Passing Stranger Theatre Company

BALLADINA by Juliusz Słowacki

Balladina (in translation by Professor Bill Johnston) was first performed at the Drayton Arms Theatre in Kensington, London, in November 2018 with a successful sold our run. It was the first project created under the Passing Stranger Theatre Company and a UK premiere of this Polish classic.

Balladina was written in 1834 by Juliusz Słowacki. It covers themes of crime, politics, and dark side of ambition, which can easily be interpreted as a reflection of our modern world.

It is a notable work of Polish romanticism, focusing on the issues such as thirst for power and evolution of the criminal mind. The story revolves around the rise and fall of Balladina, a fictional Slavic queen.

“Passing Stranger Theatre Company gave me the immense pleasure and privilege of seeing my rendering of Balladina brought to such wonderful life.” - Professor Bill Johnston, an award winning Polish language literary translator and Professor of comparative literature at Indiana University.

This project was supported by the Polish Cultural Institute and the Polish Radio.

DADDY ISSUES by Anna Krauze

Longlisted for the Popcorn Writing Award 2022 by Popcorn Group/BBC Writersroom.

A dark comedy one actor show about childhood trauma, sex work, immigration, imperfect feminism and life of an artist. Ot tells a story of Nat, a Polish immigrant and an aspiring painter who works on a sex line to make ends meet while dealing with the dark side of the arts industry and her own blood-stained past.

Daddy Issues debuted at the Camden Fringe Festival 2021, followed by two UK Tours 2021-2023 (Kingston-Upon-Thames, Bristol, Glasgow, Brighton, Nottingham, London, Guildford) and a month at the Pleasance Courtyard at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022.