Still Life program

DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU | GREECE

Photo: Julian Mommert

still life

STILL LIFE

Visual Concept, Direction, Costume and Lighting Design by Dimitris Papaioannou Sound Composition by Giwrgos Poulios Sets designed in collaboration with Dimitris Theodoropoulos & Sofia Dona Sets adapted for the tour by Tina Tzoka Sculpture Design & Set Painting by Nectarios Dionysatos Costumes designed in collaboration with Vassilia Rozana Creative Producer & Assistant Director Tina Papanikolaou Assistant Director & Rehearsal Director Pavlina Andriopoulou

Tour Manager Julian Mommert Technical Director & Production Manager Manolis Vitsaxakis Lighting Director & Programmer Evina Vassilakopoulou Sound Installation Design Konstantinos Michopoulos Stage Manager Dinos Nikolaou Assistant to the Sculptor Ioanna Plessa Assistant Sound Engineer Nikos Kolias Created at & Produced by Onassis Cultural Centre—Athens Tour Produced by 2WORKS with the support of Onassis Cultural Centre—Athens Tour Travel Sponsor Aegean Airlines

Photo: Julian Mommert

Performers Prokopis Agathokleous, Drossos Skotis, Costas Chrysafidis, Christos Strinopoulos, Kalliopi Simou, Pavlina Andriopoulou & Dimitris Papaioannou

DIRECTOR’S NOTE In a deserted landscape, under an expansive sky, workerhumans grapple with the weight of elemental materials in their attempts to connect with the lightness of the cosmos that envelops them. Bodies are balanced and broken apart, creating optical illusions that seek to gently illuminate humankind’s Sisyphean search for meaning.

Photo: Julian Mommert

DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU | GREECE BAY 17 CARRIAGEWORKS 27–29 JANUARY 80MINS, NO INTERVAL

Still Life springs from a meditation upon the myth of Sisyphus, who was sentenced to a weird kind of immortality: he would roll a huge rock up to the top of a mountain, only for the rock to roll back down. He would then walk down in order to roll the rock up again. Over and over, eternally. Sisyphus is like a working class hero.

While creating Still Life, we thought a lot about the human craving for meaning, and about the absurdity of the human condition, rooted in matter but yearning for spirit. We were thinking about Albert Camus, and about work as meaning in and of itself. At the same time, we concentrated deeply on simplicity, interaction with real materials, and silence — musically-composed silence.

Still Life is a work about work. About confronting physical matter in order to elevate our existence above it. It is an attempt towards a kind of theatre that generates meditative energy through simple actions, and encourages an emotional journey through optical illusions.

Dimitris Papaioannou, October 2014

DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU Rooted firmly in the fine arts, Dimitris Papaioannou gained early recognition as a comic artist and painter, before turning his attention to the performing arts as a director, choreographer, performer, and designer of sets, costumes and lighting. The first vehicle for his stage work was Edafos Dance Theatre, a group that spanned 17 years until 2002 and left an indelible mark on the Greek arts scene. He became more widely known as the creator of the Athens 2004 Olympic Ceremonies. Since 1986, he has dedicated himself to creating intensely visual original works – a hybrid of experimental dance, physical theatre and performance art. In 2015-16, he toured his two latest works Still Life (2014) and Primal Matter (2012) in Europe, South America, and Asia.

MERITON FESTIVAL VILLAGE 6-29 JANUARY HYDE PARK NORTH ENTRY NEAR ARCHIBALD FOUNTAIN

TOMBOY SURVIVAL GUIDE 25-29 JAN

FREE ENTRY

AN OASIS OF MUSICAL AND THEATRICAL DELIGHTS, WITH PLENTY OF DELICIOUS EATS

RETRO FUTURISMUS 24-29 JAN

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OTTO & ASTRID EUROSMASH! DIE ROTEN PUNKTE 26-28 JAN

HAIR SALON VARIOUS DATES THROUGH JAN Photo: Raw Bones