Teatr Polski in Szczecin on two levels and with five stages:
Italian Stage for 500 spectators
Jan Banucha Stage – 150
Chamber Stage – 120
Shakespeare Stage – 240
Cabaret Stage (Scene of the Świętokrats of the Black Cat Ginger Parish) – 80 spectators.
This large cultural complex is an extremely popular venue, regularly visited by audiences from all over (?) Poland. So do we.
Today we went to see the musical performance "Parisian Spleen*."
The Theatre's website describes the performance:
"Parisian Spleen" is a poetic and musical journey through a city that is an ever-living source of constant artistic inspiration. Dear Viewer, become a flâneur**, a stroller wandering its elegant literary avenues, labyrinthine musical passages, and secret cinematic alleys. Sit in a café to listen to anecdotes from bohemian life among the bohemians. From the plush and velvet of a theater box, venture into the world of opera. Don't forget the cabaret, with its rebellious humor and iconoclastic cancan. And in the narrow streets, listen to the whispers of lovers past and present.
Let yourself be seduced by spleen, that melancholic aura that presents reality from a completely different, unreal perspective. “
Adam Opatowicz, the theater director and scriptwriter and director of this production, invited us on a walk through Paris, following the footsteps of Parisian bohemia in the fin de siècle era.
We didn't hear hits by Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, or Juliette Greco. We listened to other, lesser-known pieces, full of poetry and atmosphere.
We did hear: a "puppet" performance of Mon amour, mon ami (Ola Gurdziel), the expressive Gigi l’amoroso by Ewelina Poźniak, the duet Mes emmerdes by Damian Aleksander and Dominik Bobryk, the beautiful Tombe la neige by Olka Różanka, the good Bar Montparnasse by Adrianna Szymańska, and the beautiful hit La Boheme, movingly sung by Damian Bobryk. This last song was a masterpiece of acting and singing.
Pictured: Dominik Bobryk
To give the audience a break from the "spleen" atmosphere, numerous dancers and (one) male dancer appeared on stage, presenting, among other things, the cancan, controversial at the time, symbolized the rebellious humor and sensuality of Parisian bohemia.
*Spleen is an English word literally meaning spleen (an organ), but is more often used figuratively, denoting a state of deep depression, apathy, discouragement, boredom, or bad humor (similar to the Polish splin or chandra), popular in decadent literature.
**Flaner (French: flâneur – vagabond, stroller, slacker) – a person belonging to a subculture whose origins are attributed to 19th-century France and which later developed in Germany and the rest of Europe. It consisted of strolling, wandering around the city, contemplating city life, and spending hours observing and commenting on street life. (...) Wandering aimlessly, detached from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the flaner was a keen observer of society. (...)
The photos of the show come from the gallery of the Polish Theatre in Szczecin.
