Τhe Identity-Character Crisis in Greek Theater and Its Repercussion in Costume Design
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In the era of globalization and Mass Media domination, the heroic and integrated individual is being disputed in multiple ways. In theater, modern drama direction very often elaborates aspects of embodification, demanding that the actor present independent realities, cut off from the internal character, the ‘soul’ of the role. The theater of characters, especially in the Greek post-modern performances, seems to have lost its originality. It has been changed into an interactive communication where the actor’s body functions as a ‘screen projector’ and the costume loses its traditional purpose to focus on the special aspects of the hero. Similarly, in the visual arts the ‘portrait crisis’ is not irrelevant to the theater. In portrait painting the ‘subject’ is brought to predominate and impose his/her dynamic. The belief in the re-presentative ability in painting is identified with confidence in the dominating power of the individual, a belief disputed in the 20th century. In the post-industrialized societies, a new subject is proclaimed as the ‘leading role:’ a nonidentity, an anonymous person, a consumer of goods, ideas and images. These social and artistic alienations influence not only the direction of drama, but also the costumes, bringing new manners of design inspiration and practice.