A world devoid of principles, humans as birds of prey... and a dash of haute couture - this is Juliusz Słowacki's "Balladyna" in the hands of Ingmar Villqist
Balladyna, written by Polish Romantic playwright
Juliusz Słowacki, is having a bit of a revival. The good vs. evil tale previously adhered to classical stage interpretations only. But, since Adam Hanuszkiewicz's fearlessly innovative 1974 production (featuring the Fairy Queen Goplana riding a Honda motorcycle) there's proof that the great poet's words can be interpreted in a thoroughly different way.
The 1834 play, believed to have been influenced by Shakespeare's Macbeth, tells the tale of the rise and fall of a Slavic queen.
Villqist's staging questions Balladyna's inherently evil nature and the extent to which she's responsible for her own tragic downfall. In a production that also does away with Słowacki's linear sequence of events, the Polish director ponders whether other characters may be to blame for Balladyna's misdeeds. The Zabrze production will be a Teatr Nowy debut for actress Anna Konieczna.
Ingmar Villqist (b.1960) is a playwright, art historian, academic and founder of the "Kriket Theatre" in Chorzów. He debuted as a playwright aged 38, with the play Helver's Night, under a Norwegian pseudonym. The pseudonym pays tribute to the deeply psychological motifs typical of Scandinavian artists such as Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg and, more recently, Ingmar Bergman.
Actors most certainly adore (Villqist) because he writes real dream-roles for them - multi-layered, (often haunted by the past). Like the Scandinavian classics, he believes that all the most important things have already happened before the curtain goes up, and that the things we are seeing are the consequence of past actions, writes acclaimed Polish theatre critic Roman Pawłowski in Gazeta Wyborcza. Pawłowski also included the playwright in his list of "Theatrical Top Five of the 21st century".
Futuristic costumes designed by Marcel Sławiński and Katarzyna Sobańska and a set consisting of netting and wire mesh make for an oppressive and ambiguous atmosphere, leaving audiences to wonder whether the forces that control Balladyna's world are applicable to our own.
The production continues the trend of contemporary takes on Balladyna. In 2009 director Dariusz Zawiślak even turned the narrative into a modern day thriller (The Bait) set in New York. It stared well-known Polish actors Sonia Bohosiewicz, Władysław Kowalski and Mirosław Baka, as well as American actress Faye Dunaway. The controversial movie was nominated for the most prestigious Polish film prize at the Gdynia Polish Film Festival (the "Golden Duck") for the following festival categories: Best Director, Best Movie Script and Best Actor of the 2008/2009 Season.
As a director Villqist has worked at numerous theatres, including: Gdańsk's Teatr Wybrzeże, Warsaw's Teatr Rozmaitości, the Śląsk Theatre of Katowice, Warsaw's Teatr na Woli and the Silesian Opera. Between 2001-2006 he was employed as a full-time director at the Wybrzeże theatre in Gdańsk. He also served as director of the Witold Gombrowicz Civic Theatre in Gdynia between 2008-2010.
His plays have been translated into English, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, French, Lithuanian, German, Slovakian, Italian and Hungarian.
- Balladyna Juliusz Słowacki; direction: Ingmar Villqist; stage design and costumes: Marcel Sławiński and Katarzyna Sobańska; cast: Joanna Falkowska, Anna Konieczna, Danuta Lewandowska, Jolanta Niestrój-Malisz, Joanna Romaniak, Renata Spinek, Grzegorz Cinkowski, Jarosław Karpuk, Marcin Kocela, Marian Wiśniewski; premiere: May 14, 2011. Repeat performances: May 14, 15, 17-19, June 9 & 16.
Teatr Nowy of Zabrze
1 Plac Teatralny, 41-800 Zabrze
Executive director: Jerzy Makselon
Deputy artistic director: Zbigniew Stryj
tel. (+48 32) 271 32 56, 271 54 94
fax (+48 32) 271 15 08
www.teatrnowy.art.pl
Source: press materials,
www.teatrzabrze.pl