About polish theatre

"An Unembarrassed Change of Advisor" by Martin Bernátek

The choices made for Teatr Ateneum's theatrical season by new artistic director Izabella Cywínska reflect an interest in dramatizing the collective experience of post-socialist countries.

Specifically the opening piece, Vaclav Havel's "Odejscia" (in English: Leaving), addresses contemporary issues of an uncertain democracy and the allure of power.

The production attempts to define the appropriate intersection between a politician's personal and private spheres. However at the culmination of piece, audiences were left with the all too familiar impressions that power can be addicting and that the politician was a "randy creature".

"The Truth Games" by Jakub Skorpil

One of the latest trends in European theatre is the burgeoning genre of 'docudrama'. Within this form, the desired aesthetic is mediating a real experience between those on stage and audience members. Reducing the 'theatrics' of the performance by eliminating dramatic characters and a storyline leads to a debate over to what extent this can still be considered

theatre.

Jan Klata's "Transfer!" is an example of bringing witnesses on stage to 'testify' the facts of the policitally forced transferring of inhabitants during and after WWII. As the witnesses speak about their experiences before, after, and during the war, it is hard to identify the amount of authorial input given by Klata. However later in the production Klata adds the "Conference of Yalta" sequence, in which three actors dressed as Stalin, Churchill and

Roosevelt play in a rock group as they divide Europe. The inclusion of this last scene proves Klata has gone beyond the structure of 'docudrama'.

Although Klata attempted to be fair and balanced in the storytelling, the general impression was that "everything [was] too visibly created, one might even say orchestrated,". Having said that, Klata's "Transfer!" is "an interpretation of history and simultaneously also an unambiguous statement. It is theatrically very impressive and thus alsodangerous."

"Theatre in Poland/Poland in Theatre" by Jan Jirik

One can understand the current state of theatre in Poland by looking to the career of director Grzegorz Jarzyna as an allegory. Although Jarzyna significantly altered the language of Polish theatre with by "abandoning the metaphorical style full of reference to national symbolism" when he first arrived on the theatrical scene, he now fails to surprise audiences or discover un-chartered territory as he once did.

Jarzyna's most recent TR/PL project was initiated to find a new aesthetic for Polish theatre, however the two productions that were reviewed seemed to have problems. The original text of "Dwoje biednych Rumunow mowiacych po polsku" (in English: "A Couple of Poor, Polish-Speaking Romanians") is fresh and innovative, but the edits made by director Przemyslaw Wojcieszek created a performance that seemed to consist of "the most extreme scenes from an accelerated projection of a film." The other production "Cokolwiek sie zdarzy, kocham Cie" ("Whatever Happens, I Love You"), also directed by Wojcieszek, suffers from actors jumping from one extreme emotion to the text as well, but the primary problem is the weak text of the play. With all the hysterical emotions the characters do not justify their feelings, leaving audiences with a "cheap provocation" of the problem of former homophobia in Poland.

Rene Pollesch's "Ragazzo della Germania" concentrates on dissembling 'bourgeois' theatrical conventions. By grossly exaggerating the fourth wall, destroying traditional characters, and using film cameras to illustrate the artificial nature of acting, Pollesch tries to examine examples of "'theatrical obsessions' in Polish reality".

Although Wojcieszek and Pollesch's productions are deemed 'political' and fail to present audiences with a new aesthetic for Polish theatre, it seems Pollesch's performance at least strikes viewers as an "entertaining, intelligent cabaret", whereas Wojcieszek's "cheap" torment of a production has actors "repeating ideological clichés".

"Polish Icons" by Jakub Skorpil

The repertory choices made for the Polish Showcase 2008 reflect the Polish theatre critics' desire for "new aesthetics and new themes" to express contemporary life in Poland. Most recently, theatre directors have been influenced by Rene Pollesch's style of deconstructing the theatrical stage image, which allows for the incorporation of other media on stage and a more comprehensive impression of the "complicated and ambiguous situation of the contemporary world" for the audience.

Wiktor Rubin's "The Spring Awakening" gives the impression that the actors are simply playing with the text by incorporating the usage of imaginary props and directly addressing the audience. However this loose interpretation of the text and interruptions of Wedekind's play backfired, in reality giving the impression that the production was "primitive, shallow, forceful and artificial."

Marek Fiedor's "Baal" strived to be the product of a collective effort in every facet. Most notably, Fiedor chose to have Baal performed by a different actor (with a different style) in each scene. Theoretically it was a justifiable direction, but in practice the effect was "feverish, sharp and inconsistent" and was only further aggravated by the antagonistic effect of traditional Polish acting styles.

Jan Klata also severely edits the text of the "Oresteia"; "he breaks it even into two even halves which might be called 'crime' and 'punishment'." With contemporary references to the Iraq War and popular culture, Klata uses "refined theatrical means" to display a message which "is painfully primitive, clear and overexposed".

"Theatre as Game" by Marcin Koscielniak

Michal Zadara is undoubtedly one of the most talented contemporary Polish directors whose productions consist of "playing, experimenting, [and] trying out instead of masterpieces". In "The Wedding" it is clear that in his staging Zadara attempts to "he tests the story, the situation, the possibility of understanding." With his performances of "Phedre" and "The Discharge of the Greek Envoys", one can see Zadara's method of observing and attacking the drama. However audiences are left with a piece that does not provide meaning for them: "it presents [the audience] with a wide space in which he can make independent decisions that will never satisfy him."

"Ways Within A Drama" by Jan Jirik

Recently there has been a growing trend in Polish theatre to cultivate new drama through writing competitions, play readings and contemporary theatre festivals. Three of the most talented new playwrights are Tadeusz Slobodzianek, Michal Walczak and Malgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk. Slobodzianek is responsible for founding the Laboratory of Drama as well as organzing discussions and forums with emerging playwrights. His style of writing is classified as having "liberated the form [of Polish drama] and [writing] in dying or already extinct dialects."

Walczak does not have a consistent style in his texts, but similarities are evident in the themes and the structure of his plays. He is known for omitting stage directions and working without a linear sense of time. Most of his texts concentrate on the "problems of adolescence and the responsibility for oneself and for others that goes hand in hand with this."

Lastly, Sikorska-Miszczuk is new on the scene of Polish drama. Her style borders on "theatre drama and essay" and writes about political events in order to "deal with Polish national mythology". Known for steeping her plays in black humour and a "fanciful" nature, she is able to write texts that "can be of interest even to a reader who would not otherwise reach for a play."

"Fighting the Ghosts": A Questioning of Michal Walczak

Some reflections from Walczak on the nature of Polish theatre:

On the 'constant need for misfortune, martyrology' in Poland-

"My opinion is that in Poland the most popular stories are those in which the heroes deliver rather pathetic declarations. There is no tradition of irony in our country."

On boundaries in his work-

"I would probably not be able to write anything that commented directly on the present times. I believe you can achieve certain results by working with the form of a play; you don't have to tell the audience if the play is about the pope, about the European Union or an abortion."

On the possible globalization of theatres-

"Truly remarkable theatres come into existence outside big centres: they perform works about the problems of their townsand then all at once problems that seemed very local became quite universal."

On contemporary theatre-

"I think that only now there is a need to designate where we are at; a need for a certain psychoanalysis which could help us to understand what our myth is, what Polish identity in fact is."

Summary by Jessica Claire Preddy

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