A group of very special guests arrives at the Professor Józef Dietl Sanatorium and Pump Room. Nurse Wanda treats them to a grand tour of the premises and shows them the most popular of procedures. The visitors consider the investment options: medical tourism, sensory experiences or perhaps curative waters? Recent research confirms that by 2035 water will have become more expensive than petroleum. Will there then be a supplier with a monopoly on the unobstructed access to (re)sources? Or perhaps investment in old age comes with a dangerously high risk? The sanatorium is run by its Medical Director – Professor Józef Dietl, who some time ago created a mysterious potion characterised by a set of unusual features. The guests will be given an opportunity to savour it tonight. What lurks behind its mystifying properties? And how will it influence the investors’ decisions?  

The medical centre cultivates its own musical traditions, including staging different types of sanatorium operettas. As a result, recuperation takes places to the accompaniment of music.

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Cezary Tomaszewski

Graduate of the Department of Theatre Studies at the National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw; studied choreography in Brucknerkonservatorium Linz, Austria. Theatre director and choreographer. As a performer, actor and dancer, cooperated with, among others, Toxic Dreams, Joachim Robbrecht, Andrea Bold, Willi Dorner, Anna Tenta, cie. Sans filtre, and Catherine Guerin.

Directed Merry Widow, an operetta by F. Lehar, recognized by Theater heute and Falter magazines, as well as other musical performances. His most important theatrical productions include Weddings, based on The Wedding by S. Wyspiański (J. Kochanowski Theatre in Opole), There is Nothing Wrong with It (Nowy Theatre in Łódź), The Soldier of the Queen of Madagascar by J. Tuwim (W. Bogusławski Theatre in Kalisz), and If Pina Didn’t Smoke, She Would Live (J. Szaniawski Theatre in Wałbrzych).

Cezary Goes to War (Komuna Warszawa), a performance based on his biography, was staged at the 2018 Theatre Confrontations.

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REVIEWS

Is it possible at present to admire the glitter and veneer of operettas? Probably not. Much less so can one in earnest praise all the deviations from industry benchmarks that musical evergreens are affected by during various – sadly, most often – mediocre performances. But there is more to operettas than catchy tunes. Something that we call charm… But what one finds charming is yet another matter. 

                                  Michał Lenarciński

Cezary Tomaszewski’s sanatorium is melancholic and amusing, absurd and funny. Melancholy accompanies the in-patients, while fun is rather part and parcel of the viewers’ experience, but there is no clearly drawn line here. The play is pleasing to the eye on condition that we do not expect intoxicating, no-holds-barred frivolity with plumes and sequins galore, but that we yield instead to its rhythm, flowing sedately like water in a spa, and that we look closely at the mating rituals cultivated in the sanatorium and listen keenly to the brilliantly selected and boldly performed music.   

Joanna Targoń, wyborcza.pl