V. ANGELIKOPOULOS

Platonas Mavromoustakos’s book “Theater in Greece, 1940-2000,” published recently by Kastaniotis, is an attempt to shed light on an era of Greek theater left largely uncharted.

Researcher and writer Mavromoustakos, an assistant professor at the Theater Studies Department of Athens University, has compiled a great deal of information about the Greek theater scene in the postwar period.

The book is divided in five main chapters. The first one, “The Difficult Years,” covers World War II and goes as far as the end of the Greek Civil War; it includes special chapters on theater in occupied Athens, during the resistance and after the liberation. The second chapter, “The Crucial Years,” stretches from the civil war to the dictatorship and covers the reshuffling at the National Theater, the foundation of the Theatro Technis and of theater festivals, Greek comedy, all the new tendencies, the appearance of new playwrights and new theater companies, the foundation of the National Theater of Northern Greece and more.

“The Political Years,” the third chapter, runs from the dictatorship to the post-1975 period and deals with the change in the tendencies of Greek playwrighting, the renewal of revues and the changes in the established theater companies, among other issues. The fourth part covers the last two decades of the 20th century: “The Years of the Expectations” cover the establishment of the regional municipal theaters and theater outside Athens and Thessaloniki, state funding, children’s theater, ancient drama and more. The final chapter is a general review of theater schools, theater studies, new theaters, perspectives and so on.

Mavromoustakos is known for his analytical skills and sound argumentation, so it comes as no surprise that the book is accompanied by a very long bibliography.

The writer records all the big issues of what was a great time for Greek theater; everything written about it so far has been in bits and pieces and a complete work was missing. His views do not deviate from what is generally acceptable in crucial issues, but they are offered as part of a well-structured and complete work and they include observations that stimulate thoughts for further research.