Director Tomasz Bazan delivers Beckett's tragicomedic theatre through dance
Bazan takes audiences on a unique theatrical undertaking, exploring the borders between drama and dance. His production is inspired by Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot' and tells the story of a group of people obsessively waiting for the Messiah.
The action, which centres on the arrival of a powerful messiah said to penetrate his followers' thoughts and minds, mirrors Beckett's historic 1949 text Waiting for Godot, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, endlessly wait for the mysterious 'Godot' who never appears.
The plot starts to unfold with the arrival of an exile, a type of prodigal son who comes bearing a counter-myth to the group's messianic beliefs. But the longed-for meeting with the messiah is far from anyone's expectations. The ending is a shocking denouement for both dissidents and believers alike.
Destructive powers, fear, obsession and a sense of death -this is the backdrop to Bazan's production. The director/ choreographer claims that 'dance' is to be the aim and chief means by which the work is to be shown, although the point of entry is most definitely through literature. As well as Beckett, one of the chief figures of the 'Theatre of the Absurd' theatre movement, the play is also inspired by the works of Virginia Woolf, Harold Pinter and Norwegian author Jon Fosse.
The dancing comes courtesy of three fresh new faces on the Polish dance/ theatre scene, including Anita Wach, a Kulczyk foundation Pro Helvetii scholar and former resident of the Zollwerein choreography centre in Essen, and Piotr Trojan, recent recipient of the main award at the 27th International Theatre School Festival in Łódź. Justyna Wasilewska will also perform. She received the "Złoty Tukan" ("Golden Toucan") award during the 30th Actors' Singing Review in Wrocław. They are supported by a dancing group established by Tomasz Bazan, in collaboration with the Lublin theatre Maat Projekt.
The project is supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
- Hermeneia based on the works of Virginia Woolf, Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett, Jon Fosse. Direction: Tomasz Bazan; music: Marcin Janus, Tomasz Bazan; video: Patrycja Płanik; choreography: Tomasz Bazan, Karolina Wesołowska; lighting and sound design: Maciej Połynko. Cast: Piotr Trojan, Anita Wach, Natalia Kalita, Justyna Wasilewska, Ewa Pająk; C-producer: Radosław Mirski; premiere: May 21, 2011.
Teatr Praga in Warsaw
ul. Otwocka 14, 03-759 Warsaw
Director: Ireneusz Janiszewski
tel. (+48 22) 818 64 45, 849 29 29
www.teatrpraga.pl
Source: press materials, teatrpraga.pl