“The police are against me, the merchants are against me, the intellectuals are against me. They denounce me and then run off to see the play. It’s impossible to find tickets!” So wrote Nikolai Gogol (Ukraine, 1809 – Moscow, 1852) to a friend in 1836, when The Government Inspector premiered in St. Petersburg, provoking great unease among senior state officials. In the one hundred and ninety years since then, the great Russian dramatist’s virtuoso farce has never lost its topicality. The corruption, greed and hypocrisy of those who exploit their position to feather their own nests and shamelessly flirt with power, indifferent to the citizens they are supposed to serve, has always been of universal interest.
Thomas Moschopoulos, one of the most important directors of the contemporary Greek theatre scene, who has won awards both in and outside Greece, now makes his directorial debut in Cyprus with The Government Inspector. He has also translated and adapted the play, and is assisted by an outstanding group of artists in creating the production. This version, which will open in February 2025 on Thoc’s Main Stage, twenty years after the play was last performed here, remains faithful to Gogol’s principles and values, challenging us to laugh at the state we are in, as, with Aristophanic mastery, it parades the malaise of bureaucracy and social corruption before our eyes. All the characters, without exception, are familiar. The Government Inspector skilfully highlights the ridiculousness of human nature when faced with authority.
The play was initially praised by the intellectuals of its time, first and foremost Gogol’s loyal friend Alexander Pushkin, who is rumoured to have given him the idea for its plot. The Government Inspector, this “vexatious” satire, is considered by many critics to be one of the most important pieces of world literature. In 2014, it was ranked by the British newspaper The Telegraph as one of the fifteen best theatrical works of all time.
Performances
Nicosia | Thoc Theatre, Evis Gavriilidis Main Stage
From 14 February 2025
and every Friday and Saturday at 20:00 and Sunday at 18:00
and on tour
March 2025
17/03 - 23/03
March 2025
24/03 - 30/03
March/April 2025
31/03 - 06/04
CREATIVE TEAM
Creators
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Thomas Moschopoulos
Translation, Adaptation, Direction -
Marios Kakoullis
Associate director -
Vassilis Papatsarouchas
Sets, Costumes, Curation of photography/photographs -
Fotis Nikolaou
Choreography, Movement -
Anastasia Dimitriadou (Nama Dama)
Music, Music coach -
Georgios Koukoumas
Lighting design -
Orestis Lazouras
Set and costume design assistant -
Maria Pisiili
Directing assistant (internship)
Cast
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Neoklis Neokleous
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Polyxeni Savva
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Erato Karathanasi
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Christos Strinopoulos
-
Dimitris Antoniou
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Panos Makris
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Panos Iosifdis
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Zoi Kyprianou
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Valentinos Kokkinos
-
Grigoris Georgiou
-
Andreas Papamichalopoulos
-
Yiannis Minos
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Irodotos Miltiadous
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Christos Tziotas
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Ioanna Papamichalopoulou
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Nikolas Kourouzidis
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Giannis Varsos