Pastoralka
Pastoralka takes place during a Christmas feast in the southern, mountain regions of Poland. Traditionally, Kolednicy (Carol singers), walk from house to house signing Christmas Carols and sharing Christmas cheer. The Carol Singers arrive at a guest house and are invited in for a meal by they couple who live there.
They dance and sing together, and reflect together on the true meaning of Christmas and what it means to Poles abroad. Spontaneously, they jump up to act out scenes that are synonymous with the Polish cultural tradition.
Scene 1: Temptation of Adam and Eve. The scene represents the Christian story of how Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil. Eve in her naivety succumbs and eats the forbidden fruit. They are cast out of the Garden of Eden.
Scene 2: The angel visits Mary. The angel Gabriel visits Mary to tell her that she will give birth to baby Jesus. Mary (Klaudia Sosin) sings Magnificat in Latin. Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem. Mary sings about not being able to find a place to give birth in Bethlehem.
Scene 3: Baby Jesus is born. Christmas carols are sung.
Scene 4: Shepherd’s awake and are guided by a bright star over Bethlehem. A star guides the shepherds to the place where baby Jesus was born, and they bring him gifts. But not all shepherds a willing to go – one prefers to sleep with his bottle…
Scene 5: King Herod the brute. The three kings visit Herod to tell him of the birth of Christ. He orders his guards to kill all baby children, including his own son. Herod’s wife (Magda Lisek) sings a song of grief when she learns about her son’s death. For his brutal and heartless acts, the Death comes to claim Herod with a scythe. The Devil and Death dance with joy.
Monika Dudek is Promyk’s Artistic Director and Iwona Kilijanski is the Group Coordinator.
Pastoralka cast in alphabetical order:
Tomasz Bujakowski – Inn Keeper, Shepherd, Herod’s Soldier, script and director
Joanna Bukara – Death and dance choreography
Marcin Bury – Accordion and vocals
Aldona Czubacka – King Melchior
Klaudia Czubacka – Angel Michael
Rafał Domański – Shepherd, Herod’ s Soldier
Włodzimierz Halladin – Herod
Piotr Kukliński – Angel Gabriel
Maria Kuźmicka – Director and sound
Magda Lisek – Herod’s wife and solo vocals
Krystyna Łyszkowicz – Costumes
Witold Milarski – Shepherd
Anna Myśliwska – Designer (flyer)
Anna Niedźwiadek – Inn keeper’s wife, producer and director
Grzegorz Niedżwiadek – Lighting assistant
Zbigniew Niedźwiadek – Lighting
Henryk Paliński – violin and vocals
Robert Panasiewicz – Prologus, Shepherd, and Feldmarszal
Danuta Rosiewicz – Costumes
Alex Sosin – Devil
Klaudia Sosin – Mary and solo vocals
Monika Sosin – King Baltazar
Tomasz Statkiewicz – Joseph
Stanisław Tomasiak – Guitar and vocals
Maciej Warzycki – Guitar and vocals
Emila Wójcik – King Kacper
Piotr Wójcik – Adam
Dominika Ziółkowski – Eve
Dancers performing at Pastoralka (in surname order)
Isabella Brozek
Marie Chan
Mia Chan
Matthew Kilijanski
Nicholas Kilijanski
Jana Mikosza
Maya Milarski
Natalia Smith