Oratorium robotnicze (Workers’ Oratory)

a word-and-music montage prepared and directed by Waldemar Krygier and presented by the Theatre of 13 Rows company on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the formation of the Polish Workers’ Party (PPR), the dominant political party in Poland. The production came about on the initiative of the Presidium of the Municipal National Council in Opole. It was the fourth official Estrada Publicystyczna (Journalistic Platform). Its premiere took place on 27 February 1962 in the main auditorium of Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna (Institute of Education) in Opole. The script featured texts by Adam Asnyk, Ludwik Waryński, Franciszek Biedrzycki, Samuel Podhajecki, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Egon Erwin Kisch, and Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński. The music was composed by Stanisław Michalak with the exception of the Hymn, which was written by Zygmunt Konieczny (then a fourth-year student at the State Music Academy in Kraków). The State Symphony Orchestra of Opole played, conducted by Stanisław Michalak. Actors: Rena Mirecka, Maja Komorowska, Andrzej Bielski, Ryszard Cieślak, Zbigniew Cynkutis, Antoni Jahołkowski and Zygmunt Molik. This special paean in honour of the ‘hero’ – the word used to describe the PPR in the programme – is the most glaring of the artistic compromises into which the Theatre of 13 Rows was forced in the face of an increasingly unfavourable attitude from the authorities towards its activities.