The Undivine Gala

PPA production: Jagoda Bielawska

script, direction: Mateusz Pakuła
music production, music arrangements: Antonis Skolias
vocal arrangements, leading the choir: Karina Reske-Chojnacka
video direction: Olga Balowska
light design: Paulina Góral
costumes: Marta Śniosek-Masacz

Cast: Paulina Przybysz, Natalia Przybysz, Tomasz Schuchardt, Emose Uhunmwangho, Klaudia Waszak, Zuzanna Skolias-Pakuła, Mateusz Bieryt, Janek Marczewski, Adaś Paczkowski, Mateusz Trembaczowski, Anna Stela, Marek Hucz, Janek Jurkowski, Andrzej Plata, Szymon Mysłakowski, Paweł Kaczmarczyk

Musicians: Adam Skrzypek, Sebastian Skrzypek (drums), Maciej Mazurek (guitar), Bogdan Skiedrzyński (guitar), Grzegorz Rdzak (keyboard)

Choir: soprans: Rafaela Maruska, Mirella Burcewicz, Ewa Szlempo-Kruszyńska, Zofia Banasik, Natalia Rabczak, Karolina Stasiuk, Zuzanna Pytlowska
alts: Karina Reske-Chojnacka, Anna Cielecka, Malwina Jańta, Maria Szleszkowska, Marta Szleszkowska, Maja Kaczmarek, Aida August, Alicja Budzyń, Anna Nguyen
tenors: Tomasz Leszczyński, Rafał Kozok, Dawid Suliba, Kamil Wrzos, Krzysztof Suszek

Let’s pause for a moment at the issues of monotheistic faith, institutional religion, and metaphysics in general. Can we think and talk about them with humor, irony, Monty-Pythonesque mischief, allowing ourselves whatever helps tame constant anxiety, sudden fear, and lingering disgust?

“The Undivine Gala” is an attempt to deflate faith and religion. A deliberate deflation — treating divine matters with a lighter touch, while taking fully seriously what is human and fundamental: the meaning of existence, love, loneliness, and the time we are given on Earth.

Its essence and kind of credo is the poem “Meaning” by Czesław Miłosz, which opens with the lines:
When I die, I will see the lining of the world / The other side, behind the bird, the mountain, and the sunset.*

There are over a dozen musical pieces — pop hits, rock evergreens, and classic Polish hip-hop tracks. Their meanings and hidden layers will be dissected by the improv comedians from Szatański Kwartet, while Grupa Filmowa Darwin (a.k.a G.F. Darwin) will demonstrate, for the first time in their career, what they can really do… live on stage.

*Translated from Polish by Czesław Miłosz and Robert Hass.