Cigarettes are smoked during the performance.

In 1927, a crime is committed in a small village near Kraków. The whole of Poland is shocked. The victim is Zofia Paluchowa, a villager, the muse of Kraków painters, and a famous model from Lesser Poland, nicknamed Beautiful Zośka. The only suspect is her husband Maciej, a shoemaker and farmer, but he does not admit to the murder. A trial begins. As we listen to each witness’s testimony, we learn more and more about the scene of the crime, which was the Paluch house. In this dark village hut, nothing is as it seems. You would have to draw it again, measure the emotions, and paint the walls white again so that you could sit at the communal table with your ears closed so as not to hear the cries. We enter a family drama that raises questions about the violence ingrained in the rural landscape, folk songs, and our DNA.

“The acting in this production is impeccable. Karolina Kowalska (who has recently become a permanent member of the Wybrzeże Theatre company) has imbued the protagonist Zośka with both inner strength and weakness. Zośka is filled with the emancipatory dream of moving to Kraków, but she is also submissive to her violent and drunken husband. Thanks to Karolina Kowalska’s performance, we witness the drama of a victim tortured by her husband, whom we believe in and want to save.

The role of the tormentor is superbly played by Piotr Biedroń, who skilfully portrays a contradictory, tender-hearted villain with a psychopathic streak. In his performance, we see a complex character who learns cruelty in the trenches of war. Who, through manipulation, rejection and fear management, becomes a domestic tyrant. But sometimes with a human face”.

Katarzyna Fryc, Gazeta Wyborcza

“The power of Wierzchowski and Blik's performance lies in its complexity. It tells the story of the murder of a woman a century ago. It does so at a time when we are strongly condemning domestic violence. However, the call for women's freedom and subjectivity is only one level of the story. The play also speaks of the quest for freedom, of art trying to be a mirror to depict the tangled soul of man. It asks the age-old question: ‘Where does evil come from?’, and offers no definitive, unequivocal answers”.

Szymon Kazimierczak, e-teatr.pl

Language: Polish (English subtitles provided)

After the performance there will be a meeting with the creators.

Cast

Trailer