The play is devised and directed by Henry Wishcamper — a 2004 Drama Desk Award nominee for Outstanding Revival of a Play for the Keen Company’s Pullman Car Hiawatha — and is the first production of the Katharsis Theater Company. Opening night is Jan. 19.

The cast includes Gelber, James Bentley, Jeff Biehl, Torsten Hillhouse, Jacob H. Knoll, Lucas Caleb Rooney, Ryan Ward and Eunice Wong (title role in Off-Broadway’s The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow).

The play uses puppets and includes a huge puppet massacre, choreographed by the fight choreographer Qui Nguyen.

Press notes describe the play as such: "In The Polish Play, the idiot-tyrant Père Ubu, encouraged by his wife and the Three Weird Sisters, ascends the throne of Poland by slaughtering the meek King Wenceslas. Simultaneously a dark tragedy, a broad satire, and an absurdly gruesome Grand Guignol, The Polish Play presents one of Western theater’s greatest stories in a spectacularly original production."

The design team include sets by Takeshi Kata, lights by Matthew Richards, costumes by Jenny Mannis, sound by Bart Fasbender and puppet design and construction by Aleksandra Maslik. Walker Space is at 46 Walker Street, between Church and Broadway. Tickets, priced $18, are available by calling SmartTix at (212) 868-4444 or visiting www.smarttix.com.