Provisorium Theatre: "Lód"/"Ice", a play based on Jacek Dukaj's novel
based on a novel by Jacek Dukaj
adapted and directed by Janusz Opryński
director’s assistant: Łukasz Lewandowski
cast: Sławomir Grzymkowski, Łukasz Lewandowski, Martyna Kowalik, Eliza Borowska, Zbigniew Dziduch, Paweł Pabisiak, Karolina Porcari, Jacek Brzeziński, Marek Żerański, Romuald Krężel, Anastazja Bernad
string quartet: Aleksandra Mazurek, Katarzyna Czerniawska, Agata Mrówczyńska, Izabela Seńsko
Having done “Brothers Karamazov”, we did not want to leave the space of Grand Dialogues, and meaningful debates concerning the shape of the world. As a result, we decided to rely on a contemporary grand narrative - Jacek Dukaj’s prose masterpiece “Lód”/”Ice”. His fascinating novel, scintillating with myriad brilliant dialogues, stretched somewhere between the world of Brzozowski and the realm of Dostoyevsky. Following in the footsteps of Philosopher Tadeusz Kotarbiński and his concept of “changing the past”, Jacek Dukaj narrates a New History.
The year is 1924. In the wake of the Tunguska event, the entire world is covered in Ice. The history has frozen. Strange ice formations known as Lute, angels of frost, appear all over the planet. Poland is still under Russian occupation. Somewhere far away, deep in Siberia Piłsudski is blowing trains up. The reality is simple: dualistic and highly polarised, the world is divided into two warring factions - conservative pro-frost liedniacy and progressive pro-thaw ottiepelnicy. And so Benedykt Gierosławski, the novel’s protagonist, philosopher, logician, mathematician, and notorious gambler, finds himself between these two opposing forces, as he is employed by the Ministry of Winter to go to Siberia with a view to finding his own father, who has been exiled there. Together, they are supposed to de-frost and de-ice the world.
We will join Gierosławski on his journey. We will be travelling the Trans-Siberian Railway, experiencing many dangerous adventures along the way. We will be witness to many lofty and weighty conversations in the vein of nineteenth-century Russian intellectual disputes.
Janusz Opryński
Tickets:
standard - 50 zloty
concession - 60 zloty
English translation (subtitles) is provided.