Site-specific opera
Produced by the Warsaw Rising Museum
Premiere: 1 August 2024
Conceived and directed by Krystian Lada, D’ARC is a contemporary opera whose narrative unfolds across three time horizons and dreams, allowing the story’s three protagonists to meet: Joan, a Paris-based photographer and a daughter of Polish immigrants; Joanna, a Polish cellist and Warsaw insurgent; and Giovanna, the French national hero, the Maid of Orleans. What they all have in common is a readiness to sacrifice themselves for a vision that is bigger than themselves.
In the span of one night, the audience follows the protagonists to 2024 Paris, 1944 Warsaw, and 1429 Rouen, to experience a world that was, a world that is, and a world that can only exist in our dreams together with cellist Dobrawa Czocher (Joanna), actress Agnieszka Grochowska (Joan), soprano Gabriela Legun (Giovanna), and baritone Szymon Komasa (Angel of History).
The production marks the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. Apart from a tribute to the past generation of Warsaw residents, it is a journey through music and theatre conventions whose creatives experiment with the form, structure, and space.
___
CREATIVES
TEXT Anka Herbut, Łukasz Barys
MUSIC Dobrawa Czocher, Teoniki Rożynek, Wojciech Błażejczyk, Rafał Ryterski, Julius Eastman, Roman Padlewski
CONDUCTOR Lilianna Krych
DIRECTOR, SET DESIGN, CONCEPT Krystian Lada
SET DESIGN COLLABORATOR Łukasz Misztal
COSTUMES Natalia Kitamikado
LIGHTS Aleksandr Prowaliński
CHOREOGRAPHY COLLABORATOR Wojciech Grudziński
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Magdalena Milczarska
PRODUCTION Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego – Marta Kuźmiak (kierowniczka produkcji), Iwa Ostrowska, Beata Spodarek
___
CAST
JOAN Agnieszka Grochowska
JOANNA Dobrawa Czocher
GIOVANNA Gabriela Legun
ANGELS OF HISTORY Szymon Komasa, Dominik Bobryk, Michał Adam Góral, Wojciech Grudziński
HASHTAG ENSEMBLE Wojciech Błażejczyk (gitara elektryczna), Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska (altówka), Adam Eljasiński (klarnet basowy), Paweł Janas (akordeon), Krzysztof Kozłowski (syntezatory), Mateusz Loska (kontrabas), Małgorzata Mikulska (flet basowy), Dominik Płociński (wiolonczela), Olga Przybył (perkusja), Kamila Wąsik-Janiak (skrzypce)
MATCH MATCH ENSEMBLE Małgorzata Bartkowska (alt), Ewa Kijewska (alt), Michał Kijewski (bas), Andrzej Klepacki (tenor), Paweł Kowalewski (tenor), Marzena Lewandowska (alt), Michał Malec (bas), Konstancja Molewska (sopran), Jakub Prasał (tenor), Daria Sawczuk (sopran), Adrianna Żołnierczuk-Malec (sopran)
10 CELLO ENSEMBLE Nadia Bojadżijew, Dobrawa Czocher, Katarzyna Drzewiecka, Jadwiga Jaworska, Martyna Kępińska, Urszula Lalek, Joanna Marczyk, Tatiana Przybylska, Katarzyna Stasiewicz, Hanna Szczęsna
___
VIDEO DIRECTORS Ewa Krasucka, Marcin Dunin-Borkowski
SOUND DIRECTORS Michał Polański, Adam Ciesielski
