In “The Wedding,” Poles can still see themselves as if in a mirror and recognize themselves, even though the drama was written more than 100 years ago. Lucjan Rydel, a 30-year-old intellectual and poet, married 17-year-old peasant girl Jadwiga. At their wedding in 1900, exceptional guests attended—prominent figures in literature and art in partitioned Poland. Stanisław Wyspiański was among the guests. This event, a shocking marriage both then and today, became the basis for one of the greatest dramas in world literature.
The teachers prepared an engaging and thoughtful program to introduce students to this symbolic work. Different activities were selected for each age group. The oldest students listened to excerpts from the drama and watched a multimedia presentation prepared by students from the second-year middle-school class about the life and work of Stanisław Wyspiański, as well as information about the work being read.
For grades 4–6, a virtual journey through the Rydel Museum and the village of Bronowice near Kraków was prepared. The children learned the most important facts about the life and work of Stanisław Wyspiański. Later in the meeting, to the rhythm of a highlander melody, the students presented wedding processions led by the bride and groom. After taking a commemorative photograph, they visited Kurpie, Kashubia, Podhale, Opole Silesia, Greater Poland, Masuria, Upper Silesia and Mazovia–Łowicz. They learned about the traditions, customs, culture and dialects still used by the inhabitants of these regions. They also deepened their knowledge of Poland’s national dances, one of which they saw performed live by a group from class 5a.
The youngest children admired an exhibition of reproductions of Wyspiański’s paintings and a presentation of folk costumes from various regions during a parade of students dressed in outfits prepared at home by their parents. Afterwards, they colored costumes on sheets of paper themselves. The school was transformed into a huge wedding, just as in Wyspiański’s drama.
National Reading is a nationwide campaign of public readings of outstanding Polish literary works, held since 2012. Its aim is to promote the richness of Polish literature, popularize reading, draw attention to the need to care for the Polish language and strengthen national identity. During previous editions, participants jointly read Adam Mickiewicz’s “Pan Tadeusz,” works by Aleksander Fredro, Henryk Sienkiewicz’s “The Trilogy,” Bolesław Prus’s “The Doll” and Henryk Sienkiewicz’s “Quo Vadis.”