"Shadows. Eurydice speaks", photo. Magda Hueckel, The Polish Theatre in Bydgoszcz
Before Maja Kleczewska once again captivates the audience in Bydgoszcz, she is planning to present the 35th Review of the Stage Songs, which starts 20th March in the CAPITOL Music Theatre in Wrocław. Kleczewska is regarding as one of the most important women in Polish theatre. She directed, among others, last year's award-winning "Winter Journey" and Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Vocalist of the legendary Polish band Hey, Katarzyna Nosowska, together with Paweł Krawczyk, has composed several songs especially for the show.
The artist acknowledges that participation in the play is a challenging and dangerous adventure. - I am not going to play, I'm not an actress. It was necessary to delve into Jelinek’s text, which I really appreciate. It was an adventure, but it was not comfortable, as gentle as swimming in a pool. It was welcome to try and make it not corny - says Nosowska.
"Shadows. Eurydice speaks", photo. Magda Hueckel, The Polish Theatre in Bydgoszcz
Apart from Kasia Nosowska, Elfriede Jelinek herself will perform in the play. Recordings of the Austrian Nobel laureate reading pieces of text will be used on the stage at the request of the creators of the show.
Colliding theatre, music and text, Jelinek shows the personality of our times. We bring close her fears, her compulsions. We do not judge. We're trying to show the human that she is. - summarizes the creator of the event.
Jelinek deconstructs the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as a passively loving woman. Orpheus is one of the aspects of Eurydice’s psyche. He is to be canonized as a pop star, he’s vain. His singing causes teenage fans to faint. In the Eurydice myth, no-one asks if she wants to be revived. In Jelinek’s version, she can express her will and say “no”. Jelinek approached the mystery of death. This goes even further, reaching for a myth of which the central figure is Eurydice. It moves among the shadows of the Champs-Elysees. Visions of death are to soothe anxiety. Jelinek fantasizes about what will be "after". No-one knows how to contact the shadows of death, but life will go on. – adds the director Maja Kleczewska
The cast will be separated from the audience, who will watch the actors perform in soundproof cages. Karolina Adamczyk, Michał Czachor, Joanna Drozda, Aleksandra Pisula, Maciej Pesta, Piotr Stramowski, Małgorzata Witkowska and Julia Wyszyńska feature alongside Katarzyna Nosowska.
"Shadows. Eurydice speaks", photo. Magda Hueckel, The Polish Theatre in Bydgoszcz
“Shadows. Eurydice speaks” by Elfriede Jelinek, the latest production from the Polish Theatre in Bydgoszcz, is made in cooperation with Tomasz Karolak’s Imka Theatre in Warsaw and Capitol Music Theatre in Wrocław.
Schatten (Eurydike sagt) translation: Karolina Bikont
Director: Maja Kleczewska
stage scenario: Maja Kleczewska, Łukasz Chotkowski
dramaturgy: Łukasz Chotkowski
set design and light: Katarzyna Borkowska
Costumes: Konrad Parol
Music: Paweł Krawczyk
Lyrics: Kasia Nosowska / Elfriede Jelinek
Premiere in Wrocław within 35th Review of Stage Songs: 20 March 2014
Premiere in Bydgoszcz: March 26, 2014
Premiere in Warsaw: June 3, 2014
Sources: The Polish Theatre in Bydgoszcz, The Bydgoszcz Express, TVP Bydgoszcz, "Gazeta Pomorska", ed. AL, translated: Katarzyna Maksimiuk, 19.03.2014