HISTORY

The Drama School of the National Theatre opened on October 15 1930. It belonged organically to the National Theatre, with the ultimate goal of becoming the nursery of the actors who would staff its performances.

Πρώτος διευθυντής της διορίστηκε ο Θεόδωρος Συναδινός, υπό την ανώτατη εποπτεία του γενικού διευθυντή του Εθνικού Θεάτρου, Ιωάννη Γρυπάρη. Ιδρυτικό μέλος και διευθυντής της Επαγγελματικής Σχολής Θεάτρου, ο Συναδινός αποτέλεσε τον συνδετικό κρίκο μεταξύ των δυο σχολών και στα δεκαέξι χρόνια της θητείας του στο τιμόνι της Δραματικής Σχολής του Εθνικού Θεάτρου συνέβαλε στην εδραίωσή της.

Το πρώτο πρόγραμμα σπουδών περιελάμβανε τα μαθήματα: Yποκριτική, Γυμναστική-Χορό, Μουσική μόρφωση, Oρθοφωνία, Δραματολογία, Iστορία Θεάτρου, Νεοελληνική Λογοτεχνία, Γαλλικά, Διασκευή Προσώπου και Ξιφασκία.

In order to enroll at the School, candidates had to succeed in the entrance exams. Special qualifying examinations were provided for those who came from the Professional School of Theatre. At which audience members attended.

Students were required, when necessary, to participate in the performances of the National Theatre as nonspeaking actors without payment. At the end of their studies, the best students were to be employed at the National Theatre. The other graduates were also obliged to work on the state stage if the need arose. Scholarships were also given for further education abroad. Of the 80 students enrolled at the School in the first three years 41 were women.

The Drama School of the National Theatre was originally housed in a specially designed space in a Ziller building on St. Constantine Street, formerly the roof of the Royal Theatre.

The study course was initially for two years. The Drama School of the National Theatre became a three-year course in March 1938, under the Metaxas regime. This was part of a planned restructuring of the state educational institutions by Kostis Bastias, General Director of Arts of the Ministry of Education which included the Royal Theatre (as the renamed National Theatre was known after the restoration of the King).

Teaching was disrupted during the Second World War. The School was closed indefinitely after the declaration of the Greco-Italian War on October 28 1940. The school years had shrunk, although short-term study was made possible thanks to the free lessons offered by the teachers. During the Liberation from the Germans and subsequent unrest during the Battle of Athens in December 1944 teaching hours were shortened and the lessons were held in the theatre dressing rooms, when the building housing the School was burnt down.

From then on, the School of the National Theatre has continued to operate without hindrance, following an intensive and compulsory program.

The payment of tuition fees was compulsory during the first decades of the School's operation. Emilios Veakis had shown particular sensitivity towards to the crucial issue of students' livelihood, proposing that some remuneration be provided for the students' participation in the performances of the National Theatre. In the spring of 1945, due to poverty, tuition fees were temporarily abolished.

On the recommendation of the archaeologist Yannis Miliadis, a member of the board of directors of the National Theatre, tuition fees were formerly abolished in 1964, the day after the introduction of free education.

The first director of the National Theatre and its Drama School was Fotos Politis, followed by Dimitris Rontiris. They played a decisive role in shaping the acting style of the National Theatre and Drama School. Rodiris was the principal director for many years, first as theatre director from 1933-1942 leaving his mark on the training of actors, although he did not systematically teach at the School, due to his theatre directing obligations. Originally an actor himself, with post -graduate studies in Germany, he considered of primary importance the correct pronunciation of speech and the use of meter and placed particular emphasis on the Orthophony course, insisting on the techniques of breathing, accentuation and punctuation. The basic principles of his teaching marked the school of the National Theatre, forming a tradition that continued for many decades. However, during this period more realistic elements were developed by those actor-teachers who used his method creatively, without relying on the sterile repetition of a way of acting "which meant correct intonations and a recitative, formalised way of acting".*

The theoretical lessons of Angelos Terzakis, who began teaching in 1946 and continued for about twenty-five years, also played an important role in the formation of the School's image.

The Drama School of the National Theatre occupied an important position in artistic education from the years of its operation. It had attracted talented young people with dedication to the idea of theatre, many of whom used the skills they had acquired at the School, playing an important role in the theatrical scene.

From the 1940s, the counterpart of the aesthetic schooling of the National Theatre was the Greek Art Theatre of Karolos Koun.

After the upheavals caused by the War, the Occupation and the Civil War, in the early 1950s the School of the National Theatre began to recover. During this period, alongside the courses, an annual multi-day excursion for the students was established at the expense of the National Theatre, an excursion that was considered very constructive for the progress and the creation of bonds between students and teachers. In addition, from the beginning of 1958, students could attend lectures by important intellectuals and people of the arts, both Greek and foreign, at events held in the great hall of the School. During the first three months of the academic year 1962-63, lectures were given by the costume designer Antonis Fokas, the set designer Kleovoulos Clonis and the painter and set designer Yannis Tsarouchis. The creative mood continued, encouraging the students to form a committee to organize artistic events. Efforts were also made to link up with distinguished schools abroad in order to gain knowledge and experience from European.

The atmosphere changed with the imposition of the military dictatorship, during which time the National Theatre joined the newly established Organization of State Theatres of Greece (OKTHE) under the supervision of the Ministry of the Presidency of the Government. Despite the difficulties of the times faith in a common theatrical purpose was preserved, while at the same time a large number of students developed anti-dictatorship activities. Ιn the summer of 1970 graduates of the previous three years, created the pioneering "Free Theater".

After the end of regime of the colonels, steps were taken to modernize the school, which accelerated at the turn of the century. Κατά τη διάρκεια της καλλιτεχνικής διεύθυνσης του Νίκου Κούρκουλου λειτούργησε η «Θερινή Ακαδημία» (2000-2009), που διηύθυνε η θεατρολόγος Ελένη Βαροπούλου.

A radical renewal of the teaching staff of the Drama School of the National Theatre, based on pluralism, was carried out by the Director of Studies of the Drama School, Victor Ardittis (2007-2013), director and professor at the Theatre Department of the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, during the tenure of Yannis Houvardas as artistic director.

The teaching staff changed again during the short tenure of the philologist-theatre critic Kostas Georgousopoulos as Director of Studies. With the assumption of the artistic direction of the National Theatre by Stathis Livathinos (2015-2019) and a parallel first year as director of studies an emphasis to the principles of the Russian acting school were adopted with changes in the composition of the teachers. The same direction was followed by the philologist-translator Elsa Andrianou (2016-2019) as director of studies. Stathis Livathinos is also credited with the relocation of the Drama School to the "School of Athens - Irini Papa" and the creation of the Directing Department, which started its operation in 2018.

From 2019 until today, the director of studies at the Drama School of the National Theatre is headed by dramatist Dio Kagelari, former assistant professor at the Theatre Department of the AUTH (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). With the increase of teachers from different backgrounds the School reflects the many different angles of European developments in the teaching and education of actors and directors.

*George Kotanidis, All together, now!, Kastaniotis, Athens 2011, p. 69 69.

The installation of the Drama School in "School of Athens-Irini Papa", (52 Athens-Piraeus Avenue) in the autumn of 2017, contributed significantly to the upgrading of studies. The 7.5 stremma (0.75 hectares) site is located at a key position, bounded by Piraeus Street, Venizelos Street, the train lines of ISAP and Kifissos. It was declared a listed building in 1997as part of the ambitious programme for the conversion of Piraeus Avenue into a cultural axis (which includes 88 declared preserved monuments of industrial and other buildings). The renovation of the industrial premises, which for decades had been used as warehouses by public entities, was completed under pressure from the actress Irini Pappas with a contribution from the state. The financing was provided by European and national funds, but also through the actress' personal assets. In 2014, in an agreement with the State Land Company, the historic industrial building SANITAS at 52 Piraeus Avenue ("School of Athens" of actress Irene Pappa) passed into the hands of the National Theatre under the artistic direction of Sotiris Hatzakis.

The relocation of the Drama School of the National Theatre took place during the artistic tenure of Stathis Livathinos and was sponsored by the Latsis Foundation in memory of Nikos Kourkoulos. The Foundation financed all the initial architectural studies and the necessary restoration work of the main spaces.

With the move to the "School of Athens-Irini Papa", a solution was found to a chronic housing problem which required the continual change of premises. The Drama School was originally housed in a specially designed space in the building on Agiou Konstantinou Street. In 1931 due to lack of space the entrance examinations were held in a rented building at 20a Mavromichalis Street. In 1935 the School moved to a building at 6 Staikos Street (intersection with Kaplanon Street). In 1940 they were rehoused in a neoclassical building near the theatre at 65 Menandrou Street and Agiou Konstantinou Street where they remained until 1978; with the exception of the years 1945-47, after the events of December 1944, classes were temporarily held in the actors’ changing rooms of the National Theatre (as the School premises had been destroyed) and after, in the premises of the Athens Opera in the building at Menandrou Street. From 1978 to 2018 the school was housed in a neoclassical building on Piraeus Street, owned by the Municipality of Athens.

The Drama School of the National Theatre is now housed in an exemplary restored industrial complex, featuring a 500-seat auditorium and three additional classrooms, library, outdoor theater and a tree-lined forecourt.

From the 2018-2019 academic year, the Drama School has acquired, alongside the Acting department, the Directing department, with the aim of professional training and artistic awareness of future directors. This is an important achievement of the National Theatre, which satisfied a decades-old request, as the decision to create a Directing department had already been taken in the 1950s.

The Directing Department was created on the initiative of the director of the National Theatre, Stathis Livathinos, who wanted to pass on his experience from the Directing Department of the State Theatre Institute of Moscow. The first teachers of the school were Stathis Livathinos and as Visiting Professor the English director Andrew Wisniewski (professor of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art).

A first attempt to implement this idea was made by Stathis Livathinos with the organization of a three-year Directing Workshop (2001-2004) within the framework of the National Theatre.

During the tenure of Victor Ardittis as director of the Drama School of the National Theatre, the courses of Directing and History of Directing had been experimentally introduced in 2008.

Theodoros Synadinos (1930-1946), Dimitris Rontiris (1946-1947), K. Kartheos (1948-1955), Angelos Terzakis (1956-1957 and 1961-1962), Sokratis Karantinos, (1957-1961 and 1968-1970), Thanos Kotsopoulos (1962-1966), Stelios Vokovich (1966-1968), Vasilios Fragos (1970-1973), Alexis Diamantopoulos (1973-1977), Nikos Tzoias (1977-1982), Mitsos Lygizos (1982 -1984), Tasos Lignadis (1984-1989), Tasos Roussos (1989-2007), Viktor Ardittis (2007-2013), Kostas Georgousopoulos (2013-2015), Stathis Livathinos (2015-2016), Elsa Adrianou (2016-2019) ), Dio Kagelari (2019-present).

Lydia Sapunaki-Drakaki & Tzogia-Moatsou Maria Louiza, The Drama School of the National Theatre, MIET, Athens 2011.

Spathis Dimitris, «The Theatre», in: Greece, History and Culture, 10, Malliaris-Paideia, Thessaloniki 1983.

Hadjipantazis Thodoros, A diagram of the history of the modern Greek theatre, University Press of Crete, Heraklion 2014.