Balaskas, Vasileios. Revivals of Classical Drama in Greece and Spain (1860s-1970s): Theatre in the Realm of Ideology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2025.

The intellectual journey that led to this book was shaped by the extensive archival exploration conducted in multiple archives in Greece and Spain. The sense of discovery that accompanied the encounter with previously unexplored documents unfolding before my eyes was fascinating. I approached this material through chronological and thematic frameworks, selecting the most relevant sources, synthesising others, and translating the archives into a coherent narrative that reconstructs the theatrical and sociocultural realities of the performances analysed in the book.

My initial aim was to provide a comparative perspective revisiting the artistic, ideological, and social factors that determined how the revival of classical theatre became interwoven with socio-political factors. To this end, I explore a selected corpus of theatrical productions that developed in parallel with the socio-political realities of European modernity, from the late nineteenth century up to the 1970s in Greece and Spain. Theatrical production during the major historical contingencies of the twentieth century, from the First World War, the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the Greek Civil War, and the post-war period is separately explored. As this book demonstrates, institutional frameworks and political power lay at the heart of these theatrical productions.

I focus specifically on the historical conditions that enabled the staging of classical drama at ancient Greek and Roman venues. At the same time, I explore the social dimensions of these performances by rethinking aspects of their production, ideology, reception, and criticism. Issues of social reform, cultural and political legitimation, identity, and memory have informed many of the questions raised in the book. I argue that theatrical traditions of classical drama across the Mediterranean were shaped by networks of interconnection and mutual artistic and social influence, rather than developing in isolation within national contexts.

^{Frontpage of a booklet advertising Medea and Electra by Piraikon Theatron
at the Roman theatre of Mérida (1963). © Municipal Historical Archive of Merida}

The theatrical productions analysed in this study include intriguing political engagements with classical culture throughout the period under study. Official or national narratives surrounding the revival of classical drama have tended to produce a theatrical mythology that elevates certain landmark events, actors, actresses, or directors. In response, I pay particular attention to understudied aspects of the theatrical productions that complicate these narratives and offer a more critical perspective. For instance, the social and historical context of the decisions and negotiations behind the inauguration of the Festival of Epidaurus in 1954 with Euripides’ Hippolytus is just as significant as its artistic and cultural reception.

As new empirical evidence can reshape the afterlife of these performances, I consider archives to be active producers of meaning rather than simple repositories. The material I consulted is preserved in institutional and theatrical collections and helped me trace the competing and shifting forms of power and authority that shaped cultural identities in Greece and Spain. In particular, having consulted archives such as the Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive, the Archive of the National Theatre of Greece, and the Historical Archive of Antiquities and Restorations, I analyse documents that illuminate the local, national, intellectual, and financial dimensions of this cultural activity in each country.

The abundance of the preserved material adds new dimensions to current debates in performance reception and classical reception studies. Administrative and personal correspondence, minutes from administrative councils and artistic committees, local government records, legislative documents, publicity materials, political or professional mandates, formal requests, and censorship reports all constitute material evidence of the performance’s afterlife. Together, these sources offer a comprehensive view of the theatrical production as a sociocultural practice. Press coverage proved equally valuable, as it frequently allowed me to verify other sources and provided reliable indexes of performance dates, participants, and venues.

^{Article published in the newspaper Η Βραδυνή (4 September 1938, 3)
exalting the performance of Electra at the theatre of Epidaurus. © Η Βραδυνή.}

Following Jacques Derrida’s perception of the archive as a privileged place of commencement and commandment discussed in his book Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression (1996), I treat these sources as expressions of power and authority. Since archival technologies and practices are historically embedded within structures of political power and intellectual elitism, I delve into this material to propose new ways of conceptualising the cultural histories of Greece and Spain. As archives reproduce institutionalised versions of the past, the book seeks to deconstruct their doctrinaire character and to reconceptualise accepted narratives as products of power relations.

Under this perspective, a central objective of the book is to understand the institutional and individual forces that determined the modern use of classical venues in Greece and Spain. To this end, I delve into the preserved textual and audiovisual traces that document the multiple layers of this socio-cultural phenomenon. For instance, official correspondence and records relating to interventions in artistic decisions and archaeological remains by political authorities in the 1930s and 1940s in both countries showcase how authoritarian regimes (such as those of Metaxa, Franco, and the Greek collaborationist administration) had a direct impact on cultural life and the social reality surrounding ancient drama. This approach allows me to follow the official narratives through which classical antiquity and theatre were received and reconfigured in both national contexts.

This analysis also extends to initiatives, projects, and proposals that never reached the stage. How a regular festival at the Theatre of Dionysus, as proposed in the 1970s, would look like today? What would be the outcomes of a closer relationship between the Syracuse Festival and the Delphic Festival in the 1930s?  Although unrealised, these initiatives offer valuable insights into the ideological orientation and ambitions surrounding classical theatre in the twentieth century.

The interconnections identified in this study generated multiple theatrical practices that coexisted within an international milieu, despite the usual national frameworks which they are often articulated. Thus, I re-evaluate the production of classical drama in Spain and Greece, considering the Italian example as a model for their theatrical tradition in the early decades of the twentieth century. Similarly, case studies from other countries, such as France and Germany, are also interpreted. I demonstrate that the Spanish and Greek cases evolved in parallel, addressing similar sociopolitical concerns, in the sense that political authorities and cultural agents in both countries were aware of the power of theatrical activity and its impact on the population at large. Following broader historical shifts, they created and promoted theatrical events to generate new ideas and reinforce their cultural or political power.  At the same time, differing receptions of classical culture in each country, gave rise to  distinct theatrical traditions shaped by local and historical conditions. Greece developed a more experiential and protective relationship with the classical past, whereas Spain adopted a more flexible understanding of its concepts and trends, allowing for creative reworkings of classical tradition.

The material aspect of these artistic traditions is also evaluated. From a heritage perspective, the predominance of institutional archaeology over local engagement with ancient venues greatly influenced public reception. This is particularly explored in the case of the village of Ligourio near Epidaurus and the local population of Merida, where communities had a well-established understanding of the classical venues long before their transformation into artistic and tourist spaces.  The establishment of annual classical drama festivals in the 1950s, such as in Epidaurus, in Dodona, in Merida, and in Malaga, reflected the historical realities of each country and shaped the stagings of classical drama.

Ultimately, performances in Greece and Spain transformed ancient theatres into powerful sociopolitical spaces that generated collective narratives and reinforced dominant regimes of truth about the nation, its past, and its present. The staging of Graeco-Roman drama closely mirrored broader sociopolitical shifts and historical realities of each country, revealing the extent to which the modern use of ancient venues was politicised. An analysis of the relationships between theatrical companies, political agents, and national institutions demonstrates how this politicisation fundamentally shaped repertoire, performance style, and public engagement with Graeco-Roman antiquities.