In May 1972, Eduardo de Filippo performed "Napoli milionaria!" with his own company in London as part of the World Theatre Season. The show generated a great deal of interest, to the point that the following year, the National Theatre, directed by Laurence Olivier, decided to stage one of Eduardo's plays and entrusted its production to Zeffirelli. "We arrived at the decision to stage "Saturday, Sunday, Monday" after some hesitation. We had also considered "Filumena Marturano", which would have been easier and more accessible for a public success due to its dramatic structure being so compelling. In fact, we worked with the Englishmen Waterhouse and Hall on the translation and adaptation of both texts; this wasn't easy because we had to transfer all the nuances, equivalencies, and transpositions of Neapolitan, a language full of repetitions, to another language, English, which is synthetic, dry, and essential."
The show was an undisputed success and remained on stage in London for two seasons: first at The Old Vic and then in the West End, at the Queen's Theatre.