Description of the attraction
The National Theater of Greece was founded in 1880 with a grant from King George I and Eustratius Rallis, which is where its first name comes from - the Royal Theater.
In 1881, construction began on St. Constantine Street. The architect of the project was the famous Greek architect Ernst Ziller, who created many of the city's famous buildings (the Presidential Palace, Panathinaikos Stadium, National Library, National Archaeological Museum and others). The construction took 20 years. In 1890 Angelos Vlachos became the director of the theater, and Thomas Ikonou (Greek theater actor, one of the first modern Greek directors) became the artistic director. In 1901, a theater school was founded on the basis of the theater. In the same year, on November 24, the theater opened its doors to visitors. At the opening were presented two plays "Death of Pericles" by Dimitris Verardakis and "Need a servant" by Haralam Anninos.
The theater quickly gained popularity, its repertoire expanded. One of the most famous productions was Aeschylus's Oresteia. In the process of staging, a linguistic conflict flared up. On November 8, 1903, a group of students led by Professor Yorgos Mistriotis took to St. Constantine Street in an attempt to stop the performance. As a result of the clash, one person was killed and more than ten were injured. This day went down in the history of Greece under the name "Oresteika".
In 1908, the theater fell into decay and was closed for an indefinite period, although it still continued to tour. On May 30, 1930, the National Theater of Greece was founded by a decree of the Greek Parliament with the assistance of the Minister of Education and Religion, Georgios Papandreou. In 1930-1931 the building was reconstructed. The theater was officially opened on March 19, 1932. The first production was Aeschylus's Agamemnon.
The theater gradually expanded its activities. In 1939, the National Opera was founded as an integral part of the theater. In the same year, the repertoire included the works of Shakespeare "Hamlet" and "Othello". Later, a mobile composition of the theater was organized for touring the provinces of the country. And in 1980, the Children's Theater was opened with the play "Blue Bird" by Maurice Maeterlinck. In 2000, the Summer Theater Academy in Epirus was opened.
In 2002, the National Theater of Greece joined the European Convention of Theaters.
