Szymon Ozymko

Agata Duda-Gracz – one of Poland’s most important directors, renowned for crafting fascinating stories and mesmerising stage imagery – returns to the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow, a venue so dear to her throughout her artistic career, to bring her story of Stanisław Wyspiański to a close. Following the Wawel production ‘Kneel, Mr Wyspiański!’ and ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Wyspiański Is Dying’ – highly acclaimed by our audience – this time the artist looks back on the youthful years of our fourth national bard. It will therefore be a theatrical dream of young Staś, structurally inspired by 'The Wedding'. A dream full of hope, endless possibilities and youthful enthusiasm. A dream of ‘The Wedding’, a dream of theatre, a dream of Poland and a dream of love.
The production 'Krakow for the National Art, or the Triumph of Mediocrity' is set during the third dress rehearsal for 'The Wedding' and consists of two parts: an immersive first part, in which Wyspiański (along with us) wanders through four spaces of the Theatre and four realistic stories of encounters with authentic figures who guided, inspired and prompted Staś to create 'The Wedding'. And the second part – performed in the classical style – in which theatre ghosts take over the stage.

The stage costumes for the production were designed by, amongst others, the great Polish painters: Jan Matejko, Józef Mehoffer, Stanisław Wyspiański, Wojciech Weiss, Teodor Axentowicz and Tadeusz Ajdukiewicz. Live music will be performed by Maja Kleszcz and Wojciech Krzak.