Feature-length dance-theatre performance, 96 minutes, DVCAM. [2007]

Conceived and directed for the stage by Dimitris Papaioannou.

Directed and produced for the screen by Athina Rachel Tsangari.

Dimitris Papaioannou (director, choreographer, performer, comics artist) has been called a Renaissance man, Greece’s enfant terrible, and “the man who stunned the world” with his creative direction of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games – an unprecedented artistic and technological triumph, seen by hundreds of millions across the globe. 2 years later, he returns with 2. An intimate grand spectacle for 22 male performers and 2 conveyor belts.

Hailed by audiences and press alike as a performing-arts landmark in contemporary Greek culture, 2 marked the nation’s biggest box office hit in recent history. In his exhilarating 90-minute physical theatre coup d’état, Papaioannou dissects today’s male figure, in search of the genetic code of the boy inside. Elegy meets burlesque, ballad meets action-adventure, passion meets pathos, mainstream meets its wild alter ego.

The first work by Dimitris Papaioannou following his creative direction of the Athens 2004 Olympic Ceremonies saw him return to pick up the thread of his personal artistic expression, and signalled the start of a second period after the 17 celebrated years of Edafos Dance Theatre. 2 enjoyed unprecedented box office success, and sparked heated debate amongst audiences and critics, attracting both plaudits and outspoken reactions.

Dimitris Papaioannou was voted “Best Director of the Year” at the annual Athinorama magazine People’s Choice Theatre Awards for his work on 2, with the production going on to collect another three awards at the same ceremony. One year later, the collector’s DVD edition of the show has been released by Modern Times.

2 was directed for the screen by Athina Rachel Tsangari, who was also responsible for the show’s video projections, in collaboration with Matt Johnson. In a departure from the naturalistic style of committing a theatrical work to film, Tsangari used eight cameras to capture the constructive elements of the show’s stage action and artistic approach. This cinematic version of 2 offers a new take on the work: shot using cameras placed head-on, side-on, and “two-dimensionally” in relation to the stage, it avoids descriptive camera movements, compresses and tightens the stage action to meet the pace of an action film, and makes cinematically bold use of close-ups, “zooming in” (without the use of live zoom) on details of the show’s many complex, concurrent tableaux.

“A contemporary flesh-and-blood frieze... Papaioannou’s piercing parody, or rather his parody of a tragedy, is a most candid mirror held up to our phallocentric society yearning for tenderness."

- Ta Nea [Greece]

"Inspiring...captures the zeitgeist."

- Contemporary magazine [UK]

Conceived and directed by Dimitris Papaioannou

Music: Κ.ΒΗΤΑ

Set Design: Lili Pezanou

Art Direction – Costume Design: Angelos Mendis

Lighting Design: Alekos Yiannaros

Painting Design: Maria Ilia

Video: Athina Rachel Tsangari, Matt Johnson

Assistant Director – Artistic Production Co-ordinator: Tina Papanikolaou

Performed by: Savvas Baltzis, Christos Delidimos, Nikos Dragonas, Altin Huta, Nikos Kalogerakis, Tassos Karachalios, Konstantinos Karvouniaris, Yorgos Kopsidas, Yorgos Kotsifakis, Euripides Laskaridis, Yorghos Matskaris, Marios Mettis, Yiannis Nikolaidis, Christos Papadopoulos, Fevos Papadopoulos, Tassos Papaioannou, Aris Servetalis, Diogenis Skaltsas, Drossos Skotis, Pavlos Stathakis, Manolis Theodorakis, Simon Tsakiris, Konstantinos Yiannakopoulos, Evangelos Zarkadas

Produced by ELLINIKI THEAMATON

2 DVD

Directed and produced for the screen by Athina Rachel Tsangari

Edited by Matt Johnson

Director of Photography: Simon Sakertzis

Camera Operators: Manos Gasteratos, Maria Hatzakou, Christos Karamanis, Costas Cefalas, Zoe Manda, Simon Sakertzis, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Vika Tsouras, Nikos Zoiopoulos

Sound Recording: Kostas Michopoulos

Steadicam: Yorgos Petrakis

Assistant Steadicam: Petros Koliavassilis, Theodoros Kentros

Sound Design – Foley – Mix: Panos Tzelekis

Sound Editing Assistant: Othonas Mendis

DVD Design – Colour Correction – Authoring: Matt Johnson

Subtitles: Kyriacos Karseras, Matheson Bayley

A HAOS FILM Production

2 large-scale stage projections [2007]

Funky Beep [2007]

2 TV Trailers [2007]

Dimitris Papaioannou

K.BHTA

Elliniki Theamaton