When in 1914 the ship with distinguished guests leaves the port in Naples, no one expects the impending catastrophe. The cruise is attended by people, who want to fulfill the last wish of the deceased opera singer, Edmea Tetua and say goodbye to her during the sea expedition, crowned with the spreading of ashes. The mourning journey in a circle of the upper crust, seems to be a bittersweet cluster of vanity and luxury, jealousy and buffoonery. It is the Federico Fellini’s move, the master of playing with image and word, who in the film “And the ship sails on”, invites to the kingdom of exuberant personalities. Enamored with opera, sophisticated food and beautiful costumes, passengers boarding the luxurious transatlantic ship, don’t sense that the decline of the world they got used to, has just begun.
Federico Fellini’s film “And the ship sails on” was made in 1983, now the director Wojciech Kościelniak transfers the image of the Italian master into the framework of musical and opera art. Both, in the case of the Italian and Polish artist, the maritime background is complemented by scenography and costumes referring to 1914. The retail splendor seems to represent the unsinkable status quo of a spoiled aristocracy, taking advantage of the immunity of power unrestrainedly. The elite expedition is unexpectedly disrupted by the news, that there are Serbian refugees on the board. In Sarajevo, archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, has just been murdered. While the passengers of a luxurious ship enjoy the comforts of social status, the world in which they acquired these privileges, is irreversibly ending. There is no emergency exit from both, the devastating World War One and the ship, richly filled with relics of a disappearing reality.
Creative
Directed and adapted by: Wojciech Kościelniak
Lyrics: Wojciech Kościelniak
Music: Mariusz Obijalski
Set design and props: Mariusz Napierała
Costumes: Martyna Kander
Choreography: Mateusz Pietrzak
Music direction: Adam Skrzypek
Make-up and wigs: Magdalena Chabrowska-Oleksiak, Agnieszka Jasiniecka, Zuzanna Sak
Light design: Tadeusz Trylski
Sound design: Sara Agacińska
Visuals: Veranika Siamionava, Zachariasz Jędrzejczyk
Assistants to the Director: Katarzyna Witkowska, Michał Jagodziński
Assistant to Costume Designer and Set Designer: Aleksandra Grzelaczyk
Assistant to the Light Designer: Jakub Frączek
Stage Managers: Wojciech Kupczyński, Małgorzata Szeptycka, Hubert Michalak
Vocal preparation: Magdalena Śniadecka, Ewa Głowacka-Fierek, Magdalena Zawartko