The Greek National Opera is set to present Verdi’s “Rigoletto” starting on June 2, 2022.

The new production will be directed by Artistic Director Katerina Evangelatos, who will set the opera in a 1980s Italian town.

The repertory classic will star Dimitris Paksoglou as the Duke of Mantua, Dimitris Tiliakos as Rigoletto, Christina Poulitsi as Gilda, Petros Magoulas as Sparafucile, and Mary-Ellen Nesi as Maddalena. Lukas Karytinos will conduct the GNO Orchestra and Choir.

“The cycle of violence depicted by Verdi in his ‘Rigoletto’ is here transferred to a self-contained little world in the Italian provinces during the 1980s, where organized crime reigns supreme,” said Evangelatos in an official press statement. “Corruption, criminality, rape—this is the true face of what is a pietistic, conservative, and superstitious society. Eva Manidaki’s set—a timeworn Italian country mansion that stows the brutality and darkness of the work’s characters—is perfectly embedded within its physical Odeon setting, while Alan Hranitelj’s costumes complete the picture of a society in steep decline.”.

There will be subsequent performances of the Verdi classic on June 5, 8 and 11, 2022. The work is being presented as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.