Foto: Krzysztof Bieliński

The new show in Syrena tells the story of a difficult romantic relationship of two 30 year-olds living in the trendy neighbourhood of Plac Zbawiciela. The story is propelled by a surprising character: the national poet and most important representative of romantism, Adam Mickiewicz, turned into… a vampire.

The Syrena Theatre is bringing to stage an adaptation of the novel “Wypiór”, written by Grzegorz Uzdański in Polish alexandrine, which was nominated for the Paszport “Polityki” award in 2021. Jacek Jabrzyk, the artistic director of Teatr Zagłębie in Sosnowiec, wrote the adaptation and directed the play.

We want to approach romanticism with a pinch of salt. Grzegorz Uzdański demonstrated that a poem, even in its classic form, can be used to tell a modern story in a very interesting way. His text is a rather unconventional lesson on romanticism. It depicts a very “human” side of Mickiewicz. We get to explore his down-to-earth persona, at times fascinating, at times shocking.

director Jacek Jabrzyk

Marta and Łukasz live in a quiet apartment next to Plac Zbawiciela. Marta’s uncle offered them the flat together with a troublesome housemate. Mickiewicz, who was turned in a vampire, spends the days sleeping inside a closet, tucked among clothes. In the night, he wakes up and roams the streets of Warsaw in search of blood. Sometimes he steals it from a dumpster behind the hospital on Banacha, or hunts for his prey – people waking or running at night around Pole Mokotowskie. This is how the story begins. The show is filled with absurd humour and is a mix of comedy and horror.

The main protagonists are played by Natalia Kujawa and Marek Grabiniok, while Przemysław Glapiński stars as the national bard. They are accompanied by Agnieszka Rose and Jacek Pluta, playing numerous roles. Kujawa and Glapiński are recent recipients of the Jan Kiepura Music Theatre Awards in the categories: “Best female musical vocalist” and “Best male musical vocalist”. “Wypiór” is filled with songs composed by Mariusz Obijalski, who previously wrote the music for the show “Kapitan Żbik i żółty saturator” in the Syrena Theatre. The songs are very varied in terms of style – from rap numbers, through references to folk music, all the way to fully-fledged musical songs.

“Wypiór” will be performed in the space of the Bistro Syrena, where we previously showed the underground revue “Nogi Syreny”. Tickets can be purchased on our website: bilety.teatrsyrena.pl.

Cast and creative team

Przemysław Glapiński – Wypiór, that is, Adam Mickiewicz as a vampire
Natalia Kujawa – Marta
Marek Grabiniok – Łukasz
Agnieszka Rose – Mermaid, Nurse, Zofia Szymanowska, professor Klicka, Mother, and other roles
Jacek Pluta – Detective, Night Guard, Museum Director, Ex the Cat, and other roles

Jacek Jabrzyk – adaptation and direction
Mariusz Obijalski – music
Tomasz Filipczak – musical direction
Szymon Dobosik – choreography
Anna Maria Karczmarska – set design and costumes
Artur Wytrykus – light direction
Jan Domicz – video
Jakub Niedźwiedź – sound
Daria Skrzypkowska – makeup
Marek Grabiniok – director’s assistant
Zuzanna Miladinović – head of production
Marta Skoczek – stage manager
Katarzyna Kulik – prompter
Dawid Ryski – logo and poster

The copyright to Grzegorz Uzdański’s book “Wypiór” is represented by Wydawnictwo Filtry.

Upcoming premieres in the Syrena Theatre