Two years after the famous Dziady / Forefathers’ Eve of the Słowacki Theatre in Kraków, presented also at Boska Komedia / Divine Comedy, Maja Kleczewska presents a new production of Adam Mickiewicz’s masterpiece, this time, however, produced in Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine. These are wartime Dziady / Forefathers’ Eve, so the work on the project was often interrupted by air raid alarms, so the artists were in constant readiness to seek shelter if necessary. The extreme circumstances during rehearsals, coupled with the awareness of the havoc wrought by the Russian invasion, infused the performance with fervent intensity and uncompromising force. This production is significantly more intimate than the Kraków version, and yet it brims with accusatory power. The Dziady / Forefathers’ Eve from Ivano-Frankivsk urges Europe to stop expecting gratitude from Ukrainians and raises the question of what else we owe to Ukraine. It also caustically addresses what is known as cultural sanctions against Russia, arguing that they are largely sham concocted by self-satisfied beautiful minds from Western Europe trying to exploit such circumstances to find confirmation of their self-professed decency. The role of Konrad is portrayed by a great Ukrainian actor, Roman Lutskiy, known for his role in Hamlet Kleczewska put to stage in Poznań.

Spektakl powstał przy wsparciu Teatru im. Juliusza Słowackiego w Krakowie. Teatr im. Juliusza Słowackiego w Krakowie jest partnerem pokazu w ramach Festiwalu Boska Komedia.