1. Introduction

In the diverse Southern European area Constantinople as an international commercial centre carrying significant multinational characteristics, served as a meeting point for a multitude of cultural movements. The indigenous Greeks, either enforced in numbers thanks to the arrival of more Greeks from the mainland and the islands or enervated, depending on the political circumstances, started to involve themselves with theatre as a cultural expression and association as early as the 17^th century. That form of intellectual expression was realised through theatrical or other kinds of cultural events taking place in private venues, consulates or mansions. Characteristic examples are those of the Jesuit theatrical activity in Constantinople in 1607 and 1623, the comedies staged in the Persian consulate in 1650, as well as a series of plays performed in the French consulate (January – February 1673), the Swedish consulate (1786) and the Venetian consulate (1815).¹

After these sporadic theatrical enterprises during the 17^th and 18^th centuries, known thanks to journals and texts written by travelers of the time, Greek theatre in Constantinople from the 19^th century onwards is present in a more permanent and affluent manner. It will, however, present certain fluctuations because of its affinity to the historical presence of the Greek orthodox element in the area.

2. Pre-revolutionary period (1800-1821)

In order to better understand 19^th century Greek theatrical practice in Constantinople and study it in depth, it is possible to divide it into three phases. The first phase, labeled the pre-revolutionary period (1800-1821), is closely connected to the contemporary ruling class, the Phanariots, and their intellectual pursuits. Theatre is cultivated in the context of the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment,² which seems to invest heavily in this new literary genre of cultural expression aiming both to influence men and to contribute to their national awakening.³

Phanariots, polyglots educated in the West and largely influenced by the European Enlightenment, will involve themselves with the theatre. Initially, they would read original plays by European writers in French, the dominant language of the time, at their evening gatherings. Subsequently, they would translate representative western dramas (works by Molière, Goldoni, Metastasio, Alfieri, Voltaire). Finally, they would engage themselves into play writing (Georgios Soutsos, Iakovos Rizos Rangavis) and make their first amateur attempts to stage their plays in receptions thrown at their mansions.⁴

Information on these early amateur attempts is provided by Alexandros Rizos Rangavis in his Memoirs,⁵Konstantinos Oikonomos family in his Salvaged Literary Works⁶and travellers.⁷ From these documented records it is noteworthy to report the following event: a student of the Greek School in Cydoniae cited an excerpt from Aeschylus’ Persians under the direction of Constantine Oikonomos of the Economus family in 1820, just a few months before the outbreak of the Greek War for Independence in the mansion of the postelnic Demetrius Manos located in Therapeia. Furthermore, another theatrical performance took place in the resident of a pharmacist in Pera in June 1821 staged by Gerasimos Petsemanos. Presumably, the play performed was Constantine Paleologos by I. Zambelios and given the fact the Greek War for Independence was under way, the evening was brutally interrupted by the intervention of Ottoman troops.⁸

Naturally, any other kind of theatrical activity ceased because of the Greek Revolution.

3. Second period (1836-1857)

The second phase lasted from 1836 and 1857 and is a prelude to the advances made during the second half of the 19^th century. The remaining Greeks of Constantinople are enforced with new blood from Greek migration waves towards Constantinople recorded from 1832 onwards and related to the opening if the Black Sea markets.

Financial development will bring about an intellectual one as well. Consequently, during this period original theatrical plays are written (Socrates, Margaritis, The Imaginary Philosopher, Mise Kozis). Additionally, plays by Schiller, Molière and Hugo are translated into Greek. Furthermore, from the 1850s onwards, French and Italian troupes are invited to perform in Constantinople by their respective paroikias and usually perform melodramatic plays. Lastly, members of the European communities located in Constantinople stage amateur performances.⁹

4. Third period (1858-1899)

From 1858, when the first public Greek performance is recorded, until the end of the 19^th century is the time that Greek theatre flourishes; not accidentally it coincides with the heyday of Constantinopolitan Greeks regarding the financial, social, educational and cultural sectors, progress linked to the declaration of theHattı Hümayun (Hatt-ı Hümâyûn Inperial Edict, 1856), which provided non-Muslim Ottoman minorities with religious and political rights.

Since 1860 Greek theatre was present in Constantinopolitan theatrical life; public performances were being staged in several venues (playhouses, associations’ lounges, schools and coffeehouses) in the Greek language.

Three were the main agents contributing to the ascent of the Greek theatre in town:

a) Itinerant troupes from Greece.

The first Greek theatrical companies, disappointed from the negative stance of the upper-class Athenian society that frequented foreign playhouses imitating European social mores, would seek their fortune in the financially booming Greek societies of the Diaspora. So, the companies of Pandelis Soutsas, Dionysios Tavoularis, Demosthenes Alexiadis, Michael Arniotakis, Nicholaos Lekatsas, Georgios Petridis and Aikaterini Veronis perform for long period of time in Constantinople. Moreover, smaller troupes such as the ones lead by Ioannis Kyriakos, Demosthenes Neris, Antonios Tassoglou, Xenophon Isaiah, Constantine Chalkiopoulos, Demetrios Kotopoulis etc are active on a more casual and irregular manner, mainly in Constantinopolitan quarters and suburbs inhabited by Greeks. Both kinds of companies, the former with their numerous crew and higher level of organisation and the latter of more meagre means, constituted a bustling theatrical tradition in Constantinople for over sixty years, no matter how often they changed their names, usually using the names of ancient Greek playwrights (theatrical troupes were often called “Aristophanes”, “Aeschylus”, “Euripides”, “Sophocles”, “Menandros” etc) .¹⁰

Repertoire-wise, professional companies initially turned to the diverse works of European dramatists, a choice that guaranteed variety thus satisfying the popular demand for a daily alteration between drama and comedy. The first plays to be staged appertained to the European neoclassical paradigm; their content referred to the glorious ancient Greek past, therefore contributing to the boost of national consciousness among the enslaved Greeks. Such plays were Saul, Polyneikes and Orestes by Alfieri, Aristodemos by Monti, Aristomenes and Gorgos by Lafontaine, Oedipus at Thebes by Voltaire, Iphigeneia at Aulis by Racine, Olympia or Love and Friendship, Artaxerxes and Themistocles by Metastasio, as well as classical comedies by Molière and Goldoni that played upon human weaknesses and deficiencies.

Thereafter, Greek theatre troupes enrich their repertoire with plays from every movement within European literature: romantic plays by Hugo, Goethe, Schiller, Byron ,and Dumas; commercial melodramatic plays by A. Dennery, A. Bourgeois, V. Séjour, E. Legouvé, E. Cormon, P. Giacometti, B. Lytton etc; and, in the last two decades of the 19^th century, realistic plays such as Le Maitre des Forges and La Comtesse Sarah by Georges Ohnet, Odette, Tosca and Fernande by Victorien Sardou, Honor and Magda by Hermann Sudermann and Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen.

From Greek literary production only plays labelled “safe” by Ottoman censorship or evading its attention made it to the stage; such were plays by I. Zambelios, P. Soutsas, A. Antoniadis, S. Vasileiadis, D. Vernardakis, D. Koromilas, A. Vlachou etc.

Over 1,000 plays performed on Constantinopolitan stages during the 19^th century have been recorded so far by researchers (both original ones and translations).¹¹

b) Amateur theatre companies

Greeks of Constantinople often expressed their artistically restless nature by cultural activity; therefore, local amateur theatrical troupes attested to the high spiritual and intellectual level of the city’s Greek community. By competing with other foreign communities, they aspired to leave their mark in the town’s cultural expression. At times when performances by Greek professional companies were scarce, amateurs substituted them most efficiently. Their ideological drive force stemmed from their need to prove the superiority of Greek intellectual prowess over the other communities, as well as self affirm themselves in the context of a multi-ethnic geographical area. By means of the theatre, consequently, they aimed at cultivating the Greek language and, indirectly, teaching Greek history and tradition.

Associations of every kind (educational, musical, philanthropical, charitable, cultural etc.) founded in great numbers when the political conditions were right, were the seedbeds from where Constantinopolitan amateur theatre sprung out.¹² Conscientious individuals, who fully realised the importance of associations for the Greek Diaspora, involved themselves with these associations.

Beyond any distant national purposes this whole process of theatrical experimentation will certainly initiate many Constantinopolitan Greeks, especially the younger generation. They would acquaint themselves with theatrical texts, both Greek and foreign, and often attempt to pass from reading to staging.

Also noteworthy is the associations’ support and boost for the local theatrical production. Careful study of their repertoire indicated a distinct preference towards plays by Constantinopolitan writers. Amateur troupes performed the following plays: Marriage Without a Bride and Koutroulis’ Wedding by A. R. Rangavis, Patroclus or a Descendant of Timoleon by A. Zoeros, Babylonia by D. Byzantius, Armatoloi and Kleftes by Ch. Samartzidis, Leprentis by M. Chourmouzis, Ftiakas, Desperate Husband and Belisarius or Vice and Virtue by Demosthenes Misitzis. Even from the foreign repertoire, the plays selected and staged were translated or adapted by Constantinopolitan scholars. Such plays were LucretiaBorgia andHernani by Hugot, translated by I. Raptarchis, as well as his adaptation of P. Soutsos’ the Wayfarer.

Another important contribution to the diffusion of theatrical education for the greater public was the lectures organised by several associations (e.g. the Club Mnimosyni in Fanari (Fener), the Omonoia (Concord) association in Diplokionio, the Chrysopolis association etc, but most significantly the Greek Philological Association of Constantinople.¹³

As to their content, these lectures mainly emphasized the origins and evolution of theatre, focusing on ancient drama by analysing plays by ancient Greek writers thus accommodating the esprit de temps: hellenocentrism and connection to ancient Greek heritage. On a secondary level plays and writers of European dramaturgy were commented upon.¹⁴

c) Intellectuals

Constantinopolitan intellectuals played an integral part in the great development of Greek theatre in town, namely journalists and educators, who created theatrical literature by translating and publishing plays of all genres.

Their most significant contribution, however, lies in comedy writing, both single and multi-act plays. These writers accumulated quite a voluminous material on the booming urban elite of Constantinopolitan Greeks and had a lot to satirise and comment upon, such as the nouveau riches, the imitation of European mores, human deficiencies, social conventions and such. With Molière as a head figure, the following plays are written: Margaritis, a Rrich, Niggard and Elderly Lover (1839) by the anonymous writer with the pseudonym A.M.T. of Byzantius and The Imaginary Philosopher by N. Ayvazidis (1840). They were followed by the comedies Mise Kozis (1848), a high comedy and mosaic of Greek dialects interfused with songs along the lines of Babylonia, The Lesson of Old Men (1861) by Christakis Skordos, The Chaviarochan (1864) by O. Dimitrakos, Malakov (1865) and The Nouveau Riche (1878) by M. Chourmouzis, The Desperate Husband (1868), Fiakas (1867) and The Duke of Imbecility by D. Misitzis etc.

A. Zoeros, on the other hand, will contribute to the writing of national and patriotic plays (The Three Hundred, A Descendant of Timoleon etc); A. Stamatiadis along with other lesser playwrights will involve himself with fiction drama and Ch. Misailidis (Michalios the Kindly, April the First and Groom on the Day of Cheese Sunday) along with Georgios Karouzos (Nickoltsos in the Sack) with comedic idylls.¹⁵

5. 20th century (1900-1922)

Theatre life for Greeks in Constantinople continued as exuberant until 1908 and the onset of the Revolution of the Young Turks. During that time (1900-1907), theatrical practice is in its apogee in Constantinople, with companies succeeding one another, a daily alternating repertoire and audiences swarming the central playhouses.

Indicatively mentioned are the itinerant troupes “Menandros” of D. Tavoularis, the United Company of Tavoularis – Pandopoulos (1901-1903), the companies of N. and E. Paraskevopoulos, the “New Stage” by K. Christomanos (1902, 1903, 1905, 1906), the Dramatic Company of E. Bonasera – D. Veronis (1902, 1903, 1905), E. Pandopoulos’ troupe (1904), as well as the troupes of P. Christophorides – N. Kokkos (1904), E. Veronis (1905, 1908, 1907), V. Argyropoulos (1904, 1905), D. Kotopoulos – N. Kokkos (1905), N. Lekatsas (1906), Cybele Andrianos – E. First. In addition, local amateurs also continue their theatrical activity. Some of these theatrical groups were part of the “Esperos” Reading Association, the “Dorkas” Philanthropic Society, the Tatavla Charitable Fellowship, the “Sybnoia” (Solidarity) Brotherhood, the Pera Amateur Club, the Greek Theatre Company of Constantinople, the Erasimolpoi Amateur Club etc.¹⁶

Since 1908, both the Neo-Turks movement, as well as the following Balkan Wars and World War I will have their toll on the free movement of Greek troupes. As a result, theatre activity in Constantinople is constantly diminishing up to 1922. Especially industrious at this period were the companies of E. Veronis – G. Gennadis (1908), M. Kotopoulis (1909, 1910, 1911), E. Paraskevopoulos (1910), Cybele Andrianos (1912, 1914, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921), R. Nikas, E. First – T. Lepeniotis (1912, 1913), D. Veronis (1908, 1909, 1918-1919, 1920), and others. Also restricted at the time was the amateur theatrical practice of the period [Megalo Revma Association (1908), the Pera Amateur Club (1908), the Erasimolpoi Amateur Club (1909, 1910, 1912), the amateur troupe of the “Phidipiddes” Association (1912), the theatre company of the Galatas Educational Association “Renaissance”, the Amateur Theatre Company of Constantinople “Friend of the Theatre”, the Dramatic Academy of Constantinople Company].¹⁷

Repertoire is comprised both of Greek and foreign drama. Regarding Greek dramaturgy, plays relating to the realistic spirit of the time stand out. Such were urban plays commenting on the society from P. Dimitrakopoulos (The Alcoholic), G. Tsokopoulos (Old Flames), P. Nirvanas (Marthas the Architect), S. Melas (Black and White, The Red Shirt and The Son of the Shadow), G. Xenopoulos (The Only Daughter, Stella Violanti, Photeini Santris), P. Horn (The Woman from the East), I. Polemis (The Woman and Phryne), I. Delikaterinis (For the Money, The Little girl), A. Simiriotis (Stasa Sideris), S. Daphnes (The Paternal House) etc.

In 1908, when the 1876 Constitution was reinstated and censorship temporarily abolished, performances of historical dramas that both moved and nationally inspired Greek audiences were in abundance. Consequently, plays like Roylaty in Exile or Otto’s Death by P. Dimitrakopoulos, Bulgarians and Macedonias by P. Leondos, Otto and Amalia or The Occupation by G. Vokos, Capodistrias and the Mavromichalis Family by S. Potamianos etc. were on stage at the time. Despite the fact that comedy appealed to theatrical audiences, Greek comedies, either single or multi-act plays, were scarcely produced by writers like D. Byzantius, Ch. Anninos, A. Vlachos, N. Laskaris, D. Misitzis, I. Delikaterinis, A. Pistis, G. Souris, P. Zanos and A. Nickolaras. On the contrary, even though theatrical production was aimed to spectators of some urban and cosmopolitan social stature, comedic idylls were especially well-received (Maroula’s Fate, Uncle-Linardosor Maroula’s End, Old Nicholas’ Lyra, The Bride of Salamis, On Deck, April the First and The Sponge Divers), as were dramatic idylls (The Shepherdess’ Lover, Golpho).¹⁸

Also successful would be the successor of the comedic idyll, the variety show, formed as a genre in Athens around 1894. Variety shows actually were a collection of skits of political and social satire on contemporary personages and circumstances, musically accompanied by foreign operettas. These plays will enthrall Greek audiences when staged in Constantinople. Successful performances of the time include Panathenaia (of 1905, 1910, 1912 and 1913) by G. Tsokopoulos and Ch. Anninos, the Military Panathenaia (1913), comprised of skits with patriotic content, the Assorted Cinema (1910) by P. Dimitrakopoulos, Mitselos (1908) by S. Granitsas, the protagonist of which was a fustanella wearing Evzone sergeant, the “Byzantine” variety show Livid Eith Anger by the Constantinopolitan journalist K. G. Makridis in collaboration with P. Dinitrakopoulos, a play which is based on the historical and political events of 1907, The 1910 Cinema by P. Dimitrakopoulos and the Panorama (1914, 1920) by T. Moraitinis. In 1920, a time when political diversity was especially heightened and people divided, the Military Panathenaia play was performed by the troupe of Marika Kotopoulis. The actress, who was known for her royalist stance, was booed by the public. The same year the following variety shows were staged: The Parrot, The Fire of War, Wartime Paradoxes and Topsy-Turvy. In 1922 the Kokkos and T. Lepeniotis companies staged the variety shows Brouhaha, Kaplamas, Nigget and A Bit of Everything just a few months before the Asia Minor Disaster that would fatefully end the theatrical boom of the 1907-1921 period.¹⁹

6. Actors

Also noteworthy within the context of the age-long Greek theatrical practice in Constantinople is the emergence of several actors, who marked the 19^th century Greek stage with their presence and continued their brilliant careers in Greece after the Asia Minor Disaster in 1922. The reference mainly concerns the two great theatrical families of Veronis and Kotopoulis. Ekaterini Veroni – considered the leading 19^th century actress – is the primogenitor of the former, being both a protagonist and a theatrical company manager along with her brothers and sisters Sophia, Demetrius and Themistocles Varonis; Genitors of the latter family were the actors Demetrius and Eleni Kotopoulis, who gave birth to the actresses Antiope, Photeini, Chrysoula and the great Marika Kotopoulis. Evaggelia Paraskevopoulos, the other significant actress of the 19^th century also hailed from Constantinople, as did Pericles Christophorides and a multitude of other actors.²⁰

7. After 1922

After the signing of the Lausanne Treaty (June 24^th 1923) and despite the fact that Constantinopolitan Greeks were exempt from the obligatory population exchange between Turkey and Greece, the Turks demanded the evacuation of all non-Ottoman Greeks, as well as those not born in Constantinople.

The fact that the Constantinopolitan Greek community was descending certainly had an affect in Greek theatrical practice, which after 1922 would mainly be expressed through amateur performances and scant visitations by troupes from Greece.

However, in significant Greek schools such the "Zografeio" Lycaeum, the "Zappeio" Girls' School and the "Ioakeimeio" Girls' School,²¹ inspired teachers would continue to cultivate the love of theatre in their students by staging school plays, especially ancient Greek ones. In addition to student theatre, amateur companies such as the one of the Hellenic Union would be constantly present between the years 1935 and1945.²² After World War II and until the 1955 and 1964 deportations, it is estimated that 15 amateur theatrical troupes were active in Constantinople, formed within educational and athletic associations. These troupes would keep theatrical expression alive in Pera, Fener, Mega Revma (Arnavutköy), Tatavla etc, achieving excellent results in activating youths and providing the Greek community with both intellectual stimulation and national uplift.