Theatre of Polish Classics “King and Tsaryca” at the Centre for Culture and Art in Skierniewice

Theatre of Polish Classics “The King and the Tsaritsa”

Centre for Culture and Art in Skierniewice, 33 Reymonta Street, concert hall

15.10.2026 at 19.00, tickets 80.00 PLN

The romance of the last Polish king with Empress Catherine the Great was no secret. It was to the Russian ruler that the monarch owed her assumption of the throne in Warsaw. The Theatre of Polish Classics invites you to the performance “The King and the Tsaryca” directed by Jerzy Zelnik, which was created on the basis of a selection of correspondence between Empress Catherine and King Stanisław August.

In 1755, the secretary of the English deputy, a young Polish aristocrat, Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski, arrived in St. Petersburg. He drew Catherine's attention to himself, losing his head to her himself. Her husband, Peter, discovered romance. He reacted with anger, but quickly mastered it. He was also involved in extramarital affairs. So he blessed the happiness of lovers. In July 1762, he died. At the behest of his wife, who ordered him murdered. Two years later, already as Tsarina, Catherine made Stanisław Poniatowski the ruler of Poland. After another thirty-one years, however, he deprived him not so much of the throne as of the kingdom, leading to the third partition of the Polish Republic.

The creators will present a psychological and emotional portrait of the king and the empress — former lovers who, under the guise of a constantly maintained sister-brotherly relationship, wage a diplomatic war over conflicting national aspirations and goals.

The echoes of the old passion still sometimes resound between the lines of the letters of the two rulers. However, it is a violent, unsentimental political interest that is the proper content of this correspondence. Therefore, it is an extraordinary material for actors. In the performance of the Teatr Klasyki Polska, they will bring out all the complexity of the relations between Stanisław August and Catherine II, forming a dramatic weave of longing, hope, fear, contempt and cold calculation. “The King and the Empress” will reveal the behind-the-scenes events that led to the disappearance of the Republic of Poland from the map of Europe for more than one hundred and twenty years.

CAST Tsaryca — Halina Rowicka

King — Jerzy Zelnik

Violinist, Stańczyk — Stefan Kiniorski

DIRECTORS Directed by: Jerzy Zelnik

Artistic supervision: Maciej Wojtyszko

Written by: Halina Rowicka

Set design and costumes: Anna Czyż

Music: Mikołaj Hertel

Lighting design: Marcin Jaczkowski

Characterization: Anna Czyżykiewicz

Inspector: Barbara Ojrzeńska

Produced by: Monika Sirenska, Natalia Przyborek

ATTENTION! If you wish to purchase tickets for wheelchair users, please contact us by phone: +48 727 555 201 or by e-mail: [email protected]