The classical drama as contested heritage in modern Greece: theatre productions from private initiatives to state projects in the 1930s

Abstract

Performing classical drama at ancient venues in interwar Greece reflected the socio-cultural context of the time. The development of archaeological tourism and the perception of classical monuments as heterotopic spaces created particular political and ideological needs. Until the mid-1930s, private theatre companies and individual artists reused classical venues such as the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the theatre of Epidaurus to stage productions that gradually attracted local, national, and international attention. But by 1936, the National Theatre began exploiting the socio-political potential of ancient theatres and classical drama festivals and state-sponsored productions dominated the Greek theatrical stage. During this period, the claims of exclusivity on the part of the National Theatre and the National Conservatoire defined their competition with private companies and shaped the course of the revival of classical drama in twentieth-century Greece.