O Errikos Ibsen stin elliniki skini: apo tous Vrikolakes tou 1894 stis anazitiseis tis epohis mas

Abstract

Yannis Moschos’ (b. 1971) combined qualities as a theater scholar and a stage practitioner are discernible throughout his lengthy study of the Ibsen phenomenon in Greece. In seven chapters, he presents, analyzes, and synthesizes the trajectory of Ibsen’s fate in the hands of a few dozen Greek directors and a multitude of actors, who undertook to incarnate his Noras, Heddas, Osvalds, Borkmans, and a lot more from 1894 to 1999. Between the first brief chapter, which presents an overview of the first stagings of Ibsen in Greece (1894–1910), an era previously covered by Nikiforos Papandreou in his seminal book O Ibsen stin Ellada: apo tin proti gnorimia stin kathierosi 1890–1910 [Ibsen in Greece: from the first acquaintance to being established 1890–1910] (Athens, 1983) and the last and lengthiest chapter, which deals with a renewed interest in Ibsen between 1985 and 1999, a fascinating narrative is put together for the reader, with facts, figures and people that map out expertly Ibsen’s presence in Greece. At the same time, Moschos offers an implicit overview of twentieth-century Greek theater, given that the most important directors attempted to decipher Ibsen’s often puzzling characters for Greek audiences of their time. The book, the first volume from the new publishing house Amolgos, which specializes in theater and philosophy, can be read horizontally or vertically, depending on what one is seeking. Starting from the more easily accessible vertical charts in the CD, one can get a bird’s eye view of the data, which include all the information regarding the productions staged until 2015: one can read where and when a play was staged, how many times and by whom, with painstaking details on the cast and creative teams; Moschos also tracks