Re-imagining Independence in Contemporary Greek Theatre and Performance

An interdisciplinary study of mnemonic practices that examines contemporary Greek theatre's complex negotiations of history.

Philip Hager (Author)

9781009250573, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 February 2024

82 pages
23 x 15 x 0.5 cm, 0.15 kg

This Element examines practices that occurred since the beginning of the Greek crisis and revisits the mnemonic canon of the Greek War of Independence. By focusing on the institution of the mnemonic canon of independence, and subsequently on its contemporary re-imaginings, this Element interrogates performance work vis-à-vis Greece's histories of colonial dependencies – histories that are integral to the institution of modern Greece. As such, the examples discussed here rehearse independence against and beyond national(ist) fantasies and, in so doing, attest to an emerging desire for decolonisation.

1. Introduction: imagining independence
2. Missolonghi and the scenario of independence
3. Independence and revolution in Aris Biniaris's '21
4. Independence and (post)industrial space in Eleni Efthymiou's free besieged
5. Independence and the mythopoetics of the stranger in Anestis Azas's the Republic of Baklava coda: performing the national body
References.

Subject Areas: Theatre studies [AN]