127-183

The “Eleftera Skini” and the Greek theatrical play : the Dead Man’s Oath by Zacharias Papantoniou

Μελέτες και άρθρα

• Μαράκα, Λίλα

The “Eleftera Skini” [Free Stage] represented an ambitious attempt to modernize Greek theatre and raise its aesthetic level to correspond with the contemporary European models. Spyros Mêlas, director of the undertaking, having served a recent practical apprenticeship in European theatrical art, was oriented towards Neoromanticism and brought together a repertoire of corresponding works from the modern European drama. Despite the fact that this aesthetic choice preemptively excluded contemporary Greek dramatic production (in which realism and “Ethographia” were predominant), the public of Athens required that the Greek drama had to be supported, in a way necessitating the entry of Greek plays into the repertory. Under this pressure The Dead Man’s Oath andErotokritos were finally selected for staging, that is two dramatic works in which the desired neo-romantic elements were already present (or latent and so susceptible of elaboration through appropriate direction).Subsequently follows a detailed account of the performance of The Dead Man ’s Oath, along with an attempt at outlining the artistic proposal that Mêlas made as director. The picture is completed by a brief comparison with the second Greek play staged by the “Eleftera Skini”.

• Arts

• Θέατρο, Ελληνικό

θεατρικές παραστάσεις, θεατρικές σκηνές