The Board of the Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club in Los Angeles is very pleased to invite its members and the general public to a one-time performance of Dobry wieczor, Monsieur Chopin, a play based on Chopin's letters written and directed by Maria Nowotarska. The performance by Maria Nowotarska and Agata Pilitowska of the Polish Theater from Toronto will take place on Friday, January 31, 2020, at 8 p.m. at the Magicopolis Theater in Santa Monica (1418 4th Street, Santa Monica, with plenty of public parking nearby).
RSVP to prezes@modjeska.org by Jan 27, 2020. Please note that the students and faculty of the Polish Schools may attend for free, while club members pay $10, and guests $30 per person. You may also make your reservation via PayPal, adding $3 for PayPal fees - to prezes@modjeska.org.
To find out more about the play, you can read the review (in Polish) from its performance in Stockholm, Sweden: https://www.poloniainfo.se/artykul.php?id=1374
After the performance, the Board of Directors of the Modjeska Club will present the 2019 Modjeska Prize for achievement as Polish actors to the stars of the evening, who performed for the club many plays, focusing on great Polish emigre women, such as Pola Negri, Ordonka, Tamara Lempicka, and others. Established in 2010, the Modjeska Prize serves as a Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of acting. So far, awardees included Jan Nowicki, Anna Dymna, Barbara Krafftowna and, in 2018 Jadwiga Baranska. Ms. Nowotarska and Ms. Pilitowska are the first recipients who are emigres and permanently live in Canada, while performing around the world.
MARIA NOWOTARSKA
From her graduation at the Krakow Theater Academy, she was an actress in the Słowacki Theater in Krakow. Her artistic achievements include a number of significant roles in dramatic and comedy repertoire. She cooperated with outstanding Polish directors - among others with E. Axer, K. Braun, K. Dejmek, B. Dąbrowski, B. Korzeniowski, R. Niewiarowicz, and R. Zioło. Nowotarska also appeared in Polish films, including the roles of "Andrzejowa Korczynska" in Nad Niemnem, "Tekla Ostrowska" "in" Between Lips and the Edge of the Chalice (Miedzy Ustami and Brzegiem Pucharu). In the Television Theater, she starred in many great performances, including Barbarians, Świętoszek, Iwanów, Maple Brothers, A Forgotten Devil, Mary and Magdalene, etc. Nowotarska moved to Canada in 1990l due to her extensive experience, she become a co-creator of theatrical life in Toronto. She has been the creator, artistic director, screenwriter, director as well as actress in the theater known as Salon of Poetry, Music and Theater of the Polish Canadian Music Society. The repertoire of the Salon includes a whole array of the greatest Polish poets from Kochanowski to Szymborska and Twardowski.
Together with Agata Pilitowska, Nowotarska has developed a series of plays about the Great Polish Emigrant Women "written especially for actresses by Kazimierz Braun and directed by him as well: Helena, A Thing about Modjeska, American Dreams, Tamara L. about Tamara Lepicka, Radiation about Maria Sklodowska-Curie,"Stories of Pola Negri, and Mysteries of Ordonka. These plays have beentranslated into seven languages and performed by Nowotarska and Pilitowska in many theaters around the world. At the same time, Maria Nowotarska has conducted teaching activities at the Acting School operating at the Salon, preparing youth of Polish descent for work as actors. She received awards from the A. Mickiewicz Foundation, the Turzans Foundation. In 1995 she received the title "Women of the Year" for her artistic activity, and in 2000 she was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. In 2004 she was awarded the title of "Meritorious for Polish Culture" by the Polish Ministry of Culture, and in 2006 she was honored with the Medal Gloria Artis. Other awards include the 2011 Golden Owl, Zlota Sowa statuette for achievements in the field of theater - in Vienna and the 2011 Gold Medal of the American Institute of Polish Culture
AGATA PILITOWSKA
Agata Pilitowska graduated from the National Academy of Theatre Arts in Cracow, Poland and came to Canada in 1986. She played many English speaking roles in Toronto’s theatres. From 1992 she is associated with the Salon of Poetry, Music, and Theatre where she played in more than 100 productions, most notable in the series of dramas, written and directed especially for AgataPilitowska and Maria Nowotarska by Kazimierz Braun. These plays were performed not only in Toronto, but also in many cities in Canada, the United States, Europe, as well as in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her evening of poetry, “Szymborska Nobel 96”, was performed in Polish and English at the Concordia University in Montreal, Georgetown University in Washingtn DC, and as part of the International Writers Festival in Ottawa. Since 1999 she was a presenter and journalist of the TV OMNI, where she was the host of a weekly programme “Z Ukosa”. For the OMNI TV she dubbed thirty three hourly TV programs “Canada, the Peoples’ History” . Agata Pilitowska was given the title “Distinguished Advocate of Polish Culture ” ,the medal “Gloria Artis” , the statue “Golden Owls” for her achievements in acting and theatre in Vienna Austria , “Golden Cross of Merit “, the statuette “Politka” for her role of Pola Negri , “Golden Leafs Awards “ for the roles of Pola Negri and Hanka Ordonowna.
