The most successful comedy by Dimitra Papadopoulou

Grandpa Has High Blood Pressure

is presented this summer

at the Atrium of the

«Hellenic Cosmos» Cultural Centre

The wild comedy by Dimitra Papadopoulou returns under the direction of Christos Tripodis this summer, premiering on July 5 at the Atrium of the «Hellenic Cosmos» Cultural Centre, in a production by the company Methexis. Tasos Halkias stars in the role of Grandpa. Joining him are Krateros Katsoulis, Marilou Katsafadou, Dimitra Stogianni, Iro Pektesi, and Aris Antonopoulos.

A grandpa, three outrageous granddaughters, a “cop,” an idealistic young man, a “murder,” and a romantic dinner with lentils lead a crazy Greek family into hilarious situations. Three sisters at a turning point in their lives: the anarchist Popi, who falls in love with a “cop”; the fearful Fofi, who declares her personal revolution and sets new terms and rules for her life; and career-oriented Maria, who aims to finally become a mother, are entangled in uncontrollable misunderstandings. The common link is the leftist and dementia-stricken Grandpa, who becomes the ideological inspiration for the founding of a new political movement called “Psaxou.” This movement, created by Maria’s partner, Haris, aspires to become the voice of the younger generation of Greeks.



The legendary “Grandpa” by Dimitra Papadopoulou, after its runs in 1997 and 2012, returns with even more “pressure” to bring joy and laughter to our summer nights.

Note from Author Dimitra Papadopoulou:

Worldwide, comedy is becoming an endangered genre. Everywhere I hear, producers are “looking for comedy but can’t find it”... It’s a time when drama, pain, violence, mental illnesses, and gore dominate the screen. Why? Because comedy requires magnanimity, which means not taking myself seriously, knowing my insignificance, even the triviality of my problem, and having the strength to distance myself and laugh at it.

Comedy is now hard to approach because it can’t compete with drama, which can easily evoke emotions through straightforward means like death, illness, bloodshed, violent explosions, and other “charming” elements. Breaking a head, for example, or gutting someone, with high-quality visuals and the wealth of effects, easily stirs abundant emotions, while laughter is a much harder mechanism to produce and intensely move emotions. For all these reasons, and many more that I’ll save for brevity’s sake, comedy remains an endangered species, a genre fit for a museum.

Yet, I will always fight for this genre because it’s the only one my soul appreciates.

Grandpa Has High Blood Pressure is my first play, written during a challenging time for me, but overflowing with love for people. To make comedy, above all, you must love people and not want to burden them with any of your toxins; you must seek to give joy from your abundance. And until today, fortunately, many people have laughed at this work. I don’t want to share any other emotion with you. I hope I always have the strength to let difficulties keep me in this alchemical process of comedy. I believe there’s no greater gift than this genre. Enjoy a night of fun from an old time of mine that turned into laughter, and I hope this performance succeeds once again.