(costumes)
written and directed by Konrad Imiela music by Grzegorz Rdzak (2022)
The first musical produced by the Jerzy Szaniawski Dramatic Theatre in Wałbrzych. It tells the story of Duchess Daisy, the last aristocratic owner of Książ Castle — “the greatest Beauty of Europe,” an unhappy wife, and a witness to the decline of the European aristocracy.
It is a subjective, emotional narrative about her feelings, her choices, and a world that has vanished. The dramaturgy of the musical exposes both its own form and the constructed narrative about Daisy, turning her life into a metaphorical feast in which each “course” reveals another stage of her biography.
The costumes follow the greatest transformation in fashion history that unfolded during Daisy’s lifetime: from bustles and corsets, through the simplicity of the 1920s, to the increasingly shorter dresses of the 1930s and 40s. Their form is synthetic and transformative — eras flow seamlessly into one another, often through a single gesture, such as removing a skirt. In this visual evolution, the costumes become not only part of the stage aesthetic but also a commentary on Daisy’s fate and on a world inevitably moving toward its end.
photo: Tobiasz Papuczys