Thespis cart
Thespiskarren or Thespiswagen is the name for the caravan of wandering actors or for a traveling stage . The name comes from Thespis , the first Greek tragedy poet who, according to the tradition of Horace , is said to have performed his plays on a theater carriage. However, this cannot be proven by other sources.
The social conditions of the traveling troops were - as well as their reputation - extremely bad. The winter in particular brought great difficulties, as there were no opportunities to play in standing theater buildings. A commitment to a court was a rare way out .
literature
- Anton Neugebauer: From Thespiskarren to the theater . In: Before times. History in Rhineland-Palatinate , Vol. IV, edited by Dieter Lau and Franz-Josef Heyen . Verlag Hermann Schmidt, Mainz 1988, pp. 167-190, ISBN 3-87439-177-9 .