I’ve been reading Plautus recently (very funny) and was wondering: In ancient Greek plays I believe the female parts were played by men in masks (correct me if I’m wrong) is the same true of ancient Roman plays?
It is true. The profession of acting was occupied entirely by male slaves.
In Shakespeare’s plays female characters were always played by young men.
Well, according to my Dramatic Literature course, the “plays” which survive from the Roman theatre had all male-casts. However, there were other forms of Roman theatre of which no script survives where they did have female performers (again, frequently slaves, but not necessarily).
While many performers in Roman theatre (including the Plautus and Terence plays) were slaves, they did not have to be slaves, and frequently a very popular performer could win his freedom. Likewise, a very unpopular performer could get executed.
Ah, the good old days…