Directed by H7 (Grzegorz Jarzyna), Rozmaitości Theatre in Warsaw, June 2001.
" 'The Celebration' shows that it is possible to successfully join a social subject with an artistic theatre. The critics of the social stream in the theatre accused Jarzyna of journalism and refused him the artistic values. 'The Celebration' will be a hard nut to crack," wrote Roman Pawlowski, the reviewer of "Gazeta Wyborcza".
The critics believe the film version of THE CELEBRATION to be the best film marked by Dogma. The family feast on the occasion of the jubilee of the father, during which the son accuses his father of sexual abuse in the childhood and the suicidal death of his sister caused by this, is now taking place on the stage of the Variety Theatre.
Grzegorz Jarzyna (this time using an artistic pseudonym H7) decided to stage Vintenberg's and Rukov's text as an assessment of Polish society and Polish family; he wanted to speak about the destruction of elementary relations, fake ceremonies, conventions and form dominating true interpersonal contacts. Christian (Andrzej Chyra) stands against the numerous group of his father's (Jan Peszek) friends and cousins, gathered for the feast, he tries to fight the family taboo, the lies, but he fails. The celebration, in spite of the accusations Christian aims at his father, continues almost without disturbance. The participants find Christian a lunatic.
"I think that 'The Celebration' may touch several important social issues. It can attack the hypocrisy and hidden evil. It can make us realise that Polish families are heavily cracked," said the director in the interview for "Gazeta Wyborcza".
The reviewers however, noticed also the universal aspect of the story told by Jarzyna.
"The image of a family, which does not want to recognise the existence of evil, becomes a metaphor and directs our attention towards whole society," wrote Pawłowski ("Gazeta Wyborcza") after the premiere. "There are more and more such issues, hidden under a layer of lies and hypocrisy, issues, which have also a big influence on the life of entire generations, such as a rape inflicted in the childhood. And if this is not mentioned directly on the stage, watching Helge thank Christian for his speech, I see all of the criminals, who don't feel guilty, I see the witnesses, who have problems with memory, I see judges, who are failed by the elementary sense of justice."
Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov, FESTEN / UROCZYSTOŚĆ / THE CELEBRATION, adapted by Bo hr. Hansen, translated by Elżbieta Frątczak-Nowotny, directed by H7 (Grzegorz Jarzyna), scenery designed by Małgorzata Szczęśniak, kostiumy Magdalena Maciejewska, muzyka Paweł Mykietyn, Piotr Domiński. Premiere: June 5, 2001 at the Rozmaitości Theatre in Warsaw.