Despite the fact that six of the seven cities addressed in Revelation 2–3 can boast material remains of Greco-Roman theaters (some have multiple!), little sustained scholarly attention has been paid to the influence of theatrical drama on the reception-context of Revelation’s performance. Prominently carved into hillsides, the theater-complexes marked one of several distinctive institutions that rooted a locale into its Hellenistic cultural heritage making it identifiable as a πόλις. Considering some of the rhetorical features of the theater helps to cast a spotlight on some of the more dynamic features of the performance of John’s visions as they encompass and involve the participation the listening audience.
A distinctive feature of ancient comedy, uncommon to ancient tragedy, illuminates the self-involving character of the theatrical turn to directly address the viewing audience and to draw them into the action of the ensuing plotline unfolding before them on the stage. These rhetorical asides have various functions which contribute to the plotline and/or the reception of the dramatic performance. Similar to the rhetorical function of the parabasis (of Old Comedy; e.g., Aristophanes) where after the actors have exited the stage and the chorus addresses the audience directly in the voice of the poet, or the “breaking of the illusion” as actors address to the audience ex persona (in New Comedy; e.g., Menander; and the Roman Plautus), the function and effect of a digression (παρέκβασις; Oecumenius, Comm. 8.1.1 uses ἐκδρομή) as an “interrupting voice” heightens the significance of the surrounding material through a direct address to the audience and co-opts their participation in the drama.
In Revelation 13–14, the dramatic action moves across the stage as it represents the agents of the antagonist (the dragon) in the form of savage-beasts dominating the peoples of the earth through military and economic forces (13:1–8, 11–17), followed by the arrival of the champion (the Lamb), the agent of the protagonist (the Living God), accompanied by heralding angels (14:1–5, 6–7, 8, 9–11). Each of the three main scenes is punctuated by “interrupting voices” that turn and make direct address to the audience (13:9–10, 18; 14:12, 13), causing the dramatic action to ripple throughout the cavea (the seating area) absorbing the audience into the dramatic plotline of conflict. In the midst of escalating dramatic tension where the main characters of the plotline enter the stage, there are three digressive pauses where John as a prophet, or other extra-dramatic voices (including the Spirit!) turn and directly address the listening audience. Each of these interrupting pauses accentuates the immediate relevance of the images for those who are vicariously viewing the drama in John’s visionary report with a mix of warning and comfort, thus casting the audience members into the part of costumed-identities as characters who are themselves approved by God or threatened with destructive judgment. The cumulative effect upon the audience is to bestow “insider knowledge” and encompass the suffering faithful with resilient promise and hopeful reward.