The theatrical happening entitled "Miletus, Priene: On the traces of Hellenism", which was created especially for the twelve years of operation of Hellenic Cosmos, inaugurated a completely original, for Greek theatre, practice: the leading role was played by a digital character (avatar), who talked with the actors in real time. Virtual Reality, digital animation and real dialogues from natural people met on the stage creating an original experience that caused first surprise and then the enthusiasm of the spectators.

At the same time, the performance was a tour at Miletus and Priene, at their history and architecture, through the three-dimensional representation of these cities. We are watching the actor Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, with a child as his company, making a journey from present-day Athens to the cities of Antiquity in order to write a play. The first stop is the city of Miletus, where Aesop, in the form of the avatar, was the guide. Next stop was Priene, once again with Aesop (avatar) as his guide. In both cities various happenings took place, inspired by their history. For example, in Miletus a group of dancers presented the dance of Nereids in the bottom of the sea in the harbour, next to a virtual shipwreck, while in Priene actors read an extract from “Prometheus Bound” at the city’s theatre.

The whole performance was a presentation of the capabilities inherent in the use of state-of-the-art technology in theatre. The actors and the dancers interacted harmoniously with the virtual representations of the areas and the digital character creating a splendid spectacle. At the end of the performance, when the true identity of Aesop was revealed –an actor lend him his voice, another was the hidden guide and Aesop himself was the virtual representation, the avatar– the audience’s applause confirmed the success of this project.

Directed by: Giannis Kakleas

Organization-Presentation: Dimitris Efraimoglou

Text-Script: Athanasios Sideris

Choreographies: Kiriakos Kosmidis

Narration-Presentation: Konstantinos Konstantopoulos

Actors (alphabetically): Faye Kokkinopoulou, Sofoklis Kostoulas, Konstantinos Papavasiliou, Kimonas Fioretos and the little Aris Kakleas

Digital Actor (Avatar): Giannis Ramos (voice), Marios Mentis (Animation)

Dancers (alphabetically): Sophia Michail, Eelton Dimrotsi, Nikoleta Xanariou, Alain Rivero, Dimitra Charalambous

Costumes: Irene Tsakiri

Special Constructions: Dimitra Kesari

Video Art - Camera - Montage: Nicos Varsos

Image Technician: Nikos Sarafoglou

Sound Technicians: Panagiotis Galanos, Fivos Papagiannis

Lighting: Tasos Perdikouris

Stage Technician: Angeliki Dimitrakopoulou

Supervision of Three-Dimensional Representations, Virtual Reality and Motion Capture: FHW's 3D Graphics and Virtual Reality Department

Head of 3D Graphics and Virtual Reality Department: Ioannis Karigiannis

Scientific Research and Supervision: Ioannis N. Arvanitis, Ioannis Svolos

3D Models: Andronikos Antonakakis, Nikolaos Gizelis, Gabriel Gourdoglou, Alexander Hemery, Abraham Onassiadis

Primary Geometrical Modeling: Chara Sfiri, Aimilia Voulgari, Manos Vichos, Antonis Kotzias, Vassilis Kotnodimas, Vangelis Christodoulou

Characters and Animation: Andronikos Antonakakis

Creation of Vegitation: Gabrel Gourdoglou

3D Terrain Models: Ioannis N. Arvanitis, Gabrel Gourdoglou

Two-Dimensional Graphics, Textures: Gina Grapsia, Evdokia Papakiriazi, Lydia Abastado

Virtual Reality Programming: Anthoussis Andreadis, Ahtanasios Gaitatzis, Pavlos Mavridis, Dimitris Christopoulos

System Motion Capture (Avatar): Andronikos Antonakakis, Gabrel Gourdoglou, Alexander Hemery

Virtual Reality Navigation: Panagiota Stellaki, Niki Tsiouni