Opening Night: 3 October 2014
Author: Tom Waits
Title: Fortepian pijany
Original Title: The Piano Has Been Drinking
Arrangement of Songs: 
Marcin Przybylski
Director: Marcin Przybylski

Auditorium: Studio Theatre
Running time: 1 hour 50 min, no interval

The Piano Has Been Drinking

Whittier, Southern Californa – the place where he grew up and where all its strange dwellers with colourful biographies live. Life stories fictitious and real at the same time.

Lunatic who sells vegetables, a hairdresser secretly drinking booze, and a number of other peculiar characters – they all sing Tom Waits' lyrics. The verses of the American songwriter develop into a tale of wandering, deep love and fleeting romances, desires and sudden rushes of emotion. The intensity of feelings is reflected by unruly sounds, which illustrate how bittersweet life in Whittier is – a small town torn between the God and the devil.

director: Marcin Przybylski
arrangement of songs: Marcin Przybylski 
translator: Roman Kołakowski 
musical arrangements: Andrzej Perkman 
set design, lighting design: Anna Skupień, Katarzyna Szczurowska 
costume design: Monika Onoszko
stage movement: Anna Gryszkówna 


Music band:
Andrzej Perkman – keyboard instruments, guitar
Bartosz Tkacz Wiesław Wysocki – saxophone
Wojciech Gumiński Maciej Matysiak Konrad Kubicki / Paweł Zwierzyński  – double bass, bass guitar
Jakub Kinsner / Bartosz Mikołaj Nazaruk / Mariusz Mocarski / Szymon Linette Fryderyk Młynarski – drums

Cast: 

Anna Chodakowska 
Monika Dryl 
Wiesława Niemyska (guest actress)
Paulina Korthals 
Anna Lobedan 
Paulina Szostak 
Karol Dziuba
Robert Jarociński
Waldemar Kownacki
Jerzy Łapiński / Kacper Matula (from September 29, 2017 till October 26, 2017)
Marcin Przybylski
Jacek Różański
Mateusz Rusin

Production team:

  • director's assistant: Monika Wiktoria Gołębiewska
  • set designers' assistant: Elwira Szyszka
  • costume designer's assistant: Anita Trzaskowska
  • lighting technicians: Andrzej Jabłoński, Łukasz Obuch-Woszczatyński
  • sound technicians: Piotr Gos, Wojciech Wojtulanis
  • stage manager: Krzysztof Kuszczyk / Adam Borkowski

Gallery:

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  • FAUST

    Faust is a story based on an ancient legend of a scholar who yearns so much for just a moment of happiness that he makes a pact with the devil. Premiere – 26 October 2024.

  • FEBLIK

    Małgorzata Maciejewska's surprising drama received the Tadeusz Różewicz Drama Award in 2022, the competition's first year. The show is directed by Lena Frankiewicz. 

  • A DREAM PLAY

    After the well-received Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Sławomir Narloch returned to the National Theatre with another premiere – A Dream Play by Strindberg.

     

  • KING LEAR

    The King of Britain divides his kingdom between his three daughters to free himself from worries and hardships. However, before the decision he poses a question: which of you loves me the most?

  • WAITING FOR GODOT

    "What do we do now? Wait. [...] We're waiting for Godot". Piotr Cieplak directs Waiting for Godot by Beckett. Is this a classic yet? Does it still have its avant-garde power? And, are we still waiting?

  • FREDRO: THE JUBILEE YEAR

    Do you know Fredro? Not necessarily... To celebrate 230 years since Aleksander Fredro's birth, the National Theatre invites you to an evening dedicated to the life and works of Poland’s greatest comedy writer. 

  • TALES FROM THE VIENNA WOODS

    Małgorzata Bogajewska directs for the second time at the National Theatre. This time she draws on Ödön von Horváth's 1931 drama.

  • Solidarity with Ukraine | Солідарні з Україною

    The ensemble of the National Theatre stands in solidarity with the Ukrainians who are fighting for the independence of their homeland.

  • The National Theatre at Google Cultural Institute

    The virtual exhibition 250 Years of Teatr Narodowy (the National Theatre of Poland) is available online at Google Cultural Institute.

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