Ο Καπετάν Σαματάς

O Kapetan Samatas is an interactive musical performance for children ages two to six at the MusiX LAB in Megaron Mousikis, Athens, on 09 April 2026. The show is created and performed by 2 Laloun, a group that builds participatory music-theater for the youngest audiences.

A child pulls a dragon mask over their face. Another wraps a strip of fabric into a pirate sash. The MusiX LAB is a small education space inside the Megaron, and every seat sits close to the action — close enough that when Christos Rozakis draws the first note from his gaida, the drone fills the room before children have settled into their places. Beside him, Katia Andrianakis opens the accordion, and the voyage begins.

The premise: a fearless seafarer named Kapetan Samatas travels the world by boat with his companion, and the children in the audience become the crew. They are dragons, pirates, sea creatures. The two performers do not stand behind a stage and deliver — they move through the space, handing instruments to small hands, inviting the audience into the story.

Rozakis plays gaida, kaval — a wooden end-blown flute common across the Balkans — bouzouki, and an assortment of percussion and idiophones. But the performance does not limit itself to traditional instruments. Glasses, pitchers, seashells, and cooking pots become sound sources. A shell held to the ear becomes a rhythm instrument when tapped against another. A glass of water changes pitch as it empties. The children clap, stomp, shake objects, sing fragments back. The line between performer and audience dissolves within the first ten minutes.

Anna Averof and the 2 Laloun team designed the scenery and costumes — props sized for small hands, masks loose enough to pull on and off without help. The production treats the sixty minutes as aesthetic and musical education through play: children encounter rhythm, melody, improvisation, and call-and-response without any of those words being spoken.

The crowd is toddlers and the adults who carry them. Parents sit with children on their laps or cross-legged on the floor. Older siblings — four, five, six — tend to stand and move closer to the performers as the show progresses. The room is warm, noisy in the right way, and nobody expects stillness.

If you expect your child to sit in a velvet seat and watch quietly from a distance, this is not that show — the performers want them on their feet, reaching for a seashell, answering a melody. But if you want your two-to-six-year-old to discover that a kitchen pot and a wooden spoon can make music, the MusiX LAB has cleared sixty minutes for exactly that.

The Megaron is directly above Megaro Moussikis metro. Tickets are 20 EUR for one child with one adult, 28 EUR for two children with one adult, and 11 EUR for each additional adult. The show starts at 12:30. Arrive with enough time to let your child pick a costume from the pile.

Traditional instruments and kitchen drawers, a sailor's story and a room full of small hands making noise — one hour, no intermission, and nothing like it on the regular Megaron program.