Stichus

Let's sit at a table in "Redibis" and take part in a ritual. Ladies and gentlemen, look up at the vaulted roof of the ambulatory. Then close your eyes for a while; you will hear roar and laughter. It works. Just above your heads there is the grey stone of the tiers and the spectators on the terraces of the cavea who enjoy the warmth of the late spring sun. It is the 1st century A.D.. If you look east, in your mind's eye you can easily go past the present entrance and follow the line of the semicircle gently sloping down towards the stage which the Romans called orchestra. Down there, in the backstage, two feverish eyes are gleaming in the dark. Stichus is taking a peek at the cavea which is filling up with people. The experienced mime is pleased and he boosts the morale of his company. They are musicians and dancers,

all in high spirits. The chief magistrate of Mevania, who has backed the show in honour of "Bona Dea", has been generous with food and wine. Stichus feels he is on his own ground, he knows he has captivated the audiences of Umbria and Sabina. He knows their tastes, he thinks, or rather hopes, his name is on everyone's lips. After Carsulae, it is rich Mevania, with its bulls and fogs, which today welcomes him. People have woken up looking forward to leisure pursuits and the theatre. They have whiled away time eating and drinking and now they want to savour every second of the parting day before night comes. He knows Umbrian peasants are not very refined and he can rely on his skill. All he has to do is exaggerate the cripple's gait or the leer on his face, slobbering over the bare breast of the flautist.