Jakub Roszkowski Literary Director

Enchanted by the worlds of Hobbit, Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, we often forget about our own home-grown mythology: our Slavic gods, heroes and beasts. They tend to live in our consciousness only in an infantile, primitive form. So how about trying to actually revisit this realm?

The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald – one of the most important novels of the 20th century – on the stage of the Słowacki Theatre! A tale of a great dream, great love, great disappointment and great emptiness. A tale of a world shaking off the dark times of war, throwing itself into the revelries of the Jazz Age.

Jay Gatsby's residence, the Valley of Ashes, Long Island, USA. The summer of 1924. Around 8 p.m. A string of posh limos pull into the driveway. The servants welcome the guests with broad smiles and champagne. Inside, you can hear the bustle and sounds of a jazz band tuning up. The overwhelming, dizzying scent of perfume, flowers, desire and money. And the constant questions: where is the host, how did he manage to invite the crème de la crème of New York?, and finally: who is this Great Gatsby? Suddenly there comes the music – swinging, rousing. Everyone hastily sheds their expensive coats and runs onto the dance floor. And you? What are you waiting for? Get in and party with us!

A world just after a fratricidal war. A world in which all the strong and healthy have died. Only the old, the unfit and the very young have remained. They are the ones who must rebuild the world – those who no longer have the strength to work and change, and those who are not yet capable of changing the world. The external war is over, but it continues in people's minds – they must continue to fight, take revenge, create enemies. The war with swords turns into a war with corpses. Can reconciliation between the young and the old only happen after death? When and how to let go? Is it possible to stop fighting, taking revenge and settling scores, and simply live a normal life?

The musical ‘Antigone’ tells Sophocles' tragedy in contemporary rap language. It builds a bridge between the world of ancient heroes, values and choirs, and the world of today's young people, whose rebellion and heroism blend with confusion, fear and uncertainty. Bisz, one of the most important contemporary Polish songwriters and rappers, will be responsible for the lyrics and music (along with Michał Szlempo).