About The Fairy Queen

The Fairy Queen is a production inspired by the Shakespearean theater and its epigones of Polish Romantism. Juliusz Słowacki, Adam Mickiewicz, Zygmunt Krasiński are just some of the poets whose Goplanas, Nymphs and Mermaids will appear as a backdrop for the adventures of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Fragments of Polish poetry, such as Balladyna or Świtezianka, were inspired by the works of the English bard. The drama's action moves us from the forest to the surface of the lake. It is there that spells, love potions and the escapes of lovers will fill the evening, where Purcell's music and the opera singing of Polish artists will merge with the most important texts of European drama.

In the performance, we use water screens and on them projections of the most outstanding Polish artists and their nymphs: Stanisław Wyspiański, Jacek Malczewski, and Artur Grottger.

This performance is based on an earlier version of the production, presented as a show of the Wroclaw European Capital of Culture 2016 in Poland and Argentina, awarded the Annual Award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

The Fairy Queen that will be presented in Wuzhen is a new version created by Michal Znaniecki and Jutropera Foundation especially for the Wuzhen Theater Festival.

Credits

Director: Michał Znaniecki

Performers:

     Ewa Biegas – Titania/Hipolita/Goplana

     Sebastian Marszałowicz – Oberon/Teseus

     Wioletta Białk – Helena

     Gosha Kowalinska – Hermia

     Hubert Stolarski – Demetrius

     Kamil Baron – Lysander

     Michał Sławecki – Puck

     Tobiasz Berg – Grabiec/Donkey

Script/space/staging: Michał Znaniecki

Video art: Karolina Jacewicz

Light designer: Dawid Karolak

Costumes: Anna Zwiefka

Musicians:

     Pablo Mainetti- bandoneon

     Krzysztof Łochowicz- electric guitar

     Rafał Grząka- accordion

Chinese script translator: Grant Zhong

About Michał Znaniecki

Since his studies in Italy and Poland, Znaniecki has produced more than 200 new drama, opera and musical productions in major theatres and festivals of the world.

Creator of several open-air, super-productions in stadiums, on islands and squares in Poland, Italy, Argentina and with the Israeli Opera in the Masada Desert.

His productions have been awarded Best Show of the Year in Croatia, Poland and Spain.

As a professor of drama, musical and opera arts, he collaborates with academies and universities of Poland, Italy, Argentina, Uruguay and China.

As the Artistic Director of Water Festival Opera Tigre and ambassador of the European Capital of Culture: Wroclaw 2016, he was awarded the Silver Gloria Artis by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

About Jutropera Foundation

Founded in 2009, the Jutropera Foundation is a link between institutions, building national and international co-productions, educational programs, social programs, masterclasses and other activities. The main project of the Foundation is the Water Festival Opera Tigre in Argentina, where theater and opera performances use, as their scenery, elements of water and nature. Jutropera was also a partner of European Capital of Culture Wroclaw 2016, responsible for the four-year program of “city preparation.” The Jutropera Foundation treats opera as a tool with which they build projects alongside, and for, the city. Citizens are invited to help organize happenings around the event and social groups—also those excluded from mainstream culture—to participate in the project itself. Among other Jutropera projects, there are performances in which the Foundation prepares inhabitants, during workshops, to take an active part in the performance and become, for example, part of the choir. This type of project has been realized in Poland, Italy, Germany, Argentina and others. From the other hands, pedagogical projects strive to open up the seemingly distant and closed world of opera to children. At the same time, they help young artists prepare themselves for their entrance onto the world stage with workshops, and master classes with great and accomplished actors and specialists.

Jutropera has been awarded many times; the Foundation works under the patronage of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.