MEDIATHEK

"Young Wife" is a one-woman comic opera for coloratura soprano and piano. Plot is based on the semi-autobiographical novel "The Memoirs of a Young Wife" by Polish writer Gabriela Zapolska (1857-1921). Libretto was written and translated to English by the composer, Katarzyna Brochocka. Full of playful melodrama, The Young Wife is an account of a woman's rocky new marriage, performed through sung diary entries. The opera takes place in 1890s Poland, and tells the story of a skittish Young Wife, who discovers an unexpected way to deal with her snippy husband Julian (who married her just for her dowry), his giggling “lady-friend” Liza (who turns out to be his lover) and her own forbidden longings (her first love, Mr. Adam, whom she meets again after years). Zapolska has received the most recognition for her sociosatirical comedies. Echos of the themes she explored are still present in contemporary culture. "The Young Wife" except it's humorous side has a serious dramatic potential, it shows complexity of woman’s sensitivity and true insight into growing consciousness of a young woman, who was brought up in a beautiful dream, that suddenly turns out to be a real nightmare. The suffering is created mostly in her own head, and realization of that is what really frees her out of unhappiness, not the "Polish-Mother" stereotype, as it first may seem. The Washington production of "The Young Wife" was awarded 2013 Pick of the Fringe audience award in the best Music Theatre & Opera category.