„Salomea’s Silver Dream” at the 29th Festival

Another festival’s presentations were shown on 16 and 17 March, 2023. This time it was „Salomea’s Silver Dream” – a drama by Juliusz Słowacki, directed by Piotr Cieplak and produced by The Helena Modrzejewska Theatre from Legnica. Thanks for two performances – meetings with the theatre of word and focusing on its significance. We invite you to see the photo gallery!

„Salomea’s Silver Dream” is one of the classical dramas of Polish Romanticism. Many researchers consider it the play which very clearly and graphically describes brutal and bloody fights during the Polish-Ukrainian conflict. The drama action takes place in the summer of 1768 in Podole where the revolt of Ukrainian people against „Polish landlords” broke out. How do those events echo now in the context of the war in Ukraine? What does the play tell about Ukrainian persistence for freedom and Polish-Ukrainian relations?   

After the spectacle there was a meeting with its creators which was moderated by Łukasz Drewniak. The play’s director Piotr Cieplak (he is the laureate of the Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński Award for outstanding achievements in drama directing in 2022) told about a long process of team analytical work on the Słowacki’s drama, the text with very difficult and complicated fragments which was therefeore hardly understandable by a modern viewer. The creators emphasized how important it was to realize the subjectivity of Ukraine and the Ukrainians in order to understand the idea of Słowacki.  „Salomea’s Silver Dream” is probably the first text in which the Ukrainians are shown as representatives of different culture with its own identity, language, aspirations. Słowacki questions the division into omnipotent Polish landlords and Ukrainian peasants. In the context of Polish-Ukrainian relations the drama reminds about the fact that for a long time Poland behaved like a colonizer toward Ukraine which wanted to subdue the country and its people.

Thanks for the presentation and we invite you to next spectacles!

 

The Helena Modrzejewska Theatre in Legica
Juliusz Słowacki
„Salomea’s Silver Dream”
Directed by Piotr Cieplak
Stage design and costumes: Andrzej Witkowski
Music: Paweł Czepułkowski
Dramaturgy consultant: Robert Urbański
Cast: Bogdan Grzeszczak, Bartosz Bulanda, Mateusz Krzyk, Magda Biegańska, Gabriela Fabian, Zuza Motorniuk, Paweł Wolak, Tomasz Lulek, Jakub Stefaniak, Joanna Gonschorek, Zuza Motorniuk, Mariusz Sikorski, Łukasz Kucharzewski

 

Photo Maciej Zakrzewski