In 1836, the comedy Vavylonia (Babylon) was written by Dimitrios Vyzantios (1790-1853). The story takes place at Nauplion and satirizes the weakness of communication between Greeks of different regions who, on coming to the Peloponnese, spoke different dialects. Valvylonia was one of the first attempts in the formation of a Greek repertory which was to be inspired by everyday life and the problems of the country. From the Heptanesian School, a little later, in 1856, Antonios Matesis (1794-1875) produced the work Vassilikos, a theatrical play referring to the social conflicts in Zakynthos at the beginning of the 18th century. Nonetheless, such specific creations constitute exceptions since the whole theatrical movement of the Greek state remained particularly weak due to the poor standard of new works and the absence of appropriate theatrical spaces. Conversely, in the Ionian Islands and mainly on Corfu in the same period a considerable theatrical movement developed around a circle of scholars from the Ionian Academy.

Towards the middle of the 19th century the first short-lived theatre companies appeared in Athens. One of the difficulties they faced was the antagonism of foreign companies which staged Italian melodramas (operas) in the Greek capital. The first attempts at the creation of a national theatre by Dimitris Kampouroglou in 1856 did not succeed and only in the next decade were conditions favourable for further state intervention in theatrical life. The attempts to create a classical theatrical tradition through the works of Dimitrios Vernardakis (1833-1907), Aggelos Vlachos (1838-1920) and others did not succeed. Conversely, in parallel with the emergence of the generation of the 1880s and the development of popular interest in the agricultural way of life, the operetta and the dramatic idyll were introduced. Dimitrios Koromilas (1850-1898) wrote with Dimitrios Kokkos (1856-1891) the operetta I tychi tis Maroulas (The fate of Maroula) in 1889 and three years later the dramatic idyll O agapitikos tis voskopoulas (The lover of the shepherd girl). In the same trend are Golpho of Spyridon Peresiadis (1864-1918) and Chaido by Panagos Melissiotis (1854-1904).

In the same period, with the musician Napoleon Lambelet (1864-1932) as a pioneer, the first efforts in the creation of Greek melodrama were made. Melodrama was known in the Ionian Islands, especially on Corfu, where, however, Italian plays were put on. In 1888, at the theatre 'of Boukoura', Lambelet staged the play Ypopsiphios Voulephtis (Deputy Candidate) written by Spyros Xyndas, which is the first pure Greek opera. In the same year the Municipal Theatre of Athens was founded.