Opening Night: 22 November 2025
Author: Tadeusz Miciński
Title: The Polish Thermopylae
Original Title: Termopile polskie
Stage adaptation and direction: Jan Klata

Auditorium: Boguslawski Hall

Tickets | more info →

full-price tickets:
zone I: 140 PLN
zone II: 130 PLN
zone III: 110 PLN

discount tickets:
zone I: 95 PLN
zone II: 85 PLN
zone III: 75 PLN

rush ticket: 
50 PLN 

students at state-run art schools: 
15 PLN 

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The Polish Thermopylae

In his first play at the National Theatre, director Jan Klata has opted for Tadeusz Miciński's The Polish Thermopylae. As he announces in his programme notes, it is "a phantasmagoria about the cursed fate […] of our corner of Europe. About Poland, Russia, Ukraine, about the shadow that Fate has cast on successive generations of History's cannon fodder."

But why is this director, known for his bold interpretations of literary classics, returning to this text today? What can we learn from its original creator, a poet of stars and darkness, an author of mystical novels who died in 1918 ? Is History really the teacher of life?

In 1997, at the National Theatre following its rebuild after a fire, Jerzy Grzegorzewski opened his directorship with Stanisław Wyspiański's November Night. It dealt with the tradition of Polish uprisings and the painful dilemma: "To fight or not to fight?" This question is once again raising its ugly head in the "pre-war period" in which we are currently living. How will the National Theatre ensemble, led by Jan Klata, respond?

The premiere of The Polish Thermopylae will take place on November 22, 2025, to mark the 260th anniversary of the National Theatre.

Poster design: Bartłomiej Kiełbowicz
Developed by: Elipsy
Used: a modified version of the Yoko Ono and John Lennon War is Over poster, CC BY-NC 2.0

Show recommended for ages 16+.
Please mind: this production contains elements that may cause discomfort: very loud music and sounds, intense flashing lights, cigarette smoke, gunfire sounds, intense choreography. The performance addresses issues such as physical and sexual violence, torture, war, and death. The play contains profanity in the Russian language.


direction, stage adaptation and musical arrangements: Jan Klata
set and lighting design: Justyna Łagowska
costume design: Mirek Kaczmarek
dramaturgy: Miłosz Markiewicz
choreography: Maćko Prusak
video: Natan Berkowicz
live music: Gruzja / Artur Rumiński – guitar/electronics, Bartosz Lichołap – drums, Patryk Rzeszutek – vocals/synthesizer, Mateusz Maryjka / Kamil Staszałek / Piotr Gruenpeter – bass
director's assistant, prompter: Magdalena Markowska
costume design assistant: Maria Mordarska
vocal preparation:Mariusz Chojecki
stage manager: Adam Borkowski

Cast

and

Marek Burzyński, Jacek Czuba, Rafał Karasiński, Patryk Koch, Waldemar Kowalski, Sławomir Łoszewski, Maciej Łukaszek, Mateusz Mainhart, Stefan Michalski, Krzysztof Nowicki, Dariusz Osiadacz, Roman Rakowski, Michał Suska, Łukasz Szczotkarz, Bartłomiej Szymański, Michał Ulejczyk, Wojciech Wawer, Mansour Zare, Tomasz Zawadzki

 

Production team

  • lighting technicians: Bartłomiej Kaczalski, Krzysztof Łukasz Stefan, Zbigniew Szulim
  •   
  • sound technicians: Hubert Majewski, Mariusz Maszewski, Marek Szymański

     
  • video projections: Mariusz Chałubek, Paweł Woźniak

Licence for this stage production was granted by the Society of Authors – ZAiKS.

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