Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1976 - 37

COSTUMES OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS
by Thomas Hope
New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
300 full-page plates, over 700 illustrations.
ISBN 486-20021-3 $2.50
Costumes of the Greeks and Romans, formerly titled Costumes
of the Ancients and first published in 1812 is a new edition of two
previous volumes now bound as one - an outstanding value at
$2.50 with the considerable added advantage that none of the
engravings is copyrighted and "all may be used in any way the
reader wishes."
The author and major illustrator of the work was Thomas
Hope (1770-1831), a British collector and designer whose engravings, carefully copied from ancient vases and statuary, constitute the bulk of the book. Hope's engravings astound by their
clarity and simplicity. Ancient musical instruments, Bacchanalian
implements, articles of furniture, woman's trinkets, jewelry,
sarcophagi, altars and other adjuncts of ancient life are also
shown and treated with the same impeccable detail displayed in
the costume plates.
Hope's book gives a vivid cross-section of the way people
dressed in all walks of life in the Greek and Roman civilizations.
What was worn by poets, philosophers, priests, peasants, bacchanalians, emperors, generals, and amazons is supplemented by such
highlights as what Agamemnon purportedly wore when going to
sacrifice his daughter; why Penelope is represented drawing a veil
over her blushing features; how the thyrsus originated; and why
wedding guests wore garlands of flowers around their necks rather
than around their heads as did winners of the games.
Hope also makes some illustrated speculations about the
typical dress of such other civilizations as the Phrygian, Egyptian,
Parthian, Etruscan and Persian. It is here that the quaint charm of
his nineteenth century text falters visibly in authenticity. For example, in a lengthy treatise listing everything from their "spreading toes" to their "unhemmed ears", Hope seems undauntedly
determined to prove that the Egyptians really show "all the
peculiarities of the Negro conformation." A footnote discretely
inserted by the publisher informs the reader that Hope wrote
at a time when very little was known about ancient Egyptian
art and later researches have shown that much of what he states
is incorrect. The publisher's decision to allow the text to stand
"without deletion or emendation for the sake of completeness"
adds another dimension of charm to the book in giving a firsthand example of how erroneously a particular age can interpret
a distant historical period.
Hope's line drawings have accurately depicted the Greek
anthropomorphic ideal. They seem to inspire their own selfcontained beauty yet the technique is misleading for costumers
as the wieght, depth, and volume of the garment, as displayed
on the idiosyncratic three-dimensional human figure, is missing.
Ultimately, however, the book still remains a valid and fascinating source of reference for the costumes of the Greeks and Romans.
Syvalya Eichen

THE STAGING OF PLAYS BEFORE SHAKESPEARE
by Richard Southern
New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1973
ISBN 0-87830-130-5 603 pp., iIIus., $29.50
In an attempt to direct attention to the "interlude" and its
staging, as a cue to later theatrical developments, Richard Southern presents his latest exhaustive study. He argues that to under·
stand the interludes and their staging will give a better understanding of their influence on James Burbage. Burbage was known
to have been a professional touring interluder before he built
"The Theatre" in London, 1576. Southern's argument continues
that if one understands the influences on Burbage before "The
Theatre" then one can better understand the possible form of
that structure and the staging of plays in it. To prove his point
Southern analyzes the texts of interludes, plays, and masques

USITT

from the seventy-five year period preceeding "The Theatre,"
drawing out comments to determine details and conventions
of interlude staging.
Southern extracts bits and pieces from each script making use
of a c1ose·reading technique. Due to the detail of the examination
one could become absorbed in the minutia, but Southern is careful
to maintain an overview of each script and of the interrelationships between scripts. His purpose throughout is to find clues to
the staging, Le. the physical presentation of the works.
One of the major (:onclusions of the study is to identify the
logical fallacy of many Shakespearean scholars who take the
DeWitt/Van Buchell drawings and argue backward to Burbage's
"Theatre." Southern proposes rather that one should consider
the conventions and stagings of the professional interluders to
suggest details of "The Theatre" and "The Swan"; Le. one should
work forward from what existed, rather than backward from a
second·hand sketch.
For the research scholar, Southern's somewhat informal,
first person style may prove frustrating; the lack of formal foot·
notes and bibliography is perhaps understandable in a text which
runs to six hundred pages. It must be noted that reference within
the text is consistent. The carefu I reader will be fu lIy rewarded for
his diligence in following the test, line and verse.
Scenically and technically, the book is a storehouse of detailed
information, not the least of which is found in Iris Brooke's
illustrations and Southern's own thumbnail sketches. For the
director considering production of an interlude, Southern shows
clearly their practicality and theatricality as entertainments. For
the theatre historian, he builds a solid basis for a priori argument
from the development of the staging of the interlude to the
staging and housing of the Shakespearean Theatre.
Briant Hamor Lee
Bowling Green State University

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THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

SPRING,1976

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1976