– My story happened right here: in Warsaw, in Muranów – says Lulla La Polaca (Andrzej Szwan). Andrzej Szwan was born in 1938, so when the ghetto uprising broke out, he was a preschooler. He remembers the Warsaw Uprising, now he goes to equality parades in Berlin. Although he dreamed of acting, he worked in the construction industry his whole life. In a conversation with Wiktor Krajewski, Andrzej Szwan, known to the world as Lulla La Polaca, talks about the beginnings of his career in the world of drag, the backstage of gay life in the Polish People’s Republic and discovering his identity.
Lulla, don’t you feel too old to study?
I’m happy that even though I’m eighty-six years old, someone still wants to take care of me and say: “Lulla, you have to do it this way, some things should be eliminated, some things should be improved.” Just because someone dances beautifully in the bathroom in front of the mirror or rocks out on the dance floor in a club, doesn’t mean that they will move properly on stage. A sense of rhythm and a few moves are not enough. Training and technique are needed to constantly improve the level of your performances.
Do you think that one day we will see the level of drag in Poland as seen in “RuPaul’s Drag Race”?
I have watched many episodes of RuPaul’s reality show, and I really appreciate him both as a drag queen and for what he has done for the international drag scene. I believe that what is shown in his program is art of the highest order. But there, the entire industry, the entire factory, is working on one episode. Everything here is still a bit crude and, as they say, crocheted on our own, on our knees. Although of course this is changing. We have many drag queens in Poland who present a really high artistic level. In the largest Polish cities you can easily find regular drag performances in clubs and even theaters. In 2022, the Capitol Theater in Wrocław hosted the premiere of a great show about drag queens, based on the film of the same title – “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”. This is a top-class musical theater, with about forty actors on stage, over two hundred and sixty costumes, and it all creates a kaleidoscope like a drag revue. Papina McQueen, who runs a drag revue at the New Proxima Theater, is also doing great in Krakow, and they have premieres twice a year. I was there some time ago and had a great time!
People who want to enter the drag scene have someone to learn from, and in my opinion this is crucial. Of course, today we have access to many performances and programs on the Internet, but nothing can replace the advice of an experienced person or one-on-one lessons. The second important thing is what I have already mentioned – a real stage on which we can show ourselves to the world. I even told someone recently that a professional drag theater should be established in Poland, but we still have to wait for that.
Drag has a very long tradition in Western culture, because during the Restoration period in English theater, men played the roles of women. Apparently the word “drag” comes from old notes in theater scripts, where an abbreviation was used – from dressed as a girl.
That’s right, we didn’t invent it, drag has been known for centuries. Some actors even specialized in female roles and gained great recognition for this, because it was acting at the highest level. Drag queens should be appreciated in the same way now. This is real art.
Do you think drag is still marginalized in Poland?
Until recently, we were omitted from the discussion about culture, treated as an insignificant footnote. We had a large audience, there were various drag scenes, but it did not reach a wide audience. Now drag artists are coming out of the shadows. Drag has entered the mainstream with a certain step and is starting to be treated on an equal footing with theatre, cabaret, vaudeville and film.
Andrzej Szwan – Lulla la Polaca Marek Zimakiewicz
Recent years have probably been a breakthrough for Polish drag in terms of visibility in the public sphere. In 2019, Ralph Kaminski invited you for the first time to appear in his music video for the song 2009, then further clips with your participation appeared – “Youth”, “Dad” and “Dog”.
When Ralph called me and offered to cooperate, I was shocked. I didn’t suspect that someone like him could have the slightest idea of my existence. It was a great honor for me. I was invited to the studio in Saska Kępa. I went to this recording with curiosity, but also fear, although my fears were completely unnecessary. I also met the entire Ralph team then, including my current stylist Mikaela. There was immediate chemistry between us. The whole idea of the video was to recreate Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”, which I thought was perfect – us, a bunch of weirdos, as the apostles, and Ralph in the middle.
Which of your three music videos do you like the most?
My greatest sentiment and admiration arouses the very intimate song “Dad”, in which Ralph revealed a piece of his life. I’m not surprised that he was awarded the “Polityka” Passport for this song. He totally deserved it, because he has an extraordinary personality and is not afraid to go against the grain. For me he is a complete artist. Which, of course, does not mean that it is finished artistically. He surprises us with something new all the time, there is no makeshift solution for him. Sometimes the shooting for the music video lasted until late at night or ended in the morning, and although I could barely cope, just like everyone else, I felt overwhelming happiness because I had taken part in something extremely important and necessary.
Do you keep in touch with Ralph outside of work?
He visited me recently and brought a beautiful bouquet of roses. He exudes warmth, empathy and kindness. That’s what captivated me about him. He is very direct, although with his position he could keep people like me at a distance. He could be staring and walking around with his nose upturned, but he doesn’t do that. In his presence I feel as if I were his cousin or even his brother. As if someone had closed the generation gap between us. As if we had known each other forever and we only met a few years ago. I also know his mother, grandmother and stepfather. Ralph invited me to appear in his music video as a grandfather, and suddenly it turned out that we were partners. This doesn’t happen often.
In 2022, Netflix released the miniseries “The Queen”, whose main character – like you – is an older man who performs as a drag queen. Is this another sign that the art of drag is entering the salons?
Definitely. I really appreciate that real drag queens were hired to produce the show. My friend, drag queen Adelon, was in charge of the wigs there. It was thanks to her that I met Andrzej Seweryn, who played the title role. It so happened that one day I went to the Norblin Factory to pick up a suitcase with costumes. There was a party there to celebrate Seweryn’s birthday, and Adelon was also having fun there. “Mr. Andrzej, you have before you the oldest Polish drag queen, Lulla La Polaca” – she introduced me quite theatrically to the birthday boy, and Seweryn made a truly courtly bow to me. I was very pleased, it’s an honor when such a personality bows before you!
Fashion brands hire you for their advertising campaigns, famous artists invite you to cooperate, you were the face of cosmetics and you had a session for “Vogue”. Doesn’t this cause envy among your colleagues?
Maybe they do secretly, but they don’t openly show jealousy that such an old woman is causing such a sensation. I heard rather nice words, that it’s nice that I appeared in an advertisement, that there is a wonderful film like “Boylesque” directed by Bogna Kowalczyk, which won awards, that I play in “Orlando”, that you can see me, a piece of my life, that people admire me they enjoy my performances, discuss them and express their opinions.
Do you feel adored by crowds?
I do not know…? I’ll give you an example from a recent Ralph Kaminski recital. After the concert, when we were going to the locker room, a group of young Ralph fans were waiting for me, who remembered Lulla from his music videos. I guess the moving video for the song “Tata” made the greatest impression on these young people. Even though the recital had ended half an hour earlier, they were patiently waiting for me. I saw the smiles on their faces when they asked if they could take a photo with me. It makes you happy.
Where do you think this increase in the popularity of drag in Poland comes from?
People need this kind of entertainment, especially in recent years when we haven’t had much to be happy about. Drag queen performances are performances that somehow distract people from the everyday gray, sometimes sad reality, from the problems that each of us struggles with every day. The two hours they spend on the performance are meant to introduce them to a completely different world. Drag is necessary and should be treated seriously, not like fair performances on Cabbage Day or the Pickled Herring Festival. Yes, the aesthetics of drag involve exaggeration – it is colorful, colorful, sprinkled with sequins, feathers, glitter – but at the same time it cannot be indulgent, everything must have taste, a certain chic and splendor. What we do is a real art. Even more, it is art that gives people real joy.
I can live! promotional materials Zak Literanova
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
