Białostocki Teatr Lalek
BTL (Białostocki Teatr Lalek), the legendary puppet theatre from Białystok went on a world-wide tour with performances for adult audiences. Showings of two plays were accompanied by an exhibition and a lecture on Polish and European puppet theatre history
Madrid’s Teatro Replika hosted showings of "The Pole" and "Dulcinea", on the 26th and 27th of November respectively. The Spanish Replika, which is also known for its theatre academy was also the venue of an exhibition and a lecture on the 25th of November. For more information on events in Teatro Replika, see: www.replikateatro.com
"The Pole"
It is 1912. Robert Falcon Scott and his companions are on their way back from an expedition to the South Pole. Scott has just learned that as an explorer, he suffered a defeat. Upon his arrival on the pole he discovered a tent with a Norwegian flag, some food, and a letter written by Roald Amundsen whose expedition accomplished the goal a month earlier than Scott’s.
Scott who is now a man broken by failure, sets off on a gruelling journey back, which gets interrupted by a snowstorm. Trapped in a tent only 12 kilometres from the coast and the refuge on their ship, the explorers await their doom, dying of starvation and piercing cold.
This is the setting in which "The Pole" ("Polyus" in the original), written by Nabokov begins. It is a story of the last moments of people who are faced with the inevitable, and awaiting their death try to come to terms with their past. In spite of the hardship, they are capable of truly heroic acts.
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Translated by: Irena Lewandowska
Directed by: Ewa Piotrowska
Stage design: Julija Skuratova (Lithuania)
Music: Antanas Jasenka (Lithuania)
Video: Džiugas Katinas (Lithuania)
Lighting: Bogusław Kasperuk
Sound: Jarosław Bartnicki
Stage management: Leszek Augustynowicz, Adam Popławski
Cast: Krzysztof Bitdorf, Jacek Dojlidko, Ryszard Doliński, Adam Zieleniecki,
"Dulcinea"
inspired by Cervantes
Is a machine capable of understanding or creating a human? "Dulcinea" is a story of beauty within ourselves, and of what it is that makes us human. Together with the play’s machine-heroes the audience sets out on a quest for love and friendship.
The performance, which is inspired by Cervantes’ works, is an experimental journey. The world of the play is inhabited by strangely shaped characters with extraordinary possibilities of manipulation. It’s a journey with no words, accompanied by the visual rhythm of the actors’ movement, and the actions of puppets and objects. It is an attempt at finding the boundaries between theatre genres, puppet manipulation and avant-garde music, and an intellectual adventure in the search of femininity, through the exploration of dreams and phantasmagoria.
A manifesto-performance of the youngest generation of puppet theatre artists.
Written, directed, and composed by: Adam Frankiewicz
Stage design: Vitalia Samuilova (Lithuania)
Lighting: Bogusław Kasperuk
Sound: Tomasz Jurgielewicz
Cast: Sylwia Janowicz-Dobrowolska, Izabela Maria Wilczewska, Krzysztof Bitdorf
For more information on BTL - Białostocki Teatr Lalek, see article: BTL Puppet Theatre
Date: 25th-27th of November, 2011
Venue: Teatro Replika, Madrid
Organised by: BTL Puppet Theatre
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute