over the people, like a shepherd over his sheep. In the time of Greece and Rome, Gods and Goddesses were something of importance. So it makes sense for the prologue to be said by a God.
Source:
"Arcturus." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 31 Oct 2010 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/33255/Arcturus>.

Getting to Know "The Rope"

The Rope, also known as, The Rudens, was written by Plautus roughly to be thought written around 211 BC. The play is a comedy that Plautus adapted based on a Greek Comedy by Diphilus. The Rope is known as one of Plautus's most famous plays. The play is similar to that of Shakespeare's The Tempest, in that some of the cast of characters has been shipwrecked on the African coast near Cyrene to be reunited with those from their past.

The play's action consists of plot twists, mistaken identity, and blossoming romance. The underlying theme kicks off right at the beginning of the play that good will conquer and those that are evil in life will be punished. The prologue is said by the god, Arcturus who looks to punish Labrax and states that he will cause the storm that kicks off the entire play. Labrax is a pimp that has some of his women with him on the ship. The women are trying very hard to get away from him and seek refuge in a nearby temple of Venus. The play continues on with some fallling in love, a reunion of a long lost father and daughter, and the freeing of the women. So in the end, like all comedies there is a happy ending that consists of love and freedom. 

Sources:

"Rudens"  The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  31 October 2010  http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t9.e2542

"The Rope" The Complete Roman Drama: All the Extant Comedies of Plautus and Terence, and The Tragedies of Seneca, in a Variety of Translations, Vol 1. George E. Duckworth Associate Professor of Classics, Princeton University. Random House, 1967. 31 October 2010

Plautus's Life as a Playwright

Titus Maccius Plautus, more commonly known as Plautus, lived between c. 205 and 184 BC. Plautus was a Roman playwright who wrote in the style of Greek New Comedy. Many have figured out that almost all of his plays were adaptations of other Greek writers. Such writers as Menander and Diphilus. He would take their plays, rewrite them, and make them funnier to his new audience. Sometimes changing characters names, taking out breaks in the action, adding in jokes or getting rid of some of the original Greek music.

Of all of his writings there are 21 that are known to be his today.

It is known that "plays by Plautus are the earliest Latin works to have survived complete"(Oxford Reference Online; Plautus). The Rope is one of Plautus's best plays because of the plot, characters and great action during the show.

Sources Used:

"Plautus"  Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. Ed. John Roberts. Oxford University Press, 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  31 October 2010  http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t180.e1746

"Rudens"  The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  31 October 2010  http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t9.e2542