"Captain Wildcat and the Yellow Saturator" directed by Wojciech Kościelniak

Premiere 29 February 2020 Syrena Theatre

Varsovians and Varsovian women! Country people and country people! Veterans of queuing and those who stand everywhere without queuing, enthusiasts of solving criminal puzzles, and especially... amateurs of water with juice straight from the saturator. There is a case, there is an affair! Reactionary forces hostile to our country have acted! The capital is under threat! Who will help us find the criminal and avert disaster? Don't worry! The Polish James Bond, Captain Wildcat, is ready for action. He will be assisted in his investigation by the brave Lieutenant Ola. And all this in the singing and dancing Warsaw of the 1970s, capital of the nonajron shirts and social action of collecting waste paper, a city where they only "throw" oranges into the shop from time to time, but where the imagination and entrepreneurial spirit of the countrymen colour the reality. Will Captain Wildcat and Lieutenant Ola singularly solve another mystery?

Before the premiere, I spoke to Wojciech Koscielniak, author of the script and director of the play.

Tomasz Ostrowski: The already iconic The Newcomer, despite its recent premiere in November 2019, is based on your inspiration from Shaun Tan's picture book of the same title. This book served as a computer pad long before it was used to write the play's script. I understand that the Captain Wildcat comics have served as subsequent computer pads and that you have further pads in store to inspire future shows.

Wojciech Kościelniak: No, the Captain Wildcat comics are too small in format and this is a poor primer. It is not suitable for this purpose. In all seriousness, it was a coincidence that two stories after each other are comic. Yet I think there has come a point where it's worth looking at comics because they built the modern generation. Just as I have a feeling the next generation will make comics based on computer games, because that's what they grew up on and it's natural.

It seems to me that pictorial literature is a good inspiration for the set designer to create the atmosphere of the play built up with decorations, costumes and characterisations.

I also have this impression, because it is a very concrete image, a concrete form, which can be discussed, polemicised, shown straightforwardly, and processed through our contemporary perception. We see this comic not only through how beautifully these pictures were drawn by Grzegorz Rosinski, for example, but we also see them through the faded colours of communist Poland. This comic did not reach us in the form of such intense colours, as the author himself painted. I had the pleasure of seeing the original cards and these are, believe me, completely different colours in terms of intensity and choice of colour shades. They are completely different from what arrived in printed form. The printers were necessarily losing some of that value. I feel that this is very interesting.

What kind of rehearsal will we meet at next?

Probably in Krakow, if you feel like coming. I'm thinking of the Variete Theatre. I will be preparing a western musical this time, the premiere will be soon, and it will be 'Pretty Woman'.

Coming back to the excellent play "Przybysz" directed by you at the Theatre Academy, which, like other diploma plays of theatre schools, is doomed to a short life, I think, and I say it loudly, should be professionally recorded and made available to the general public as part of the Public Television Theatre and on VOD, for example in NINATECE.

That would be nice and I think it would be a good start for these young people. In my opinion, yes, because young people deserve a good start. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will happen.

Thank you for talking to me.

 

CAPTAIN WILDCAT AND THE YELLOW SATURATOR
Lyrics, songwriting and directing: Wojciech Kościelniak
Music: Mariusz Obijalski
Sets and costumes: Anna Chadaj
Choreography: Ewelina Adamska-Porczyk
Choreographic collaboration: Krzysztof Tyszko
Musical guidance / vocal development and training: Tomasz Filipczak
Keyboards / Conductor: Tomasz Filipczak / Agnieszka Szczepaniak
Keyboards: Maciej Tomaszewski / Jakub Zaczkowski
Bass guitar: Paweł Bomert / Mirosław Wiśniewski / Jarosław Igielski
Guitars: Jan Malecha / Tadeusz Nowak
Percussion: Grzegorz Poliszak / Marcin Jahr
Tube: Piotr „Ziarek” Ziarkiewicz / Szymon Gwóźdź / Alan Turonek
Trombone: Andrzej Rękas / Jakub Gumiński
Saxophones: Mariusz „Fazi” Mielczarek / Mariusz Kozłowski
Saxophones: Wiesław Wysocki / Wiktor Wysocki

Poster author: Rafał Szłapa

The actors:
Captain Wildcat: Maciej Maciejewski, Łukasz Szczepanik
Lieutenant Ola: Iga Rudnicka, Ada Szczepaniak
Manfred Steif: Albert Osik, Tomasz Więcek
Katya: Barbara Garstka, Karolina Gwóźdź
Danuta: Ewelina Adamska-Porczyk, Adrianna Dorociak
Cuba: Maciej Dybowski, Michal Juraszek
Wilhelm: Krzysztof Żabka
Magena: Karolina Szeptycka, Anna Terpiłowska
Barbara: Barbara Melzer, Katarzyna Walczak
Ryszard: Marek Grabiniok, Grzegorz Pierczyńskand
Zuza: Marta Parzychowska

DANCERS:
Sara Kaźmierska, Joanna Kierzkowska, Anna Pacocha, Dariusz Kowalewski, Krzysztof Tyszko, Damian Zawadzki, Tomasz Ziółek