Fifth Issue

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After World War II, a major change occurs in the composition of the audience, as children become the most important part of the audience. The consequence of this change is that the player is obliged to adapt the style of the performance to the needs of an entertainment which is suitable for children. In this way, Karagiozis player loses the influence exerted by his traditional audience, he loses the aesthetic control and feedback of the audience, and the Shadow Theater becomes a conventional theater genre, deprived of its identity as a genuine folk theater with a special performative function. Greek Shadow Theater: A dynamic combination of tradition and change “And who is this Tourtourismos, a fellow countryman of ours or a foreigner?” “ Karagiozis the Tour Guide” Using “tourtourismos” (from the Greek word “tourtourisma” meaning shivering) instead of “tourismos” (“tourism”), in the play “Karagiozis the Tour Guide”, the Karagiozis player introduces a new form of a traditional pun, and shows in the play, which is set in the framework of the rapid growth in tourism, in Greece, during the 1960s, that the Greek Shadow Theater is a flexible living organism, capable of rediscovering the world and of reaffirming its ties to the tradition of the past. As part of a wider cultural context, as a constantly changing dynamic narrative tradition, Karagiozis plays follow in the second half of 20 th century onwards a path of gradual adaptation to issues and problem of contemporary Greek life, and tend to respond to new aesthetic requests for innovative forms of artistic expression, which successfully combine tradition and novelty. Karagiozis plays retain their traditional structure, but now they are enriched with new material, new professions assumed by Karagiozis, new songs, jokes and puns, new 37
qualities and attributes of the characters, new styles of language, of clothing, new means of transportation, a different cultural context. Furthermore, Greek artists experiment with new forms of Karagiozis’ visual presentation. Karagiozis is not anymore a shadow figure on a screen. He becomes, along with all the characters, a person on the stage of the theater, and the aesthetic perception of Shadow Theater acquires a new perspective and a new form of expression. In 1972, the performance “Our Great Circus” capitalizes on the acting skills of a genuine folk Greek actor, Dionysis Papagiannopoulos, who gives life to the hero of the Shadow Theater and makes him a symbol of satire, a symbol of Greek identity. In 1951, Greek Choreographer, Rallou Manou, presents with her troupe “Greek Chorodrama”, a legendary performance of the play “Alexander the Great and the cursed snake”. How would the world be without light and shadow? How would the world be without colors, jokes and puns? I don’t know. I can only think of Karagiozis vibrant laughter, of his vivid imagination, that transforms his universe to a new reality, and then I know that his colorful jokes are the light and the shadow of the stage. I know that this is living! Eleni P. Moutsaki Embassy of Greece in Beijing Press & Communication Office 38
Page 2 and 3: Ο Κ α ρ α γ κ ι ό ζ η ς
Page 4 and 5: Name : K a r a g i o z i s - Nation
Page 6 and 7: offered a platform of heroic and hi
Page 8 and 9: Between Shadow and Light Between sh
Page 10 and 11: elated to the worship of flat figur
Page 12 and 13: In the 11 th century, due to decree
Page 14 and 15: from the beginning of the 16 th cen
Page 16 and 17: of Islamic society, clearly tended
Page 18 and 19: From Karagoz to Karagiozis - From t
Page 20 and 21: Past and present, individual and gr
Page 22 and 23: dramatic tradition with a cast of c
Page 24 and 25: The play begins with the assertion
Page 26 and 27: The characters of the Greek Shadow
Page 28 and 29: His tricks and jokes concerning his
Page 30 and 31: “Elli needs killing with a double
Page 32 and 33: The Karagiozis players “Do you kn
Page 34 and 35: Having the intention to highlight K
Page 36 and 37: to the audience of traditional thea
Page 40 and 41: The Shadow Theatre in China The Sha
Page 42 and 43: unique position in the conception a
Page 44 and 45: Hangzhou and Shanxi province, where
Page 46 and 47: References Loring M. Danforth, “T

Fifth Issue

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