Trapped | the performance

Fast Forward Festival 2018 10-13/5 | Onasis Cultural Centre

Performed at National Theatre , Ziller Building, Hall

Us or them? A site-specific performance about the dilemmas that have divided and fanaticised modern Greeks throughout their history. An unusual performance embracing theatre and dance components unfolds inside and around the National Theatre Ziller building

“Suddenly it seemed to me that all our dreams were nothing but a glorious soap bubble and that we were and will never be anything but people of our time.”

Isadora Duncan

Was Isadora Duncan an archeologist or a pioneer? Was she a priestess or a prostitute? Was she body or intellect?

Symbolic figures like Duncan deconstruct these oppositions, embodying both poles at the same time or ultimately none of them. But do not fall into the trap of thinking this is a performance about Duncan.

The show explores more what Duncan meant for Athens, than what Athens meant for Duncan. How does someone elude these binaries which monopolize the recent history of Greece? How is one lead to a more complex perception of history as a construction?

“Trapped,” moves between different performative languages: documentary theater, dance, historical reconstruction, guided tour, participatory performance, installation in the public space, and leads the audience from the linguistic controversy of 1903, to the national division of 1915, and through to today.

Systematically, over time, the divisive dilemmas and slogans, succeed in simplifying the serious issues of politics and society And the real stakes are lost somewhere along the way. In Athens, Duncan collided with a reality, which led to successive frustrations of her vision.

Contributors

Concept & Research: Medie Megas

Choreography & Stage Direction: Medie Megas in collaboration with the performers

Performers: Kate Adams, Antonis Antonopoulos, Katerina Bella, Alexia Beziki, Zoe Dimitriou, Medie Megas, Periklis Skordilis, Giorgos Valais

Dramaturgy: Kate Adams

Original Music: Chrysanthos Christodoulou

Set Design: Maro Michalakakou

Lighting Design: Tasos Palaioroutas

Costumes: Vassilia Rozana, Lazaros Tzovaras

Assistant Choreographer: Vasso Giannakopoulou

Additional Historical Research: Christiana Galanopoulou

Photography: Christos Simeonides

Location Scouting: Dimitris Chalkiadakis

Sewing by: Dimitra Kapnoriza, Anna Kypraiou (students of AVIOTI FASHIO ED School)

Musicians: Michalis Vrettas (violin), Giorgos Bikoulis,  Stelios Chatzikaleas (trumpet), Chrysanthos Christodoulou (saxophone)

English Voice Recording: Phillippa Howarth  

English Voices: Emma Short, Kevin Parkin

Greek Voices: Nikolas Makris, Rallou Roumelioti

Set Construction: Lazaridis Scenic Studio

Production Design: Konstantinos Sakkas

Line Production: Ioanna Venetaki

Production Management: Delta Pi

Commissioned and Produced by:
Onassis Culture/FFF
Co-production: National Theatre of Greece
Supported by Isadora & Raymond Duncan Dance Research Center

Special thanks to:

Stathis Livathinos, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, Manolis Andriotakis, Penelope Iliaskou, Alkis Raftis, Alexandros Filadelfeys, Christina Mitsopoulou, Kostas Ntalas, Kostis Syfnaios, Maria Vasariotou, Giorgos Nomikos, Maria Konstantopoulou, Irini Konstanta, as well as Diagennesi Marble-Sculpture, ELIA-MIET (Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive – Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece), Anastasia Gaugiotaki, Director of Studies at Avioti Fashion ED and Bespoke & Haute Couture Department, for their support and valuable contribution in the creation process.

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