The Origins of Roman Drama

Most of the surviving Roman tragedies were written by a playwright named Seneca, so these are sometimes called Seneca tragedies. English students were exposed to those ancient forms of drama in the early and mid-1500s but they weren't necessarily captivated by them. That classical tradition was very different from the native English plays which I've discussed in prior episodes. They tended to be short, light-hearted productions with simple plots and stock characters.