Characters
- Pseudolus: A Roman slave, owned by Hero, who seeks to win his/her freedom by helping his/her young master win the heart of Philia. His name means "Faker". While originally written as a male role, it has been performed by female cast as well.
- Hero: Young son of Senex who falls in love with the virgin, Philia.
- Philia: (Greek for "love") A virgin in the house of Marcus Lycus, and Hero's love interest.
- Senex: (Latin for "old man") A henpecked, sardonic Roman senator living in a less fashionable suburb of Rome.
- Marcus Lycus: A purveyor of courtesans, who operates from the house to the left of Senex. (Name based on Lycus, the pimp in Plautus's Poenulus.)
- Domina: (Latin for "mistress") The wife of Senex. A manipulative, shrewish woman who is loathed by even her husband.
- Erronius: (Latin for "wandering") Senex's elderly neighbor in the house to the right. He has spent the past twenty years searching for his two children, kidnapped in infancy by pirates.
- Gymnasia: (Greek for "Athletic", with the connotation of nakedness) A courtesan from the house of Lycus with whom Pseudolus falls in love.
- Miles Gloriosus: (Latin for "boastful soldier," the archetype of the braggart soldier in Roman comedies) A captain in the Roman army to whom Marcus Lycus has promised Philia.
- Hysterium: (Latin for "Hysterical", or "Anxious", the suffix "-um" makes the name neuter, and the character's gender is often mistaken throughout the piece) The chief slave in the house of Senex.
- Tintinabula: (Latin for "Bells") A jingling, bell-wearing courtesan in the house of Lycus.
- Vibrata: (Latin for "Vibrant") A wild, vibrant courtesan in the house of Lycus.
- Geminae: (Latin for "Twins") Twin courtesans in the house of Lycus.
- Panacea: (Greek for "Cure All") A courtesan in the house of Lycus. A face that can say a thousand words and a body that can hold a thousand promises.
- Proteans: Choristers who play multiple roles (slaves, citizens, soldiers, and eunuchs). They accompany Pseudolus in "Comedy Tonight". On Broadway, three people played all of these roles.
Read more about this topic: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“For the most part, only the light characters travel. Who are you that have no task to keep you at home?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I make it a kind of pious rule to go to every funeral to which I am invited, both as I wish to pay a proper respect to the dead, unless their characters have been bad, and as I would wish to have the funeral of my own near relations or of myself well attended.”
—James Boswell (1740–1795)