Acoustics of ancient Greek theaters found to be good, not great

Tales of the acoustics at the 2300 year-old Greek theater of Epidaurus tend to be told in terms of superlatives. Not actually justified, according to measurements taken by researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology. They are the first to detail the acoustics of three ancient theaters, with over 10,000 measurements, which confirms that when actors speak very loudly, they can be understood perfectly well right up to the back row. However, the tearing of a piece of paper or a whisper is only audible up to about halfway up, in contradiction to the many claims.