Glytzouris, Antonis. “In the venues of oblivion”: Theater and Cinema in the Refugee Settlements of Interwar Piraeus. A First Visit. Institute for Mediterranean Studies-FORTH, 2024

IMS Publications

This book documents, analyzes, and contextualizes the theatrical and cinematic entertainment in the refugee settlements in Piraeus from 1923 to 1940. These settlements were established to accommodate the Orthodox Christians who had fled the Ottoman Empire after the Greek-Turkish War in Asia Minor (1919-1922) and the compulsory Greek-Turkish population exchange of 1923. After an introduction addressing historiographical issues, the book is divided into four parts. Part A delves into the theatrical and cinematic experiences the Orthodox Christians had in Asia Minor before 1922 and their (primarily the Smyrna actors’) familiarity with Greek performances and films played there. This is followed by an overview of Piraeus life in the early 20th century to assess the unique contribution of the refugee community to it. Part B details the emergence and development of theater and cinema in the refugee neighborhoods of Kokkinia, Drapetsona, Tabouria, Agia-Sofia, and Kaminia. The next part discusses specific theater and film topics, including the theater business, the repertoire of the theaters, the actors, the refugee audience, and the impact and spread of Hollywood cinema, as well as mass art in general, on the entertainment in refugee neighborhoods. The final part places the research findings in a broader historical context. It discusses amateur theater, theater in the factories, the formation of petty-bourgeois and refugee identities, and the process of integration of refugees into the national body against the background of the social, political and ideological developments of that era.