Stage of Emergency: Theater and Public Performance under the Greek Military Dictatorship of 1967-1974 (Classical Presences)

This volume offers a critique of cultural and intellectual life in Greece during the dictatorship of 1967-1974, discussing how Greek playwrights, directors, and actors reconceived the role of culture in a state of crisis and engaged with questions of theater's relationship to politics and community. In the early 1970s, several bold new plays appeared, resonating with the concerns of Greek public and private life. The reinvigorated Greek stage displayed an extraordinary degree of historical consciousness and embraced revisionist cultural critique as well, leading to a drastic re-shaping of the Greek theatrical landscape. Stage of Emergency is the first study to focus on these particular theatrical developments of the so-called junta era, shedding light not only on the messages and impact of the plays themselves, but also on the politics of culture and censorship affecting the Greek public during this period. Cover 1 Stage of Emergency: Theater and Public Performance under the Greek Military Dictatorship of 1967–1974 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Acknowledgments 8 Contents 12 List of Figures 16 A Note on Translations and Transliterations 18 Introduction 20 HOW TO STAGE A COUP: PROMETHEUS UNBOUND 21 STATE OF EXCEPTION, STAGE OF EMERGENCY: “THE GREEKS REHEARSE THE UPRISING” 33 A Theoretical Positioning 33 Agamben’s Theory: Possibilities, Challenges, “Better Scripts” 37 THE SCOPE OF THIS BOOK 44 SOURCES AND RESEARCH CHALLENGES 54 1. The Theater-Historical Context and the Turn to New Greek Theater 64 FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC GREEK PLAYS, ALLIED AGAINST A STATE OF TYRANNY 64 THE TURN TO THE NEW GREEK THEATER: THEATER’S PARALÓGOS EMBOLDENED BY THE THEATRO TOU PARALOGOU 72 YOUTH, DISSIDENCE, AND THE STAGE OF EMERGENCY: BREAKING DOWN FENCES AND DEFENSES 82 NEW THEATER LAUNCHES AND COUNTERCULTURAL SPACES: EXPLORING NEW SPACES FOR A RADICAL CRITIQUE 94 STAGE TROUPES AND THE TROOPS OF THE STAGE: PERFORMING DEMOCRACY IN A STATE OF TYRANNY 107 2. “These bonds of freedom hurt: ”The Logos and Silence of Censorshipand Self-Censorship 110 HELLAS HELLENON LOGOKRIMENON: GREECE OF THE CENSORED GREEKS 110 SILENCE AGAINST CENSORSHIP: THE BOOK INDEX AND SELF-IMPOSED SILENCE 116 PREVENTIVE CENSORSHIP LEGISLATION 125 HORTATORY CENSORSHIP, SELF-CENSORSHIP, AND CENSORSHIP UNLEASHED 135 PROMETHEUS BOUND AGAIN 139 PROMETHEUS UNBOUND, CLOSING ACT 144 SEFERIS’S FIRST AND LAST INTERVENTION 152 PLOTS OF TRANSGRESSION IN PLAYS OF THE NEW GREEK THEATER 155 Textual and Ideological Cleansing 155 Who’s Afraid of Marietta Rialde? 158 Making Terror and Torment Visible: The Greek Performative Turn 159 A MODERN GREEK CASE STUDY: THE TROMBONE OF MARIOS PONTIKAS 164 Production Data and Censorship Restrictions 164 Art as Alibi: One Man’s Music Is Another Man’s Misery 165 RESTRAINING THE REVUE: MADE TO THE MEASURE OF THE MOMENT 170 CONCLUSION: MONOPOLIZING NATIONAL CULTURE: CONSTRUCTING BARRIERS AND TABOOS 173 3. Monopolizing National History: Performing Tyranny and Constructing Myths 178 DISPLAYS OF ORDER: CONSTRUCTING TYRANNICAL MEANING 178 DISPLAYS OF DISORDER: DECONSTRUCTING MEANING 180 SPECTACLE IS POWER 181 What Happens in the Arena? Sporting Uniforms and Uniformity 191 Teaching Patriotic Self-sacrifice for the “Revolution of April 21, 1967” 202 Reflecting Back on Greek History in Rapid Motion 206 OUR GRAND CIRCUS: GREEK HISTORY IN COMMOTION 208 “[M]oments from our past, mobilized to help us through a difficult moment of the present” 213 Remembering and Dismembering a Plot: Of Dreams and Deprivations, of Losers and . . . Losers 220 The Polytechnic, November 1973: Showdown and Regrouping 234 CONCLUSION: HISTORY AS CREED, HISTORY AS ACTIVISM 239 POSTSCRIPT 244 4. Individual Responsibility before Tyranny as the Capitalist Enemy 246 THE NANNIES OF GIORGOS SKOURTES: MONEY, MATERIALISM, TRAMPS, AND THE CAPITALIST BOSS 252 STRATES KARRAS: THE TRADECRAFT OF CAPITALIST OPPRESSION 262 THE AESTHETICS OF MISFITS AND FAILURES IN THE LATE CAPITALIST SYSTEM 267 THE STORY OF ALI RETZO: BRECHTIAN THEATER IN GREECE UNDER THE MILITARY DICTATORSHIP 269 Theater as Process, Acculturating Brecht as Process 270 Brecht in Greece under the Junta 277 The Free Theater: Theater as Collaborative Action 284 THE STORY OF THE STORY 291 “THE WORLD IS BURNING AND YOU ARE COMBING YOUR HAIR”: . . . KAI SY CHTENIZESAI 299 CONCLUSION: CHAINS AND CHOICES 306 Conclusion 312 References 324 Index 380 This Volume Focuses On The Development Of Theatre In Greece During The Dictatorship Of 1967-1974, Shedding Light Not Only On The Messages And Impact Of The Plays Written And Produced At This Time, But Also On The Politics Of Culture And Censorship Affecting The Greek Public During This Period. Gonda Van Steen. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 305-360) And Index.