The Tale of the Shoemaker

Bartosz Watemborski

Interactive activities with the audience:

Maja Spychaj-Kubacka, Iwona Olszewska-Watemborska

“The Tale of the Shoemaker” consists of two parts - a performance and interactive activities, during which the audience gets acquainted with the theater of shadows; the black theater and together with the actresses they create the so-called combined doll.

“The Tale of Szewczyk, who defeated the Wawel Dragon, and the inhabitants of the mound wanted to put him to sleep” Once upon a time, when no one was surprised, King Krak lived with his beautiful daughter in the castle on the top of the hill. He was a good ruler, and wise, and just. He was once better, sometimes worse, as is usually the case in the kingdom. Sometimes it was necessary to declare war, sometimes to defend the borders of the country, sometimes to hold a ball, sometimes to help the subjects in misery. This was the case until... One day, the inhabitants of Krakow, because that was the name of this city, woke up to an unbearable sound. This sound came from the cave from under the castle, and everyone knew who the sound belonged to. Dragon. The dragon plunged into the pit. No one knew why this misfortune fell on them, but from that moment bad things began to happen in the country, getting worse... Something had to be done about it, because the dragon admonished what King Krak had the most precious thing, about...

A fairy tale performed by Bartosz Watemborski is not only a new interpretation of a well-known play, but above all a fun in search of answers. How did Shoemaker manage to defeat the dragon? Why were the mounds built?

The show takes place on a small surface — the surface of the chest from which the figures of Kramar emerge — folk sculptures that, brought to life by the hand of one actor — once a salesman, once a passenger, once a street artist — tell us in an extremely plastic and at the same time modern history of a thousand years ago. In the music for the performance, it is not difficult to find sounds characteristic of Krakow's surroundings. This is excellent fun for both children and adults.

The second, interactive part of the performance is a show, with the participation of the audience, of the cuisine of the theater of the form. How the shadow theater is created, what is needed for the so-called black theater to exist and how to easily make a theater doll, give it an individual character and bring it to life. The leaders of the meeting work in close contact with the audience.

Theatrical workshops:

Theatre Workshops are designed for children of preschool and school age. Their goal is to acquaint young viewers with the backstage of the theatrical world and the diversity of its forms: puppet theater, shadow theater, black theater, subject theater. Before the eyes of the children, a performance is created, in which they actively participate, observing the actions of the actors, talking with them, touching the dolls, listening to theatrical sounds.

The workshop consists of four theatrical etudes, based on the plot of the Fairy Tale of a Shoemaker, but which are made using other theatrical means. The first is performed with the help of theatrical puppets, performed in the art studio of the Grotesque Theater.. Another etude shows how easily each of us can become the creator of a theatrical doll, using simple materials. It is enough to take only three... But you will learn about this and other elements of the theatrical performance, i.e. sound and light, by coming to the workshop and the performance Bajka o Szewczyk, which will reveal many secrets of the theater before you.