„Kukrzysko” means a site of fire, ashes, the place a house used to be located on. It’s an Old Polish word, still existing in dialects.

The performance is a joint show of some sort. The audience is invited to a cramped place, where two mysterious old women come back to life after a long break. In an intimate atmosphere, in a room tightly filled with various kinds of decorations, the audience participates in secret activities that make up an unparalleled ritual. The old women existing between the past and the present, like local witch doctors, summon the characters hidden in their storage room: Slavic deities, malicious demons and phantoms. In addition, the arsenal of means they use goes far beyond the local customs … What purpose such a peculiar ceremony serves? Who the old women really are? What were they hiding from? Where is the eponymous kukrzysko and what is it?

The makers of the performance say: We hope you will be looking for answers to these questions during your stay in our hut.

direction: Maria Żynel
stage design: Maria Żynel/Paula Czarnecka
music: Zbigniew Rusiłowicz
video: Łukasz Krysiewicz
lighting: Bogusław Kasperuk
cast: Paula Czarnecka/Maria Żynel/Paulina Karczewska (video)

Maria Żynel – she started her career at the Malabar Hotel Theatre (previously known as Doomsday Company). She collaborates with independent and institutional theatres as a director, stage designer and actress. At the same time, she is a performer, director of short film forms and singer (Południce band). She also creates her own independent projects (eg. performance/concert „States of Matter” at the BPT).

Paula Czarnecka – previously associated with the Wierszalin Theatre, she’s currently an independent actress and director. She cooperates with the Białystok Latarnia Theatre, Klepisko Theatre in Skowieszynek  near Lublin, University of Białystok Foundation, Sztuk Puk Sztuka Creative Association in Rzeszów, as well as with cultural institutions and festivals, hosting theatre master classes for people of all ages. She also produces independent initiatives (eg. performance „Another Time” at the Baj Pomorski Theatre in Toruń).

Both artists graduated from the Puppet Art Faculty in Białystok of the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, where they currently work as assistants.