The Theatre of Australian Hellenism in Historical Perspective

Abstract

Although the theatre of the Greeks in Australia, as literary writing and as stage production, is almost as old as poetry and prose, the two latter genres tend to be treated as the dominant ones in “literature”. So, rightly or wrongly, this diasporic theatre, with its history as a whole, is generally considered a separate subject, and as a result it is rarely included in studies on the literary history of Australian Hellenism.
This article, based on my years of research on Australian Hellenism, aims at providing a cohesive account of the theatre, its development, achievements and contribution from its beginning in the early twentieth century until today under the multifaceted conditions of Australian society. To present a more comprehensive picture this article examines the course of both Greek and English-language playwriting, as well as stage performances.