Radio plays presented as part of the “Polonia Restituta” series:
From the early 1990s, or even before, Teatr Polskiego Radia would produce radio plays related to 11 November 1918, a date of great importance to the Poland’s contemporary history. The National Independence Day is a state holiday of special significance. We will present a set of five radio plays with scripts largely based on documentary materials. The radio plays present major individuals and events of autumn 1918 and the years of fight for the shape of the Second Polish Republic.
1.
Andrzej Sowa, Krzysztof Szwed: “Komendant niezłomny”
Direction: Waldemar Modestowicz
Acoustic production: Maciej Kubera
Music production: Tomasz Obertyn
Cast: Mariusz Bonaszewski (Józef Piłsudski), Paulina Holtz (Aleksandra Zagórska), Wojciech Żołądkowicz (Aleksander Hrynkiewicz), Piotr Bajtlik (Michał Sokolnicki), Maciej Zuchowicz (Tadeusz Kasprzycki), Justyna Kowalska (Leonarda Lewandowska), Szymon Kuśmider (Wincenty Witos), Barbara Zielińska (Gypsy)
A biographical radio play dedicated to the Marshal Józef Piłsudski. The script written by the journalists is not just a dry compilation of documents. The authors build multi-dimensional characters of heroes, and the director and actors create the realities of a vivid radio show.
Duration: 45 minutes
2.
Andrzej Sowa: “Listopad”
Direction: Janusz Kukuła
Acoustic production: Paweł Szaliński
Music production: Tomasz Obertyn
Cast: Andrzej Ferenc (Narrator), Arkadiusz Bazak (Count Aleksander Skarbek), Henryk Talar (Karl von Benigni),Tomasz Marzecki (colonel Bolesław Roja), Elżbieta Kijowska (Maria Kamińska), Marek Frąckowiak (Jan Kamiński), Zofia Zborowska (Łucja Kamińska), Piotr Zelt (Officer I / Ignacy Boerner), Piotr Kozłowski (Officer II), Mirosław Zbrojewicz (Officer III), Kacper Matula (Soldier of the Polish Military Organization), Marek Barbasiewicz (General Anton Liposzczak), Adam Bauman (Captain Milan Milić), Tomasz Budyta (Stanisław Thugutt), Adam Ferency (Ignacy Daszyński), Jacek Lenartowicz (Wincenty Witos), Krzysztof Banaszyk (Edward Rydz-Śmigły), Kazimierz Kaczor (Błażej Stolarski), Mariusz Bonaszewski (Józef Piłsudski), Robert Czebotar (Kazimierz Sosnkowski), Zbigniew Suszyński (Harry von Kessler), Grzegorz Damięcki (Hugo von Lerchenfeld), Wojciech Duryasz (Zdzisław Lubomirski), Grzegorz Kwiecień (Stach)
A radio show presenting major political events related to the process of the announcement of Poland’s independence in November 1918, based on a screenplay written by a radio journalist specializing in historical themes. This is a documentary radio play presenting major facts in the words of official documents, letters, diaries, press reports, with their situational and psychological credibility resting on the actors and the director. The radio play unfolds at the pace of a radio show that has a specific climax and resolution.
Duration: 41 minutes
3.
Wojciech Brodnicki: “W drodze do Wersalu”
Direction: Sławomir Pietrzykowski
Acoustic production: Ewa Szałkowska
Cast: Grażyna Barszczewska, Marek Bargiełowski, Zdzisław Tobiasz, Henryk Boukołowski, Wacław Szklarski, Jolanta Wołłejko, Witold Skaruch, Marek Obertyn, Krzysztof Chamiec and Janusz Zakrzeński
A radio play about Roman Dmowski. A biographical radio play based on documents (memoires, biographies, letters etc.) representing one of major participants of Poland’s rebirth.
Duration: 35 minutes
4.
Krystyna Broll-Jarecka: “Argument ostateczny (episodes 1–4)”
Direction: Zdzisław Dąbrowski
Acoustic production: Andrzej Złomski
Music production: Zbigniew Wiszniewski
Cast: August Kowalczyk (Narrator I), Stanisław Mikulski (Narrator II), Leszek Herdegen (Korfanty), Sylwester Pawłowski (Czapla), Stanisław Zatłoka, Stefan Śródka (Insurgent), Janusz Kłosiński (Witos), Józef Duriasz (Adam. St. Sapieha) and others
A radio play about the struggle for Poland’s borders following 1918. This four-episode documentary radio play shows yet another form of radio theatre representing historic events. The story is framed by the Narrators, who open specific themes and introduce historical individuals, themselves presenting subsequent stages of Silesian uprisings and Wojciech Korfanty’s historical role in the words of documents. This is the oldest radio play in this section.
Duration: 22 minutes + 20 + 22 + 24 minutes
5.
Zygmunt Tempka-Nowakowski: “Gałązka rozmarynu”
Adaptation: Iwona Malinowska
Direction: Andrzej Zakrzewski
Acoustic production: Andrzej Brzoska
Music production: Marian Szałkowski
Cast: Adam Bauman, Ewa Wencel, Jerzy Matałowski, Krzysztof Kumor, Ewa Wawrzoń, Wojciech Duryasz, Małgorzata Kożuchowska, Łukasz Lewandowski and others
This is a radio play based on a drama written by a famous journalist and actor, a tribute to the Legions and their leader, very popular in the final years of the interwar Poland. It represents the events related to the recruitment to the Legions in Kielce and the battles of the First Brigade. Importantly, the author of the drama took part in the events himself. Zygmunt Tempka-Nowakowski joined the Legions in 1914. Following his return from the war, he quickly established a successful career as an actor. In 1926–-1929, he was an actor and director at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków. Since 1930, he contributed to “Ilustrowany Kuryer Codzienny” and since 1939, has been in exile. His voice was recognized by all listeners of the Radio Free Europe.
Duration: 80 minutes
Janusz Kukuła
