Promotional photo, courtesy of Polish Institute in Paris
Director Arthur Nauczyciel brings the incredible story of Polish refugee Jan Karski back to the stage in an adaptation of Yannick Haenel's novel
In staging Jan Karski: My name is fiction, the director's aim leads towards the primary goal of theatre, drawn from its very origins - to give a voice to those who no longer have one and the chance to break the imposed silence before the largest audience possible. Nauczyciel's endeavour resonates with today's irresolvable fact that as most remaining direct witnesses of the Holocaust are fading away, the time of passage of relay has come, to preserve a memory. Jan Karski: My name is fiction originally premiered as part of the Création Festival d'Avignon 2011 programme. The current staging is the play's fourth run in Paris.
Jan Karski was a witness of one of the greatest tragedies in history: the extermination of the Jewish population of the Warsaw Ghetto. His efforts to share his testimony with powerful leaders who might be able to stop the Nazi machinery prove useless, in spite of a meeting with Roosevelt himself and the publication of his 1944 book, Story of a Secret State. Four decades later, the forgotten hero gets a second chance at being heard when filmmaker Claude Lanzmann interviews Karski for his essential film Shoah, depicting the Pole's incredible journey that lead him to the office of the president of the USA.
Disconcerted by the story of this man fighting in 1943 against general passivity of the Allies towards the massive genocide organised by the Nazis, Yannick Haenel wrote a novel based on Karski's story in 2009. The fiction is divided into three segments: one transcribing the filmed interview by Lanzmann, followed by Karski's autobiography, and closed by the writer's fictionalised account in the present tense. The book's unusual construction struck Arthur Nauczyciel, who wanted to echo its form on stage, following the conviction that if 'there are no limits to literature', there shall be no limits to theatre.
Also, with a new generation of listeners and 'witnesses of witnesses', the exercise of telling this episode of recent history gets a new drive and a fresh point of view, certainly less obstructed by taboos following the Second World War. Today's audience is not afraid to ask bold questions, some of which get a taste of sensitive appreciation and answers onstage. Theatre openly explores those territories of terror without betraying the veracity of facts, the play as an experience in itself can put the spotlight on what is real by including the essentially human aspect of the tragedy.
For the production of Jan Karski : My name is fiction, Arthur Nauczyciel followed his dream of a theatre without borders, that interrogates itself while questioning the memory of the world. His team includes people from all over the world, such as a video artist from Poland, a stage designer from Latin America, an American lighting engineer, a musician from Austria and French actors Laurent Poitonneaux and Alexandra Gilbert.
On the 19th of January 2012 at 19:30, the Museum of Jewish Art and History in Paris is hosting a meeting with Arthur Nauczyciel, which is open to the public.
Cast: Alexandra Gilbert, Arthur Nauzyciel, Laurent Poitrenaux and the voice of Marthe Keller ; Video : Miroslaw Balka ; Music : Christian Fennesz, Set Design : Riccardo Hernandez, Choreography: Damien Jalet, Sound : Xavier Jacquot, Costumes : José Lévy, Lighting : Scott Zielinski
Produced by : Centre Dramatique National Orléans/Loiret/Centre
Co-produced by : Festival d’Avignon; Les Gémeaux Scène nationale de Sceaux; CDDB-Théâtre de Lorient, CDN; Maison de la Culture de Bourges, Scène nationale; La Comédie de Reims CDN, Festival Reims Scènes d’Europe.
With the participation of the Centre region, the Polish Institute in Paris, the French Institute, TR Warszawa Theatre, the French Embassy in Poland and the Fondation d'entreprise Hermès within its programme New settings.
The Fondation d'entreprise Hermès' New Settings series at the Théâtre de la Cité in Paris gives support to collaborations between different artists from various fields and assists them in producing a show. Since its creation in 2008, the foundation’s aim to further the de-compartmentalization of the arts has lead the project to broaden its sponsorship to public theatres and chose the Théâtre de la Cité internationale as its partner in the production of the four New Settings 2011 projects, which first showed the play in Paris in November 2011.
Performances:
8th, 9th, 10th, 11th of February 2012 all shows at 20:45
12th of February at 17:00
15th, 16th, 17th, 18th of February 2012 all shows at 20:45
19th February at 17:00
Les Gémeaux / Scène Nationale
Grand Théâtre
49, avenue Georges Clemenceau
92330 Sceaux
tel. 01 46 61 36 67
For more information on the show and the New Settings programme see: www.lesgemeaux.com and www.theatredelacite.com.
Source: Polish Institute in Paris