Strella
Michalis Paraskakis

Strella

Michalis Paraskakis

Available for on-demand streaming from December 25, 2024, to August 25, 2025.

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

Ticket: 5€
Opera

The highly acclaimed and widely discussed opera Strella by Michalis Paraskakis, based on the film of the same name by Panos H. Koutras-an iconic movie about the visibility of trans people and the LGTBQ+ community in Greece and abroad -is coming to your screens via GNO TV.

The opera treats the meeting between Yorgos, a 48-year-old man newly released from prison, and Strella, a young trans sex worker who idolises Maria Callas. The future seems open for both of them for the first time after a very long time. However, as Yorgos' accounts with the past are far from closed, his history comes back to haunt him. Together with Strella, they must find a way to redemption.

The cinematic story of Strella, as unfolded in Panos H. Koutras and Panagiotis Evangelidis' script, seems to have all the marks of a realist music drama, as it leans upon Ancient Greek tragedy with direct allusions to the myth of Oedipus and in terms of operatic verismo.

Thirteen years later, the film's subject remains as topical as it was in the time it was first released. In contemporary reality, where boldness and truth are absolutely necessary, the film's characters, and subsequently those of the opera too, are not treated as caricatures but as persons who fall in love, love and experience pain.

Libretto: Alexandra K*, based on Panos H. Koutras' film of the same title
Conductor: Konstantinos Terzakis
Stage director: George Koutlis
Set designer: Eva Manidaki
Costume designer: Ioanna Tsami
Movement coach, choreographer: Fenia Apostolou
Lighting designer: Nikos Vlasopoulos

Strella: Letta Kappa
Callas: Anastasia Kotsali
Yorgos: Michalis Psyrras
Mary: Ioanna Zam-Petrou
Alex: Nikos Spanatis
Wilma: Victoria Tsitouridou-Maya
Antonis, 1^st Cop, Yuri: Nicolas Maraziotis
Nikos, 2^nd Cop: Nicolas Maraziotis
Drag performer: Nina Naï
Kouloukousis: George Roupas
Squirrel: Alexandros Stavropoulos
Child: Ioulieta-Viktoria Karapiperidi / Christina Kyriaki

Ana Chifu (flute), Antonis Tsachtanis (clarinet), Guido de Flaviis (saxophone), George Krimperis (trombone), Kazuyo Tsunehiro (percussion), Mislav Režić (electric guitar), Christos Sakellaridis (piano), Artemis Vavatsika (bayan), Alexis Theofylaktou (violin), Charis Pazaroulas (double bass)

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