On 23 January 2026, the Main Stage of the National Old Theatre in Krakow will host the premiere of Zamknij oczy Nel. W pustyni i w puszczy – epilog (Close Your Eyes, Nel. In Desert and Wilderness – Epilogue), the theatrical debut of one of the most interesting Polish film directors of recent years. Piotr Domalewski, awarded for “Silent Night” and “Altar Boys,” among others, together with playwright Krzysztof Zygucki, will show viewers a bittersweet story about illness, passing away, and the common language that loved ones find in the face of inevitable loss.
“It will be a story about dying. It will be a strange story, because the passing of a loved one is a strange process,” says Piotr Domalewski. And it is precisely this delicate, non-obvious space that the National Old Theatre invites viewers into. The starting point is a journey, a special one, because it takes place on the border between reality and imagination. A children’s book becomes the last landscape of the dying parent’s world, and the adult child must make a decision: whether to close their eyes and enter the story to accompany them to the end. The characters of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s cult novel In Desert and Wilderness are drawn into an extraordinary process of reincarnation, laced with humour, tenderness and irony. As one of the characters in the play says, perhaps the most soothing vision of heaven is one in which, after a long life, you can be reborn as the hero of your favourite fairy tale.
One of the important themes of the performance is also a critical reflection on Polish colonialism, present not only in history and literature, but also in the collective imagination. Domalewski, drawing on one of Sienkiewicz’s most controversial books, asks about the sources of the Polish fascination with heroes such as Staś Tarkowski. Does this model of heroism still cure our national complexes? What would Staś and Nel’s expedition look like today? The performance also echoes the activities of the Maritime and Colonial League, whose ideological patron was the author of the Trilogy.
Close Your Eyes, Nel is a play that warms the heart, even when it talks about loss. It reminds us that there can be closeness in parting, and that imagination can be the last space for encounter between those who remain and those who are already moving away. The script uses excerpts from Grzegorz Łys’s reportage “Colonial Madness. Overseas Cases of the Second Republic.” The play is intended for viewers over the age of 16.
Premiere: 23 January 2026, 6 p.m.
Venue: Main Stage of the National Old Theatre in Krakow, ul. Jagiellońska 5.
Cast:
Katarzyna Krzanowska, Dorota Pomykała, Paulina Puślednik, Dorota Segda, Bolesław Brzozowski, Zbigniew Kosowski, Radosław Krzyżowski, Michał Majnicz, Grzegorz Mielczarek, Filip Perkowski, Błażej Peszek, Przemysław Przestrzelski, Jacek Romanowski
Creators:
Text and direction – Piotr Domalewski
Dramaturgy – Krzysztof Zygucki
Set design and costumes – Arek Ślesiński
Choreography – Katarzyna Sikora
Video – Natan Berkowicz
Music – Wojtek Urbański
Lighting design – Rafał Paradowski
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