Onassis Stegi, Athens, premiere 21st November 2024
I can hear the sound as I take my seat. It reminds me of the noise of the oxygen machine my grandma used to put around her mouth and nostrils, to help her breathe. This music, which sounds like a heartbeat, will accompany us during the entire performance.
On stage are 25 young performers – including the DJs Reign of Time, 11 actors and 12 dancers – who are already dancing. They keep on moving constantly, as if they will drop unconscious if they don’t carry on moving. Like the oxygen machine, it feels like their – and ours – heartbeat will stop if they stop moving. As long as the doors are open and people are entering, we are ‘’allowed’’ to take pictures and videos of what’s happening on stage. But, as soon as the doors are closed and the stalls’ lights are dimmed, the usual announcement goes off, in a distorted voice, that we are no longer ‘’allowed’’ to take pictures or videos of the performance. We are now part of their rave, part of their universe.
Oxygen’’was written in 2002 by the Russian-born writer Ivan Vyrypaev, whose works are now banned in Russia, and who is now a naturalized Polish citizen. Vyrypaev’s text is narrated by two characters – a boy and a girl both named Sasha -and accompanied by a live DJ set, allowing the piece to be transformed in order to be played both in theatre settings and in clubs.
The original text was first staged in Moscow in 2002 starring the author himself and an actress. It was Vyrypaev’s fourth play, and was crowned the ‘manifesto’ of the New Drama movement of the 00s. In the author’s words: “I write for a generation of educated young people who do not go to the theatre that often”.
The play is constructed of 10 parts, both monologues or dialogues, that are inspired by the 10 commandments of the Bible. Starting from the ‘’Thou shalt not kill’’ commandment, we follow Sasha and Sasha, who are played by the whole team of performers, and whose story opens up a whole lot of ‘difficult’ subjects and moral dilemmas which are faced by this generation. From the 9/11 attacks, the environmental crisis, the escalation in gun violence, the politics of late capitalism, up to the latest wars, Israel’s war on Gaza. Recurring phrases are linked to lungs, suffocating, and taking a deep breath together.
The Greek adaptation, by the director George Koutlis – who studied stage directing at the Russian University of Theater Arts GITIS and is a speaker of Russian – and Vasilis Magouliotis, makes sure to maintain the images created by the original, while bringing in more contemporary issues and making sure that the linguistic and phonetic musicality and rhythmicality of the Greek language are brought to the surface. The texts are sometimes recited in gospel-like musicality, are sometimes read as a (love) letter to the self or to others, and sometimes are dropped like hip hop beats or slam poetry.

Oxygen, Onassis Stegi. Photos: Pinelopi Gerasimou
As we are move through the chapters, the quality of the movement change as well. It goes from rave party vibes to contemporary dance to something more like ‘’theatrical exercises’’ in which the performers walk in straight lines, to breakdance move to something resembling oriental folk dance complete with pirouettes. The on stage movement is accompanied by videos art in various shapes and forms which are projected on the walls.
It feels both confronting and limiting to watch all this while seated. At times I feel like I want to be a part of it, to stand up in front of my seat or run on to the stage, and dance to their vibe, chant their manifesto and yell my lungs out. In other moments, I found myself questioning what is our – the audience’s – responsibility and part in this. Fortunately, this moment comes halfway through the 10 commandments, when all of a sudden the music stops, the lights are all back on, and we become witnesses to a debate between Sasha and Sasha, played by two of the performers. Their debate touches upon religious conscience, out-of-date ideologies in the modern world, and the irreconcilable nature of relationships nowadays. So many dead-ends come up because there are so many conflicts in the world that ‘’need to be addressed,’ including gender-based violence. The difference is that we are now placed between them, as they are rebounding from each other, making us not just witnesses, but perhaps guilty accomplices too.
Following this break in pace, what is revealed is that Sasha and Sasha are no longer necessary ‘’characters’’ to lead the imagination in this new world, but now they can be anyone, questioning the morality and necessity of our choices and actions, fears, and judgments of others. In an almost self-apologetic manner, we hear what could be the director/author’s voice suggesting we do not look for a meaning in all we see, since that would be pointless.
‘Dance’ is the word of the day of this particular performance, which the actress Noemi Vasileiadou improvises on. As the improvisation word is different every time the piece is performed, we are getting a unique taste of ‘’dance’’ for her. In her words, she was dancing a lot as a kid, but is now more shy towards it. ‘’Some people never dance or never truly dance, because they want to avoid something, or they are dancing because they want to forget that at the same time people are dying in other parts of the world.’’ In the end, questions on ‘’where would I be if…’’ appear, perhaps as a reminder of the unpredictability and absurdity of the seeds of life called god, under the call ‘’please don’t cut my supply of oxygen’’.
Oxygen aims to be the call to freedom for Gen Z, a generation trying to understand the world and have its voice heard. We get this: A flurry of stimuli that sometimes make you feel passionate, heard, touched but also sometimes awkward, numb, and powerless. It’s a piece for a generation at a moment in time that thinks it might faint if it stops breathing, if it stops moving.
Credits:
Direction, Translation, and Adaptation: George Koutlis//Adaptation and Dramaturgy: Vasilis Magouliotis// Choreography: Alexandros Stavropoulos// Movement: Alkistis Polychroni//Music Composition and Sound Design: Jeph Vanger//Set Design: Constantine Skourletis// Video Design: Uncharted Limbo Collective// Costumes Design: Eva Goulakou & Dimos Klimenof//Lighting Design: Eliza Alexandropoulou
Cast: Gavriela Antonopoulou, Electra Barouta, Ioannis Bastas, Nikolas Chatzivasiliadis, Chara Giota, Nikos Gonidis, Marios Hadjiantoni, Eleftheria Iliopoulou, Panos Kladis, Despina Lagoudaki, Marianna Mathia, Alexandros Nouskas Varelas, Evini Pantelaki, Kostas Phoenix, Antonia Pitoulidou, Gal A. Robissa, Katerina Samara, Natalia Swift, Thodoris Theodorakopoulos, Giannis Tomazos, Anastasia Valsamaki, Noemi Vasileiadou, Jason Vrochidis
For tickets and more information, visit: Onassis.org
Nick Verginis (1996) (he/him) is a Greek cultural journalist and researcher based in Amsterdam. With a background in media studies and cultural leadership, Nick is interested in thinking, researching, producing, and writing for the performing arts, with particular expertise in artist residencies.
Nick is collaborating with the platform Around About Circus, writing reviews, reports, and articles about contemporary circus. At the same time, he is an administration and production assistant of the circus companies Ki Omos Kineitai(GR) and Profondo Rosso(NL). Nick is also part of Acréo, the first Greek contemporary circus magazine, and Backpage Project, a European cooperation between print magazines on circus.