Time 19:00
The Royal Theatre in the Old Orangery in the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw
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On the 410th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death
Within the mythical depths of the forest, where a deeply hidden truth about nature and humanity awakens, unfolds the action of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream – the comedy that became the basis for Henry Purcell’s semi-opera The Fairy Queen. The musical masques, which serve as a counterpoint to the spoken scenes, astonish with their brilliance and variability, shimmering with the opulent colours of Baroque compositional techniques. Radiant instrumental interludes, along with refined recitatives and arias, shape an enchanted world teeming with a kaleidoscope of feelings and emotions.
This impressive realm of musical spells provides both the framework and the point of departure for a profound reinterpretation of Purcell’s work, directed by Kamila Siwińska with the dramaturgical layer crafted by the keen-eyed Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk. Beneath the charming landscape emerge destructive forces of emotional enslavement and psychological violence, which some mistake for love. Through Oberon, whose knowledge allows him to manipulate human consciousness, the sudden and unrestrained power of desire and ecstasy overtakes the titular Fairy Queen (Titania) as well as the young lovers – Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena. On the theatrical stage, the worlds of ancient myth, Shakespearean drama, and the nonverbal power of musical expression meet and interpenetrate, creating a universal, nuanced, and ambiguous space for reflection on madness, falsehood, and “unlove.”
Marta Dziewanowska-Pachowska
MUSIC DIRECTOR KRZYSZTOF GARSTKA
STAGE DIRECTOR, SET DESIGN, VIDEO PROJECTIONS KAMILA SIWIŃSKA
COSTUMES DOROTA KOŁODYŃSKA
DRAMATURGY, TRANSLATION, TEXTS MAŁGORZATA SIKORSKA-MISZCZUK
STAGE MOVEMENT JAROSŁAW STANIEK
LIGHTING DESIGN PAULINA GÓRAL
CHORUS MASTER KAROL KNAPIŃSKI
ASSISTENT DIRECTORS SŁAWOMIR JURCZAK, AGNIESZKA KOZŁOWSKA
STAGE MANAGERS AGNIESZKA ORLIKOWSKA, TATIANA HEMPEL-GIERLACH, WANDA KARPIŃSKA
CAST
SOLOISTS:
FAIRY OLGA PASIECZNIK / MAŁGORZATA TROJANOWSKA
NYMPH MARTA BOBERSKA / IWONA LUBOWICZ
SECRECY ALEKSANDER REWIŃSKI / SYLWESTER SMULCZYŃSKI
SLEEP MICHAŁ DĘBIŃSKI / PAWEŁ MICHALCZUK
DONKEY KAMIL ZDEBEL / MATEUSZ KULCZYŃSKI
THE SUN DOROTA LACHOWICZ / ANETA ŁUKASZEWICZ
ACTORS:
LYSANDER TOMASZ NOSINSKI
DEMETRIUS MARCIN PEMPUŚ
HELENA MONIKA OBARA
HERMIA NATALIA RYBICKA
ACTORS FEATURED IN THE PROJECTION:
TITANIA EWA BŁASZCZYK
OBERON KRZYSZTOF STRUŻYCKI
MUSTARDSEED TOMASZ NOSINSKI
COBWEB MARCIN PEMPUŚ
CHANGELING JAROSŁAW STANIEK
THE CHORUS OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA
THE PERIOD INSTRUMENTS ENSEMBLE OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA CAPELLA REGIA POLONA
CONDUCTOR KRZYSZTOF GARSTKA
The seats in the auditorium are not numbered.
PLEASE NOTE: The entrance to the Royal Theatre in Łazienki Park is located on Agrykola street.
