by tskzOn April 25, The Mława City Cultural Centre hosted a premiere show of the play titled The Polish Parade. The Song is Our Weapon, directed by Jakub Kornacki. The cinema hall that day was packed full: in addition to local spectators, the audience also included members of the Warsaw Branch of TSKŻ, who, especially to see this premiere show, embarked on a trip to Mława, located ca. 100 km away from Warsaw. TSKŻ is a partner and executive producer of this show.
Many artists fought in the ranks of General Wladyslaw Anders’ Army. Their activities were of great importance – they were tasked not only to fight on the battlefield, but also to maintain the combat spirit, raise morale and give hope for victory, through interaction with art. The Polish Parade. The Song is Our Weapon is a performance in which songs form a closed theatrical show, telling the story of the people, their dreams, feelings and personal tragedies that unfold on the combat route. -/-
“I wanted to create a play showing the fates of the characters in the most universal way […] However, I did not focus on the facts and figures, to educate the viewer about who uttered specific words and when exactly it happened. I used anecdotes found in chronicles, creating a story about the experience of a generation and painting a collective portrait of Poles whose fate was so dramatically marked by historical turmoil and the struggle for independence” – this is how Jakub Kornacki, the director of the show, described his work.
At The Mława City Cultural Centre one could listen to many wonderful arrangements of Anders Army’s musical pieces, including Raison D’état. and excerpts from “Cabaret about Joseph of Egypt” by Marian Hemar – poet, satirist and playwright of Jewish origin. Hemar himself fought in the Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade, and after being posted to London, he never stopped nurturing the culture of the Anders Army generation.
THE EVENT ORGANIZER:
Office of Cultural Events at the Institute of National Remembrance
Institute of National Remembrance
EVENT PARTNERS:
Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland
Mława City Cultural Centre
SCREENPLAY AND DIRECTION:
Jakub Kornacki
CAST:
Agnieszka Skawińska
Oksana Terefenko
Błażej Chorobiński
Jakub Kornacki
Kamil Załuska
MUSICAL ARRANGEMENT:
Ludwik Starski’s Orchestra:
Damian Szymczak
Piotr Tomala
STAGE DESIGN & COSTUMES
Monika Wójcik
HISTORICAL ASSISTANCE
Bartosz Januszewski (Institute of National Remembrance, Gdańsk)
Photos by Mikołaj Bujak (Institute of National Remembrance) and TSKŻ
