GREEK THEATRE BETWEEN ANTIQUITY AND INDEPENDENCE : a history of reinvention from the third century... bc to 1830

This First General History Of Greek Theatre From Hellenistic Times To The Foundation Of The Modern Greek State In 1830 Marks A Radical Departure From Traditional Methods Of Historiography. We Like To Think Of History Unfolding Continuously, In An Evolutionary Form, But The Story Of Greek Theatre Is Rather Different. After Traditional Theatre Ended In The Sixth And Seventh Centuries, No Traditional Drama Was Written Or Performed On Stage Throughout The Greek-speaking World For Centuries Due To The Orthodox Church's Hostile Attitude Toward Spectacles. With The Reinvention Of Theatre In Renaissance Italy, However, Greek Theatre Was Revived In Crete Under Venetian Rule In The Late Sixteenth Century. The Following Centuries Saw The Restoration Of Greek Theatre At Various Locations, Albeit Characterized By Numerous Ruptures And Discontinuities In Terms Of Geography, Stylistics, Thematic Approaches And Ideologies. These Diverse Developments Were Only 'normalized' With The Establishment Of The Greek Nation State. The Long Twilight Of Ancient Theatre And Drama -- Byzantium: High Culture Without Theatre Or Dramatic Literature? -- Re-inventing Theatre: Renaissance And Baroque Crete Under Venetian Rule (16th/17th Century) -- Shaping A Theatre Tradition: The Ionian Islands From Venetian To British Rule (16th-19th Centuries) -- Jesuit Theatre In Constantinople And The Archipelagos (1600-1750) -- Drama Without Performance: The Greek Enlightenment And Phanariot Literature -- Rehearsing The Revolution: Theatre As Preparation For The Uprising Of 1821 (bucharest, Jassy, Odessa) -- Outlook: Theatre In The Nation-state Versus Theatre In The Diaspora -- Epilogue. Walter Puchner, University Of Athens, Greece ; Assisted By Andrew Walker White, Stratford University, Virginia. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The first general history, by the world expert, of Greek theatre from Hellenistic times to the foundation of Modern Greece in 1830, marked by significant discontinuities. After the end of antiquity no real dramas were produced until theatre was rediscovered in Renaissance Crete and redeveloped throughout the Greek diaspora.