But your sacrifice was not quite for nothing

For you’ve gone down in history today.

There is a monument for you in your hometown

Which reads: Glory to the defeated. 

(Radosław B. Maciąg, from the script of the play)

The hecatomb of the twentieth-century wars, including the one that still generates the most fear – World War II, and the brutal occupation that came with it – have grown to a national myth, which is here deconstructed by Radosław B. Maciąg’s play.

What is a boy’s understanding of independence when he triumphantly shouts: “Long live Poland”? How does his perception change when he becomes a man? This somnambulent and spare play, significantly titled Long Live Poland/A Right-Wing Play, not only reconstructs the martyrological myths of Polishness, in which a major role is played by the opposing characters of the bad Gestapo man (Grzegorz Grabowski) and the noble insurgent (Stanisław Linowski), it also portrays the process by which we mature and confirm our views.

The boy grew up into a young man. He exchanged his colorful sandals for military boots, he shaved his head, and every Saturday, in full uniform, set off with his pack to the Rifle Union. Under a monument to slain insurgents, armed with a plastic replica of an AK-47, he vowed to be true to his homeland, until he breathed his last breath. (…)

Ten years later, now holding a diploma from the Theatre Academy in Krakow, this lad, who had now become a man, decided to retell this tale.

(Radosław B. Maciąg, from the program for the play)

This play was selected from the Młodzi w Starym competition organized by the National Stary Theatre, in cooperation with the S. Wyspiański Theatre Academy in Krakow.