A Stompin' Good Time Amidst Unbeknownst History...

I am very pleased to report that we had enjoyable time at STOMP last night even with our two year old daughter. The Cat was dreading the evening out of fear that we would have a repeat of the Nutcracker. For those of you who do not know, we tried a theater outing with Thing 1 and Thing 2 over the holidays to see the Nutcracker Ballet. Thing 1 watched, but did not enjoy it citing “I’m a boy mom – ballet is for girls.” Thing 2 enjoyed it for a bit, but we did not make it through the second act. When I heard STOMP was coming to Warsaw, I had a feeling that this would be Thing 2’s type of production.

I was not surprised that my two year old sat for an hour and 45 minutes in awe of what she was watching and hearing. Between numbers, she could be heard saying “uh oh” thinking something was wrong because they stopped “stompin.” If you have seen this show, you probably participated in the call and response section of the show. So did Thing 2 as best as she could. She had an incredible time. Now of course, she is trying to replicate what she saw, trying to bang on our empty water jugs from the water service.

Thing 1, on the other hand, slept through most of it. I don't know how he did it. Despite that, he said he liked it in his "dream." Whatever! He initially said it was too loud. Understandable. But if you know Thing 1, he can be pretty loud. I constantly have to remind him to use an indoor voice. So, it was a bit ironic.

STOMP was performed at Sala Kongresowa within the Palace of Culture and Science/Pałac Kultury i Nauki (PKiN). This “palace” was a “gift” from Stalin to Poland during the 1950’s. Similar “gifts” were given to other communist bloc countries so if you visit these countries you may encounter similar buildings. The building is very controversial and for some time it was a bit of an eye sore. Older Poles hate it and will tell you that it should be bombed or destroyed. Young Poles do not have the same associations with the building as their parents or grandparents. To most, it is now a place for entertainment that includes museums, a movie theater, clubs and performance venues. There is an elevator that will take you up to the 30th floor for a view of the city which is probably nicer to view during the evening when it is lit up.

When we took our seats in Sala Kongresowa, we noticed a few things. In front of each seat was a wooden fold out table like the ones found in front of you on an airplane. These, however, remained at an incline as if their purpose was to hold a book or to be used as a small writing desk. The seats were rigid with high hard backs obviously not intended for an entertainment venue. The only thing I could think of was that the seats were used by people who needed to stay awake because they are not the most comfortable (you can ask Thing 1 who tried to sleep amidst the noise from STOMP). As I looked around, it struck me that this looked like a meeting place. The name itself “Congress Hall” gives that impression.

Knowing the history of the building, I commented to The Cat that this looked like it might be a former “congress” or meeting place of the communist party. I even took some pictures of the place because it seemed to have some historical significance. So, imagine my surprise when I learned that my hypothesis was correct. The hall was used for meetings or “congresses” of the Communist Party during that era. To think a comrade was sitting in that seat 50 years ago!