During his visit to Berlin with performances of "Planet Lem", director Paweł Szkotak emphasised that the play isn't just entertainment, but a philosophical tale on how difficult it is to cope with freedom regained
A co-production of Teatr Biuro Podróży and Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the performance was shown to Berlin audiences twice, on the 4th and 5th of August.
The play tells a story which, although it was never actually written by Stanisław Lem, emerged as the theatre's impression of the writer's works. The characters of "Planet Lem" are figures known from Lem's novels and short stories, such as Ijon Tichy, professor Tarantoga, the Mucillid community, robots and the supercomputer. Paweł Szkotak commented in Berlin:
Mucillids are "humans of the future" who have given so many of their tasks over to technology that they let themselves be entirely subjected to robots. Initially the robots took care of them and performed all their daily tasks. Mucillids thus grew large, fat and slow - not only physically, but also mentally. All of the more refined activities, such as those connected to the arts, have been taken over by robots. Simple jobs that do not demand any particular skill or finesse are left over to the Mucillids.
In Szkotak's performance, the Mucillids are persuaded into a rebellion against the robots. The uprising sets on, the Mucillids are victorious, but then they fail to find themselves in a new world, and begin to miss the old order.
This is what is significant in the piece: it shows how difficult it is deal with a reacquired freedom. "Planet Lem" is in fact a philosophical tale about the fact that freedom is also a responsibility, and it is not always easy to bear.
In his writings Lem didn't depict the human being in the best of lights, seeing him as an individual subject to various kinds of instincts, and quite a lazy creature prone to various acts of violence. Yet, Lem treats humans with a certain sympathy, and thanks to the irony he employs, his portrait of humanity is not entirely black.
We tried to show some of this humor and irony in our performance. The show is thus suitable both for refined audiences, who will find deeper meanings in it, and for those who don't usually go to the theatre.
Lem not only predicted various technologies and inventions but also showed us the way in which the essence of humanity will evolve and change. Perhaps the change will be so far-fetched that this essence will have little in common with that of our contemporaries.
The performance employs a spectacular and mobile set design by Agnieszka Zawadzka. Actors dressed in gigantic costumes ride the stage on rollerblades and walk on tilts. A large aluminum construction resembling a spider is part of the stage design. During the performance, one of the actors is lifted off the ground by an arm of this aluminum construction, to the height of about 8 m. As Paweł Szkotak says:
You have to be quite brave to do that within a performance. But it looks beautiful. It reminds of Leonardo da Vinci's man, stretched out over a circle.
The world premiere of the "Planet Lem" performance - the latest production of Poznań-based Teatr Biuro Podróży - took place on the first weekend of July on Theatre Square in London. As part of the Cultural Programme of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council the performance was also shown in Brussels, Paris, and Madrid. After Berlin, "Planet Lem" will head to Kiev and Moscow.
by: Agata Zbieg (PAP)