Warsaw: The King and the Empress directed by Jerzy Zelnik

Warsaw: The King and the Empress directed by Jerzy Zelnik

The romance between the last Polish king and Empress Catherine the Great was no secret. It was to the Russian ruler that the monarch owed his accession to the throne in Warsaw. The Theatre of Polish Classics invites you to the play “The King and the Empress” directed by Jerzy Zelnik, which was created based on a selection of correspondence between Empress Catherine and King Stanisław August.

In 1755 the secretary of the English envoy arrived in Petersburg — the young Polish aristocrat Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski. He drew Catherine’s attention, himself falling head over heels for her. Her husband, Peter, discovered the affair. He reacted with anger but quickly restrained himself. He himself had extramarital relationships and therefore blessed the lovers’ happiness. In July 1762 he had to die — on his wife’s orders, who commanded him to be murdered. Two years later, already as empress, Catherine made Stanisław Poniatowski ruler of Poland. After another thirty-one years she deprived him not so much of the throne as of the kingdom, leading to the third partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The creators present a psychological and emotional portrait of the king and the empress — former lovers who, under the guise of continued sisterly-brotherly relations, wage a diplomatic war over conflicting national ambitions and goals.

Echoes of former passion sometimes still resonate between the lines of both rulers’ letters. However, it is the brutal, unsentimental political interest that is the true content of this correspondence, which makes it an extraordinary resource for actors. In the Theatre of Polish Classics’ production they will reveal the full complexity of the relationship between Stanisław August and Catherine II, forming a dramatic weave of longing, hope, fear, contempt and cold calculation. “The King and the Empress” will uncover the background of the events that led to the disappearance of the Commonwealth from the map of Europe for over one hundred and twenty years.

CAST:

• Halina Rowicka — Empress
• Jerzy Zelnik — King
• Stefan Kiniorski — Violinist

CREATORS AND TEAM:

• Direction: Jerzy Zelnik
• Artistic supervision: Maciej Wojtyszko
• Script: Halina Rowicka
• Scenography and costumes: Anna Czyż
• Music: Mikołaj Hertel
• Lighting director: Marcin Jaczkowski
• Makeup: Anna Czyżykiewicz

Duration: 1h 10′