The Festival d’Avignon is one of the most important events in the world of theatre. It brings together productions of eminent directors from across the globe. From the 5th of July to the 26th, the festival's 2013 edition will host Peter Brook, Romeo Casstellucci, Patrice Chereau, Pippo Delbono, Jan Fabre, Christoph Marthaler, Thomas Ostermeier, Alain Platel and Sasha Waltz - along with Krzysztof Warlikowski and his Nowy Teatr from Warsaw.
Their Warsaw Cabaret will represent Polish drama at the festival. Warlikowski and Nowy’s work was last featured at the festival in 2009, when his (A)pollonia captivated audiences. Earlier productions – Hamlet (2001), Purified (2002), Krum (2005), Angels in America (2007) – were also selected for the prestigious festival. Cabaret premiered in summer 2013 at the Open’er Festival in Gdynia, Poland. After its run at the Festival d’Avignon, it will play at Le Théâtre de la Place in Liège, Belgium. It returns to Poland for its Warsaw premiere in September.
Warlikowski conceived Cabaret as a means to move beyond traditional theatrical forms. The Festival d’Avignon program notes that cabaret is associated with "the idea of freedom, fragility, the idea of encounter, sharing, the idea of a strong alliance between words and musical notes, bodies, dancing and bodies singing". Such connotations enrich the experience of Warlikowski’s production – an electrifying performance that erases the fourth wall of theatre and explores the notion of art as a remedy to the standardization of thought. It is billed as being:
Between political pamphlet, scathing philosophical-artistic attack and joyous round of song, this cabaret, imagined as 'Varsovian', will go beyond its geographic borders to confront us with a uniformly alienating world and force us to ponder what 'freedom' can still mean.
To mirror novel forms introduced by this innovative production, Warsaw Cabaret will be presented in FabrikA, the new theatre "factory" of the Festival d’Avignon. The venue was designed by Maria Godlewska, a Polish architect living in France. Warsaw Cabaret will have six performances, presented in Polish with French subtitles.
In conjunction with the staging of the new production, the Festival will screen Manuelle Blanc’s film Krzysztof Warlikowski: The Legacy of Sacrifice. Using footage from rehearsals and interviews with Warlikowski, the film explores his creative process. Warlikowski will attend the screening.
The Festival d’Avignon was founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar and has since become one of the most important performing arts events in the world. Every July, the festival transforms Avignon into a city of theatres (sometimes positioned in surprising venues) and welcomes tens of thousands of theatre lovers. Between 35 and 40 productions are presented each year, totaling about 300 performances. Many of these shows are world or French premieres. Since 2004, the festival has selected associated artists who collaborate in creating a specific “art territory” for the year’s presentation. This year’s Festival is guided by Dieudonné Niangouna and Stainslas Nordey.
A full schedule of performances is available on the Festival d’Avignon’s website.
Source: culture.pl, organizer's materials
Edited: Alena Aniskiewicz 04.07.2013