Fotos Politis (Greek: Φώτος Πολίτης; 1890–1934) was a Greek stage director.
He was one of the most prominent figures in the revival of the ancient Greek tragedies in the 20th century. A literary and theater reviewer and playwright, who was responsible for the creation of what came to be called "the theatrical tradition of the National Theater of Greece", he developed original teaching methods for aspiring young actors in Athenian drama schools while the rehearsals for the plays that he staged were known for their long duration and exhaustive intensity. Politis felt an obligation to educate not only the actors, corrupted by the French "Théâtre de boulevard" of the time, but also the general public by bringing it in contact with the masterpieces of ancient Greek tragedy, Shakespeare, classical European theater and avant-garde theater.
Early years Born in Athens in an academic environment, Politis was the son of Nicolaos Politis, a professor at the University of Athens, who was considered the father of Greek folklore studies and cultural traditions, while his younger brother, Linos Politis, also a professor, taught modern Greek literature. In 1906–1908 he attended classes at the Athens Odeum's (conservatoire) drama school and received the second prize in a drama competition with his play The Vampire.
At the end of 1908, he left for four years to study law in Germany. During this time and parallel with his law studies, he took courses in philosophy, being deeply influenced by German idealism. He was also influenced by the ideas of the Austrian-Jewish director Max Reinhardt, who staged ancient Greek tragedies, which Politis followed closely, as well as most of the new ideas that disseminated from the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, the most important German-language acting school. It was the time when the role of the director began to become as prevalent as that of the playwright and the protagonist.For an excellent account of Fotos Politis' four-year stay in German universities see Eleni D. Goulis' doctoral thesis, Ο Φώτος Πολίτης και το ελληνικό θέατρο (Fotos Politis and the Greek theater), pp.8-12, University of Athens, Athens 2008.
In early 1913, Politis was drafted, because of the Balkan Wars and had to return to Greece to enlist.
Reviewer and critic in the 20s and 30s After returning from the front, he begins his first reviews with a byline in January 1915, in the daily Nea Hellas (New Greece), which was supporting Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos. Until his early death in 1934, he wrote 1103 reviews in various newspapers, like Politeia (The State), Eleftheron Vema (Free Tribune) and Proia (Morning).
Apart from his columns in the daily press, he collaborated from 1927 with Costis Bastias' newly published literary review Ellinika Grammata (Hellenic Letters). There he joined the closely knit ideological circle of the magazine, consisting of Costis Bastias (publisher), Yannis Apostolakis, Politis' older first cousin, mentor and later professor of literature at the University of Thessaloniki, Alexandros Delmouzos, prominent educator and proponent for the instruction of demotic Greek in the school system, K. Th. Demaras, Greece's foremost scholar on the Greek Enlightenment and later professor of Modern Greek Studies at the French university Paris I – Sorbonne Panthéon, and George N. Politis, Politis' elder brother and the magazine's top book reviewer. The circle supported the "demotic" (vernacular) language, Greek cultural traditions, German idealism, closely linked to the Enlightenment and was critical of rampant nationalism and communism.Bastias 2005, chapter 11, "The magazine Hellenic Letters (1927-1930)" (in Greek), pp. 117-132.
Stage director, theatrical educator, translator In 1918, Politis participated in the founding of the "Hellenic Theater Co." by the Society of Greek Playwrights. The playwright Miltiades Lidorikis presided over the new company, with the poet Pavlos Nirvanas, the stage director Spyros Melas and Politis on the board. Politis was further appointed professor with the company's drama school. He soon starts the translation in modern Greek iambic verse of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and chooses one of Greece's greatest actors, Aimilios Veakis, whose memorable performance as King Lear at the Royal (National) Theater of Greece in 1938 has remained indelibly written in the history of 20th century Greek theater, to appear in the homonymous role. Under the direction of Fotos Politis, Oedipus Rex opened in the old 19th-century neoclassical theater "Olympia" on Academias Street. The performance became a milestone in the revival of ancient tragedy, with the ideas of Max Reinhardt often evident, in the interpretation of the play. Politis was acclaimed as a director, the tickets were sold out, while the prominent reviewer Marios Ploritis wrote of "The first face to face confrontation with the interpretation of ancient drama".Marios Ploritis, "Αιμίλιος Βεάκης" (Aimilios Veakis), International Biographical Dictionary, vol. 2, pp.216-217, Ekdotike Athenon Publishing Co., Athens 1984. The Greek stage director and historian of the theater Mitsos Lygizos observed about the contribution of the "Hellenic Theater Company" that:
In 1925, when the Greek Actors' Union decided to create the "Professional School of Drama", Politis was appointed professor of repertoire and acting and from 1927 he started staging performances. Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1927), Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman (1928), the 17th century Cretan religious drama Abraham's sacrifice (1929), etc. He also tried his first open air performance of ancient tragedy, Euripides' Hecuba (1927), with Greece's famous actress Marika Kotopouli and her troupe, in the all marble Panathenaic Stadium, build in the 1890s for the first Olympic Games of modern times. The stage director Alexis Solomos described the performance, as the most renowned Hecuba of the interwar period.Alexis Solomos, Θεατρικό Λεξικό (Theatrical Dictionary), p. 117, Kedros Editions, Athens 1989.
At the National Theater (1930–1934)
Source:Bastias 2005, pp. 183-210.
Naming the National Theater (background) There is some confusion as to the actual name of the National or Royal Theater and the various alternating forms this name took, following political changes. At the end of the 19th century, King George I of Greece founded the Royal Theater, with Ernst Ziller as architect, which began its performances in 1900. Its existence was short lived, since it closed in 1908. The property belonged to King George I and the Royal Family and it was rented out to various troupes. The 1922 republican revolution confiscated the building, tore down the royal insignia and continued to rent it. In 1930, by law, the Greek state founded a National Theater, with the intention of erecting a new building, but due to the depression, it was decided to temporarily use the old Royal Theater. When in 1935, the monarchy was reinstated and King George II returned to Greece, the National Theater was renamed Royal Theater, but was now a state owned theater. In fact, the State indemnified Royal Prince Nicholas, uncle of King George II, who had inherited the building. With the beginning of the German occupation in 1941, the theater was renamed National Theater. After the Liberation in 1944, the building itself was named Royal Theater, but the state theater company appearing continued to be officially called National Theater. The only thing to remember is that the National or Royal Theater founded in 1930, had no ideological connection, nor was it a continuation of the old Royal Theater of 1900–1908, but represented an entire new ideology expressed by Fotos Politis. The only thing in common were the walls, and that because of lack of money.
The founding of the National Theater When in January 1930, George Papandreou became minister of Education (1930–1932), in the cabinet of prime minister Eleftherios Venizelos (1928–1932), his dream was to found the National Theater of Greece, where the country's two leading actresses, Kyveli, to whom he was married, and Marika Kotopouli, along with leading actor Aimilios Veakis, would participate in collaboration with an important stage director like Spyros Melas. He immediately started working with the poet Ioannis Gryparis, who was Secretary of Letters and Arts in the ministry, since the 1922 revolution of republican officers, that had forced King Constantine I to abdicate. An ardent supporter of a new state National Theater, Gryparis had been in the ministry for the past eight years, but for a short thirteen-month period (June 1925 – July 1926) when he was removed by the Theodore Pangalos dictatorship. Already in 1923, he had told Fotos Politis that he had decided to go ahead with the creation of a National Theater,Christoforos Nezer, Πενήντα χρόνια θέατρο (50 years theater), Athens 1959, pp. 28-29. while in 1924, he gave an interview to Costis Bastias, where he describes with precision all the problems that had to be met for such an undertaking, like the building, financing through a tax on gambling and lotteries, the cast and the administration.Costis Bastias, "Το Εθνικό Θέατρο και η Ακαδημία. Συνέντευξη με τον ποιητή κ. Γρυπάρη" (The National Theater and the Academy. An interview with the poet Mr. Gryparis), newspaper Democracy, May 22nd, 1924. Much of the ground work was already prepared and prime minister Eleftherios Venizelos had given his approval. The new law was published on May 5, 1930, and the first immediate appointments were Ioannis Gryparis, as director general, Costis Bastias, as secretary general and Fotos Politis as stage director.
Fotos Politis gains control of the Theater After Spyros Melas refused the position of prime stage director and Miltos Lydorikis was hired and resigned, Minister Papandreou accepted to elevate Fotos Politis to the position of prime stage director in the beginning of 1931. From there on, things started moving. The 15 member Board was replaced by a more active seven member body and the executive committee's members were reduced and its decisions became merely advisory. It was renamed as the Artistic Committee. By mid-November 1931, the chairman of the board, theater historian Nicolaos Laskaris, resigned, feeling bypassed by the small, hardcore decision making group of Politis, Gryparis, Bastias and poet Pavlos Nirvanas, a member of the Artistic Committee. Due to his continuous presence in the Athenian press as a journalist and columnist, Bastias replies to most of the attacks in the press against a theater that had yet to be inaugurated. When Petros Pikros, the ex editor-in-chief of the communist daily Rizospastis (The Radical) and managing editor of the Marxist review Protoporoi (The Vanguardists), attacks the theater, Bastias replies with two articles, "The National Theater and Marxist theory", saying:
In August 1931, just prior to the inauguration of the National Theater, Politis travels to Germany and Austria to be informed and brought up to date with the latest developments in Max Reinhardt's productions. Upon his return he continuous building the foundations of a new theatrical tradition and adding to the Greek theater, after the playwright and the actor, a new third factor —the director. Till then, leading first ladies like Kyveli or Marika Kotopouli ruled their troupes with an iron hand, making all the important decisions. Sometimes, a director would be used, but in a secondary capacity. But, Politis reduced the importance of the protagonists, creating harmonic and disciplined ensembles, far from the hastily prepared and improvised productions, having to train the cast in a new acting method. This demanded exhaustive teaching and rehearsals. Costis Bastias describes for us how demanding Politis was:
Politis first stage director of the National Theater