I WANT TO SEE THE POPE!
Theofrastos Sakellaridis

I WANT TO SEE THE POPE!

Theofrastos Sakellaridis

Available for on-demand streaming from July 8, 2025 to March 8, 2026

On https://www.nationalopera.gr/GNOTV/en

Ticket: 5€

Opera

The legendary operetta I Want to See the Pope! by the renowned Theophrastos Sakellaridis, one of the master builders of Greek operetta, is coming, a century later, to GNO TV in a new, ambitious production.
The production was presented in the Alternative Stage of the GNO.
Conducted by Nicolas Vassiliou and directed by Natasha Triantafylli and featuring a select cast of distinguished soloists and a nine-member instrumental ensemble.

The operetta I Want to See the Pope! (1920), which generated strong reactions upon its initial release, fully explores Theophrastos Sakellaridis' modern bourgeois themes. The composer also penned the libretto, which is a domestic adaptation of Maurice Hennequin's farce Les joies du foyer (1894). The plot features a newly married bourgeois couple whose relationship is disrupted during their honeymoon trip to Rome when the young wife expresses the desire to see the Pope up close!

The work's style, language, characters, music, and rhythm reveal a captivating stage world where hypocrisy, exaggeration, exhibitionism, and the unquestioned idealization of certain social institutions are sharply satirized. The audience witnesses a wedding, the expectations of the newlyweds and their relatives, and a Pope who-although he never appears-remains the unseen protagonist of the show throughout its duration, serving as a reminder of the fact that confusion, mix-ups, and the pitfalls of established values are often inextricable parts of human desire.

Score restored and adapted for chamber ensemble by Yannis Belonis
Conductor: Nicolas Vassiliou
Director: Natasha Triantafylli
Dramaturgy, adaptation: Elena Triantafyllopoulou
Set, costumes: Tina Tzoka
Movement: Dimitra Mitropoulou
Lighting design: Christos Tziogkas

Varonas: Dimitris Sigalos
Mr Latroudis: Vangelis Maniatis
Mrs Latroudi: Julia Souglakou
Αnna: Chrissa Maliamani
Adrianos: Nicolas Maraziotis
Rita: Marissia Papalexiou
Dimosthenis: Antonis Kyriakakis
Sergeant Nicolas Vassiliou

Nafsika Tsara flute
Ilias Skordilis clarinet
Petros Karatsolis trombone
Dionisis Vervitsiotis violin Ι
Vanessa Athanasiou violin ΙΙ
Jannis Athanasopoulos viola
Elli Filippou cello
Dimitris Tigkas double bass
Theo Vazakas percussion

With a 5-euro ticket, viewers can enjoy this production from the comfort of their homes at tv.nationalopera.gr/en, at any time they choose, on their computer, ipad, TV or mobile phones. The ticket offers the possibility to access the performance for an unlimited number of times over the course of a 30-day period starting from the first streaming.

The funding body of the project is the Ministry of Culture, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0" with funding from the European Union - NextGeneration EU.

Lead Donor of the Greek National Opera and Founding Donor of the GNO TV

Stavros Niarchos Foundation