“I haven’t laughed so sincerely in a long time. (…) In the performance The True Pole Is Dead, we get not only sharp satire, but also engaging music, songs, dance, total chill, and direct contact with the audience.”
– Juliusz Tyszka, excerpt from the review A Satirical Sacrilegious Ritual in the magazine “Nietakt” (no. 3/2023)
At the wake after the death of the True Pole, his wife — the Housewife (Justyna Tomczak-Boczko), a SpaniardImmigrant fascinated with Poland (Eva Rufo), and the Intellectual, representative of the “progressive urban elite” (Bartosz Żurawiecki), come together. They mourn the deceased, reminisce about his life, and argue fiercely over everything related to Poland, tradition, and nationhood… Out of longing for the departed, the Housewife, Spaniard, and Intellectual attempt to find a new True Pole among the audience — people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations, and backgrounds.
The True Pole Is Dead is a grotesque vision of contemporary Poland — a country torn and divided between fundamentalists, conservatives, and progressives. A country where the old cannot truly die, and the new cannot truly be born. In our performance, we confront a variety of Polish myths with reality, placing special emphasis on Polish attitudes toward minorities — the “others” and “deviants.”
Cast:
Justyna Tomczak-Boczko – Housewife
Eva Rufo – Immigrant
Bartosz Żurawiecki – Intellectual
Direction: Eva Rufo and Justyna Tomczak-Boczko
Script: Bartosz Żurawiecki
Music: Malwina Paszek
Costumes: Idalia Mantas
Poster and portrait of the True Pole: Gabriela Niedziałkowska
Live music:
Malwina Paszek – piano, accordion, vocals
Szymon Konrad – saxophone, samples
FREE ENTRY, with seat reservation required via the form available at this link