THE ARTBASSADOR - Key Persons

Dimitris Psarras has studied Translation and Interpretation in France and Greece. He speaks fluently French, Spanish, Catalan, English and Greek as a mother tongue. He is the co-founder of the Interpreting and Translation agency Podium, based in Athens. As both a translator and an interpreter, he has collaborated with many important institutions in Greece and abroad, among which the Greek National Theatre, the Athens French Institute, the Cervantes Institute, the Ramon Llull Institute, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), the Spanish Embassy in Athens; with public services in Greece and abroad; with important football clubs such as Olympiacos FC, AEK FC, Panathinaikos FC, AELK FC; with private corporations in Greece and abroad; with publishing houses such as Aparsis, University Studio Press, Ekati and Sokoli; with interpreting and translation agencies in Greece and abroad. He is the co-founder, together with Maria Chatziemmanouil, of the www.teatropasion.com website upon the promotion of Spanish, Catalan and Hispanic contemporary theatre in Greece. He has organized, together with Maria Chatziemmanouil, and in collaboration with the Spanish Embassy in Athens and the Cervantes Institute three stage reading festivals. He has translated, alone or with others, more than twenty-five plays of Catalan, Spanish and French theatre into Greek, many of which have been published and/or performed in Greece and Cyprus. Moreover, he has translated with others two theatrical plays from Greek into Spanish, as well as one play from Greek into Catalan. Articles by him have been published in Spanish literary magazines, both printed and digital, such as El Rapto de Europa and www.artezblai.com. He has interviewed the highly reputed Greek cinematographic director Theo Aggelopoulos, for the Catalan printed magazine La Directa.

Job Titles:

• Founder of the London Comedy Writers' Group

Jack Milner is one of the most talented creators currently on the UK stage comedy scene. He has very successfully taken part in more than 100 productions so far, under the capacity of director, writer, actor or producer, in theatre, cinema, television and radio. As a director, he has discovered the Olivier awarded and Tony nominated playwright Peter Quilter, directing his first professional show "Respecting your piers", but has also directed excellent versions of classical plays. Highlights of his directing career are: "Maggie's End" / the dark comedy written by Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood, which was staged at the Shaw Theatre in London, "3 stories" which was performed during the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) and "Snow White and the seven dwarfs" at the Bristol Hippodrome. He has also been Artistic Director at the Lichfield Mysteries, which is organising and supporting live theatre with large cast theatre productions and other arts, in Lichfield District. According to Chris Arnold, the Chairman for Lichfield Mysteries 2006: "… his (i.e. Jack Milner's) infectious enthusiasm and his organisational abilities are superb!", while the British comedy playwrights Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood conclude that "Jack … is brilliant at finding what's funny in a scene and bringing that to life, while at the same time making sure that the actors keep it real…". Jack Milner is also the founder of the London Comedy Writers' Group and one of the top UK comedy facilitators who has been working through stand-up workshops and coaching with a great number of comedians, various TV stations, the National Theatre and a huge range of businesses. His training methods "STAND UP AND DELIVER" are fun, innovative and effective, aiming -among others- at confidence building and connection of the presenter with his/her audience. Jack Milner has co-written the farce "OCTOPUS SOUP" with Mark Stevenson. However, Jack's great theatre success has been the play "THE MUMMY", "the mother of all comedy horrors", as it is "more dastardly than Dracula, more fearful than Frankenstein and more silly than the Sphinx". It was first staged in 2014 at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry, under the direction of the top British theatre director, Joe Harmston and then went touring in the UK. The author was inspired by the American film of the same name which was produced in 1999 and the novel "The jewel of the Seven Stars" written by the Dracula Author Bram Stoker in 1903. "This tale of terror and intrigue makes the audience laughing, screaming, screaming with laughter and laughing with screaming, in equal measure!" About the plot: From deepest, darkest and dangerous Egypt, a legendary curse is stirring back into life and unveils before our eyes. The respectable legal practitioner Malcolm is the fabulous narrator of the bizarre story of Maurice, the Egyptologist, based in Cornwall, who receives a parcel from Morocco containing the severed hand of a 5,000-year-old Egyptian mummy, the Queen Tera. That same night, Maurice's own hand is mysteriously attacked. The barrister Malcolm, who is in love with Margaret -Maurice's beautiful daughter- and the inspector Doolan decide to investigate, while they all clash spectacularly in hilarious circumstances … Many impressive special effects, fake severed hands, a re-animated mummy and a lot of magic and lively energy from a very funny ensemble!