Radio Adaptations of Ancient Greek Tragedies on Greek State Radio (EIRT) during the Military Dictatorship (1967–1974): The Adaptation of Iphigenia in Aulis (1968)

The paper centers on the unexplored field of radio adaptations of Greek Tragedies for the Greek National Radio and Television Foundation (EIRT) during the military dictatorship of 1967–1974. Greek radio’s dramatic output was an integral part of state broadcasting, reflecting EIRT’s cultural policy within the restrictions of the Greek military dictatorship. Since it was mainly Greek playwrights and authors who adapted the tragedies for the radio, and Greek directors who directed for EIRT were already established in theatre, there was a diverse influence on their output for both stage and radio. The paper examines a) the dramaturgical principles involved in the adaptation of Iphigenia in Aulis for production as radio drama (1968), b) the extent to which the innovations in radio technology and radio dramaturgy affected the production of Greek tragedy as radio drama, and c) the aesthetic framework of the adaptation of Greek tragedies for production as radio dramas and the approach chosen by director Kostis Michaelidis. Combining the rare archival material from ERT Archives, this paper aims to bring to light the understudied links between stage and radio productions of Greek tragedies and investigate the ways in which the two channels interact. An interdisciplinary theoretical framework will be developed in order to analyse and interpret this case study, using tools from theatre studies, radio semiotics, narratology, and cultural studies.