The Theatre of the Greek Diaspora: The Case of Canada

Abstract

Greek theatre in Canada hasn’t been studied up to date and remains terra incognita. This article is a first tentative to create a portrait of the situation since the beginning of the Greek communities in this country. Greek businessmen controlled the main theatre halls in Montreal in the 1920s but it seems that they were only the owners of the buildings without any relation to repertory theatre. Before the Second World War we know little about Greek theatre activity in Canada. Curiously the roots of this theatre activity are traced to small Western Canadian communities. Only after the Second World War can we begin to have limited information about theatre activity. The 60s is the period when we can better investigate it. In all cases we are speaking of amateur theatre performed mainly in Montreal. It was established by amateur theatre groups or it was performed in Greek schools. We propose a distinction between two kinds of Greek theatre in Canada: the patriotic-folkloric and the social-political.