At the beginning, it must be stressed that the main character of this play is not a serious, wise, and dignified saint (which, after all, Francis of Assisi never was), but Francis, a young man with a childlike soul, imagination and playfulness. Francis from the period when he himself had almost no idea who he would become in the future.

The chamber play that we present on the Small Stage was written by a prominent Polish author who has many awards to her name for her literary and dramatic works, which are mostly dedicated to children. Marta Guśniowska’s plays are humorous, full of fantasy, amusing but not condescending, and they are actually about very simple but important things. Friendship, understanding for others, kindness, compassion, and tolerance. This is exactly how it is with Francis, who travels the world, meeting people and resolving their often petty arguments, making them happy, and teaching them to look at the world with hope. On his journey around the world, Francis doesn’t just meet people; in the play, for example, there is a beautiful scene involving a farmer and his stubborn donkey, humorous but at the same time very expressive. Francis talks to birds, flies, a mole (he considers them all his “little brothers”), and even teaches a wolf to talk and live with people. Even the youngest observer can perceive that Francis shares his kindness with those who meet him, but at the same time he enriches himself.

We wanted (and we think we succeeded) our production to reach and convey to children and adults the need for simple and seemingly “ordinary” relationships and values that are so often neglected today through someone close to them. A person with a childlike capacity for wonder, enthusiasm, and sensitivity towards all living beings, who at the turn of the 13th century “rose upon the world like the sun”, as the famous Italian poet Dante Alighieri wrote about him.