Help Bring Basilitrix Musical to the London Stage

Aim

Help us bring an English-language Polish folk musical to London — and see how far one legendary monstress can go! Don't get petrified!

How far can a Polish monstress go?

In 2022, Ida had a thought:

If the Warsaw Basilisk had a really good villain song, could it become just as iconic as Ursula, Tamatoa or Oogie Boogie?

So she wrote it.

That song — “I Am the Basilitrix” — went on to become award-winning.

Four years later, that one song has grown into a full-length English-language family folk-rock musical, and Basilitrix has been offered a place at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, a brilliant Off West End theatre in London, as part of Voila! Theatre Festival 2026.

It's the perfect next step in a rather ridiculously big dream.

Donate to help us conquer over London audiences this November!

Give this Polish monstress a surprisingly well-kept hand on her way to the West End!

How did we get here?

The first version of “I Am the Basilitrix” was written in Polish by Ida and her two friends from music school.

Ida wrote the lyrics, melody and main musical theme, Michał arranged it for piano, and Anita added the drums. They entered the Polish-language song into a competition celebrating music inspired by Warsaw.

It won 2nd place in the audience vote and 3rd place from the jury.

But something else happened too. After the performance, some of the youngest audience members wanted to meet the colourful Basilitrix and take pictures with her.

Maybe there was more to this creature than one catchy song?

So Ida, Michał and Anita kept writing. One song grew into a concept album.

And somewhere along the way, Ida came up with the idea of the Rat Squad — and finally found a practical use for a completely impractical skill: making ridiculous noises.

Later that year, Ida was accepted onto the MA Musical Theatre Company at Leeds Conservatoire. It gave her a perfect opportunity to let Basilitrix take over a theatre stage for the first time.

With five actors, a six-piece live band and a small creative team, the concept album became a 35-minute musical, performed at Leeds Theatre Festival 2024 at The Venue to an audience of more than 100 people.

And it worked!

A producer from Leeds Playhouse invited Ida for coffee and offered advice. The principal of one of Cyprus's leading schools called the show brilliant and asked whether the production could visit her school. And a week later, one of Ida's toughest tutors admitted that he had caught himself humming “I Am the Basilitrix” on his way to work.

Ida was sure of one thing: Basilitrix had the potential to go much, much further.

In 2025, Ida moved to London.  The £10 Basilitrix tail she had found at a costume sale at Opera North moved with her.

The show kept growing in Ida’s mind and Musescore. New songs, characters and storylines transformed the original 35-minute version into a full-length 90-minute musical with 17 characters played by eight actors.

Building the world of Basilitrix

Leeds gave Basilitrix something else that has stayed with the project ever since: its visual identity.

Just across the road, at the Leeds Arts University, Ida found Katya Bonk.

Katya has Polish heritage through her grandmother and grew up with Polish storybooks. Basilitrix gave her the opportunity to tap into those childhood influences and bring some of them into a new visual world.

Together, they developed the visual language of Basilitrix, drawing inspiration from linocut and woodcut printmaking, traditional Polish paper cut-outs (wycinanki), and the bold colours and decorative patterns of folk art from different regions of Poland.

As the musical evolved, so did its visual world. In 2026, Katya gave Basilitrix a completely new face — the creature you see throughout this campaign today.

Basilitrix by Katya Bonk — inspired by Polish folk art, traditional printmaking and wycinanki.

But Katya wasn't the only person who believed in Basilitrix.

As the musical grew, so did the team.

LAOISE FLEMING — Musical Director

Laoise is a musician from Dublin, and studied music at Maynooth University, before training at the Gaiety School of Acting and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Laoise has worked in musical direction on shows such as Rosie’s Brain (Hope Theatre), The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs (Soho Theatre), Oliver Twist (Playhouse East), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Rosemary Branch Theatre).

KINGA PAZIK — Director

Białystok-based Polish director and scriptwriter, theatre lighting designer in the making. The Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, Campus Branch in Białystok student. Specialising in directing puppet theatre plays and plays for young audiences. She made her debut with Dziewczynka z parku at Teatr Lalka, Warsaw. She believes there’s formative potential in every story passed on to the next generation in an empathetic way.

EWELINA GŁOWACKA — Set & Costume Designer

Ewelina is an artist creating puppets, art dolls, and paintings using acrylic, oil, and watercolour. Driven by a fascination with diverse techniques across various art forms, her work is deeply inspired by nature and its intersection with art. With a background in Literary Studies and Philosophy, she is currently furthering her technical skills in Puppet Theatre Technology at the Theatre Academy of Białystok in Poland.

ANIA DREWNIOK — Musical Supervisor & Orchestrator

Ania Drewniok (she/they) is a multidisciplinary performing and creative artist, raised in a musical household in Silesia, Poland. Her work blends Eastern European folk and sung poetry with jazz, musical theatre and classic rock. As an arranger, she has worked with the Muscat Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, NOE and ensembles at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. In 2025, she released her debut EP ćmi sie, combining original compositions with traditional Silesian tunes her babcia (grandma) taught her.

MICHAŁ GRODZKI — Arranger, Co-composer & Original Collaborator
Michał Grodzki is a pianist, composer and arranger, and one of the original collaborators on Basilitrix. He has been involved in the project from its earliest stages, co-composing the first version of “I Am the Basilitrix” and helping develop the music as the project grew from a single song into a concept album and full-length musical.

What started with three students writing a song in Warsaw has grown into an international team of artists celebrating different skills, cultures and perspectives.

'Why would a British audience be interested in a story from Poland?'

Someone actually asked Ida this.

Her answer was simple:

Why wouldn't they? Polish folklore is cool. We just need to show them.

British audiences have long embraced stories inspired by Greek, Roman and Norse mythology. Poland and Eastern Europe have their own extraordinary world of legends, creatures, humour, music and traditions — stories every bit as captivating, yet rarely given the same chance to travel.

Basilitrix isn't a show only for Polish audiences. It's an English-language musical designed to make this story accessible to everyone. For some, Basilitrix will be an introduction to a world they've never encountered before. For others, it's part of where they come from.

We want young people with Polish roots to see a Polish story on a London stage and think:

This comes from my culture. And it's cool!

And we want the person sitting next to them — who may never have been to Poland or heard of the Warsaw Basilisk — to fall in love with the same story and leave knowing a little more about the culture of the people they share their city with.

The perfect next step in a ridiculously big dream

In 2026, Basilitrix was selected for Voila! Theatre Festival and offered a place at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, a brilliant Off West End theatre in Highgate.

This November, we finally have the chance to present the full-length Basilitrix to a London audience.

For us, this isn't the finish line. It's the production we want to use to demonstrate Basilitrix's potential for a life beyond the festival.

What’s next? More London performances, a UK tour and increasingly ambitious stages. With your support and the right people in the theatre industry in the audience, we can make it happen.

And the ridiculously big dream?

Basilitrix spreading its wings on a West End stage.

We believe in it because Basilitrix is made for London audiences — whether they grew up with Polish legends or have never heard of the Warsaw Basilisk before.

It's a family folk-rock musical for theatre lovers, families and folklore-curious audiences ready to fall in love with a strange creature from beneath Warsaw, the brave women who dare to stand up to her, and a slightly mischievous Rat Squad.

This is where you come in

Putting on a musical is expensive.

But we're not doing it alone.

Our partners are already helping us make Basilitrix happen. Polish Lewisham Centre is providing in-kind rehearsal space, while Polish Cultural Institute London, our patron, will help us reach new audiences.

Now we're asking you to help us make the full production happen.

£8000 — Make it happen

This is what we need to get Basilitrix onto the stage.

It covers the essentials: our four-piece live band, basic set and costumes, accommodation and travel for team members coming from Poland, a theatre technician, insurance, printing, and a basic marketing budget to help us reach our audience.

It's a lean budget. But it gets the show made.

£10000 — Help Basilitrix travel further

The additional funding would give us radio head mics, another £500 for marketing to reach more Polish and non-Polish audiences, and a professional recording of the production.

That recording matters. It means Basilitrix doesn't disappear when the lights go down after our London run — we'll have professional material to show to venues, producers and potential partners as we look for her next stage.

£21,000 — Pay our people

And if this campaign really takes off?

We don't want a bigger set. We want to pay our people.

Our biggest stretch goal is an extra £10,818 to pay Equity rates for a full intensive rehearsal week, allowing our team to step away from their day jobs and focus entirely on making Basilitrix the best show we can.

We believe artists should be paid for their work. As a new non-profit producing its first full-length show without public funding, our minimum budget simply doesn't allow us to do that yet.

If this campaign takes us there, that's exactly where the money will go.

Every £5, £20 or £100 gets us closer to one of those goals.

And if donating isn't possible, sharing this campaign matters too. You might be the person who helps us reach a Polish family looking for stories from home, a musical theatre fan looking for something new — or someone who can help Basilitrix take her next step.

So... how far can one Polish monster go?

Let's find out together!

Make Basilitrix look at your donation and say:

“Hey girl! You rock!” 🪨

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 18th November 2026 at 10:47pm