Drama Competitions in Greece from 1851 to 1950

In this paper I investigate the formative and ideological roles that drama competitions have played in Greece since Ambrose Rallis inaugurated a poetry competition in 1851 and assigned its management to the University of Athens. The Rallis Poetry Competition provided the blueprint for similar competitions in Greece with the faculty of the University of Athens playing a leading managerial role in all of these competitions until 1910 when the Averov Drama Competition was established. In this competition the judges evaluated the plays in performance, not just as scripts. Finally, I draw a number of conclusions about the relationship between the art of drama and official ideology.