Some staging issues and their consequences in Aristophanes' Clouds

This paper focuses on three specific issues raised by the first scene in the surviving version of Aristophanes' Clouds: (1) the character of Strepsiades' bed and how it is put to use later in the action; (2) the costuming of Strepsiades and Pheidippides, and of the Just Argument and the Unjust Argument, who, I suggest, recall them in the second half of the play; and (3) the number of actors the text requires. I use these arguably minor points in an attempt to shed light on a number of structural and interpretative aspects of the play, on the relationship between Clouds I and Clouds II, and on the way that we today talk about and interpret Athenian comedy.