"Facing Mirrors" : Contemporary Greek Theatre Productions and the Issue of Identity
Part of : Γράμμα : περιοδικό θεωρίας και κριτικής ; Vol.22, No.2, 2014, pages 75-94
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75-94
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At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Greek theatre began an open discussion with each one of the components that had hitherto constituted its identity, sporadically at first, but with increasing intensity in the following years. Although this discussion was initially broad, including new as well as older theatre-makers, writers, directors, and actors, its most interesting and challenging part concerned mainly young artists. This change was brought about by a number of factors that will undoubtedly be part of future Greek Theatre Studies. Abrief mention will nevertheless be made of a few factors that deserve special attention. A key reason for this change was the profound crisis within the institutions that, until recently, had provided the foundation for the identity of the Greek theatrical tradition. This problem, which dates back to the past and was not necessarily a by-product of the recent economic crisis, concerns a younger generation of artists, who felt that the questions of citizenship and cultural identity that had nourished the post-dictatorship theatrical world were now obsolete and had lost their relevance. Over the years, the issue of identity had started nurturing introversion and became a matter of convenience. The new generation of theatre- makers could clearly see that theatrical developments abroad had left Greek theatre and theatre criticism far behind, and felt more and more strongly the urge to catch up with the dictates of the international scene. In this context, there was abundant evidence indicating that Greek theatre was in the grip of a subtle collusion that backed the post-dictatorship theatrical status quo and left no room for experimentation.
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References (1):
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