In addition to Request Concert, Warsaw theatregoers were also able to see Ross’s Lake, the Polish premiere of the work by the eminent Russian playwright and scriptwriter Mikhail Durniekov. The production of Lake at TR Warszawa was the first performance of the work outside of Russia. A translation of the script by Agnieszka Lubomira Piotrowska was commissioned by the Gogol Center in Moscow. The cast featured Agnieszka Grochowska, Dawid Ogrodnik, Adam Woronowicz and Agniewszka Żulewska.
Jacques Lassalle
Jacques Lassalle is one of the most outstanding French theatre directors working today. In the 1990s he directed the Comédie-Fraçaise, and was granted the French National Grand Prix in Theatre. He is an officer of the Legion of Honor. In Poland, he has twice chaired the jury of the International Festival of Theatre Schools in Warsaw. He has been building a rapport with Polish audiences for years with his productions of French classics and in interviews emphasises that, for him, Molière is unbeatable.
Of Molière, Jacques Lassalle told Polish Radio:
There are no geniuses today, who could undertake in one play so many important and timeless issues as Molière.
On the national stage in Warsaw, he produced Tartuffe by Molière, The False Servant and Lorenzaccio. At the Polski Theatre, he staged The School of Wives and King Lear.
Robert Wilson
A legend of the stage, Robert will is an American director know to Polish viewers for, among others, his productions of Temptation of St. Anthony (Spotkania Festival, 2006), Rumi (Polish National Opera, 2008), Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape (2009) and Lady from the Sea (Dramatyczny Theatre in Warsaw, 2005). Lady from the Sea was written by Susan Sontag for Wilson and is based on motifs from the works of Henrik Ibsen.
On the Warsaw stage, the director built a simple, raw, minimalist space. The scenery brought to mind the deck of ship and the music was a combination of traditional Scandinavian songs and the sounds of coastal beaches.
Lady from the Sea premiered on 28th October 2005 and was one of the most important artistic events of the year. Co-produced by the Dramatyczny Theatre and Change Performing Arts, the production featured Dominika Kluźniak, Dominika Ostałowska, Danuta Stenka, Władysław Kowalski and Henryk Niebudek.
Sources: : Culture.pl, TR Warszawa, Polskie Radia, Teatr Łaźnia Nowa, PAP, Teatr Narodowy in Warsaw, Teatr Polski in Warsaw; originally written in Polish by AL, translated by AGA 13 Jul 2017