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Greek and World Theatre: Drama, Performance, Education

PAPADOPOULOS LEONIDAS

LEONIDAS PAPADOPOULOS

Theatre Scholar • Director • Dramaturg

Ancient Greek Tragedy • Directing • Performance Analysis • Theatre Translation

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Leonidas Papadopoulos was born in Thessaloniki. He holds a PhD from the Department of Classics at King’s College London.

His doctoral research, supervised by Edith Hall and supported by scholarships from the Onassis Foundation and the Greek State Scholarships Foundation, focused on Sea Voyages in Ancient Greek Tragedy.

He graduated with distinction from both the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes of the Department of Theatre Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He also studied acting at the Giorgos Kimoulis Contemporary Theatre of Athens Drama School.

Ancient Greek TragedyReception of Ancient DramaDirectingDramaturgyPerformance AnalysisTheatre Translation
Education
  • BA with distinction from the Department of Theatre Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
  • MA with distinction from the Department of Theatre Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
  • PhD from the Department of Classics, King’s College London.
  • Doctoral research supervised by Professor Edith Hall.
  • Scholarships from the Onassis Foundation and the Greek State Scholarships Foundation.
  • Acting studies at the Giorgos Kimoulis Contemporary Theatre of Athens Drama School.
University Teaching
  • Theatre History at the Department of History, Ionian University.
  • Directing and Dramatic Monologicity at the Department of Theatre Studies, NKUA, as an appointed lecturer (2018-2020).
  • Performance Analysis in the postgraduate programme of the Department of Theatre Studies, NKUA (2020-2023).
Doctoral Research
His doctoral dissertation at King’s College London focused on:

Sea Voyages in Ancient Greek Tragedy .

The research was conducted under the supervision of Edith Hall and was supported by scholarships from the Onassis Foundation and the Greek State Scholarships Foundation.

European Network for Ancient Drama
From 2008 to 2017, he was a member of the Greek research team of the

European Network of Research and Documentation of Performances of Ancient Greek Drama.

Research Projects and Collaborations
  • Dramaturg for the history project “It Happened in Greece” at the National Theatre of Greece, directed by Nikos Hatzopoulos.
  • Collaboration as a theatre scholar with the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus for the Festival of Modern Greek Drama “The Dynamics of Greek Discourse in Theatre” (2017-2020).
  • Collaboration in the programme “From the Museum to the Theatre: Tracing the Performance Practice of Ancient Tragedy” (2020-2021).
  • Participation in the postdoctoral research project “Film Noir in Greece” (2020-2021).
Research and Conference Activity
He has participated in research projects, presented papers at Greek and international academic conferences, and published studies on:
  • Ancient Greek tragedy
  • Modern Greek theatre
  • Reception and performance practice
  • Film reception and film noir
Dramaturgical Work on Ancient Drama
He has undertaken the dramaturgical adaptation of ancient drama productions including:
  • Agamemnon, Beton 7, directed by P. Michailidis, 2012.
  • Agamemnon, Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kozani, directed by N. Kontouri, 2013.
  • The Persians, National Theatre of Northern Greece, directed by N. Kontouri, 2014.
Playwriting, Translation and Adaptation

He works in theatre translation and adaptation.

He wrote the play Asia Minor, a dramaturgical composition based on refugee testimonies.

Pass-Port
In 2022, he presented the production

Pass-Port,

which was based on his doctoral research on sea voyages in ancient Greek tragedy.
Selected Directing Credits
  • Unburied Dead, an adaptation of Irwin Shaw’s Bury the Dead.
  • Dancing in the Fog by Amanda Whittington.
  • Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen.
  • Endgame by Samuel Beckett.
  • Sex Cells by Anna Longaretti.
  • The Double Bass by Patrick Süskind.
  • La Cocinera by Eduardo Machado.
  • Sofia by Ignacio García May.
  • Donna Abbandonata or You Have Upset Me Very Much, Mr Giorgos by Glykeria Basdeki.
  • Building by Penny Fylaktaki.
  • Signs in the Fog by Stephen Sachs.
  • The Birds by Conor McPherson.
  • One Day When We Were Young by Nick Payne.
  • Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang.
  • California Dreamin’ by Vasilis Katsikonouris.
Recent Publications
  1. Leonidas Papadopoulos (2023), “The unhellenic attire of choruses as image of the ‘other’ in ancient Greek tragedy”, in Textiles in Motion: Dress for Dance in the Ancient World , Ancient Textiles Series, Oxbow Books.
  2. Leonidas Papadopoulos (2023), “Nosos and Akos: Theatre in the Age of Covid-19”, in Theatre and Performing Arts in the 21st Century , Hellenic Association of Theatre and Performing Arts Critics.
  3. Leonidas Papadopoulos, Anna Poupou & Eva Stefani (2022), “The Reception of US and French Film Noir in Post-War Greece, 1945-1958”, Journal of Greek Media and Culture.
Papadopoulos Leonidas

Dr. Leonidas Papadopoulos was born in Thessaloniki. He was awarded his doctorate from Kings College London/UK in 2016 (Scholarship by Onassis Foundation and the Greek State Scholarship Foundation).
He taught Theatre History at the Department of History, Ionian University/ Greece, Theatre Directing, Ancient Greek Drama, and
Performance Analysis in undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
He participated as a dramaturge in National Theatre of Greece’ history project It happened in Greece (2016-2018) and in Contemporary Greek Play Festival at Municipal Theatre of Piraeus (2017-2020). Member of the research team focuses on the reception of US and European crime films in Greece from the post-war period until today (Prof. Eva Stefani and Dr Anna Poupou) He was a member of the organizing committee of the European Network of Research and Documentation of Performances of Ancient Greek Drama/ Arc-Net (2009-2017).
His main research interests focus on ancient Greek drama and stage directing. His credits, as a director, include a string of critically acclaimed productions such as Endgame by Samuel Becket, Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen, The Double Bass by Patrick Suskind, Bury the Dead by Irwin Shaw, The Thrill of Love by Amanda Wittington, Sofia by Ignacio Garcia May, Donna abbandonata or You really disappointed me Mr George by Glikeria Basdeki, The Building by Panagiota Phylaktaki, Bakersfield Mist by Stephen Sachs, The Birds by Conor McPherson, One Day When we were young by Nick Payne, Pass-Port- Sea Journeys in Ancient Greek Tragedy (the performance was based on his doctoral thesis and was funded by the Ministry of Culture), Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang, California Dreamin’ by Vasilis Katsikonouris,. He also worked as an actor with directors as Robert Sturua, Nikita Milivojevic, Slobodan Unkovski and Michalis Kakogiannis. He is artistic director of Athens-based In-Between Art Theatre Company.


Current publications

  • 2023 Leonidas Papadopoulos, «The unhellenic attire of choruses as image of the ‘other’ in ancient Greek tragedy» στο Textiles in Motion Dress for Dance in the Ancient World Ancient Textiles Series, Oxbow Books.
  • 2023 «Νόσος και ἄκος. Theatre in COVID-19 era», Greek Association of Theatre and Performing Arts Critics.
  • 2022 Leonidas Papadopoulos, Anna Poupou, Eva Stefani, «Τhe Reception of US and French Film Noir in Post-War Greece, 1945-1958» στο Journal of Greek Me