HOMOSOVIETICUS or On the Origins of Our Present Condition, or the Still-Apt Description of Customs in the Times of Mikhail Zoshchenko
Written, directed and performed by: Wojciech Kowalski
Costume and Set Designer: Yola Nykowska
Music: Michał Pilarski
Inspired by Mikhail Zoshchenko’s work, the monodrama is based on his select satirical stories about the petty bourgeoisie and philistine citizens of Russia in the post-Revolution period. Songs performed to the accompaniment of the accordion contribute to the unique atmosphere of this stage adaptation.
If you decide on such a long title, you should know that the title will halfway change into your own interpretation of the performance. Hence the title actually becomes a review. I would prefer, of course, that Kowalski's show would rather be titled 'Kowalski', because such title would encompass both Homo Zoshchencus and Polish Everyman as well as our present time.
Łukasz Drewniak
KOBA/STALIN by Edvard Radzinsky
Performed by: Aleksandras Rubinovas
Directed by: Stanislovas Rubinovas
Stage Design: Sergejus Bocullo
This uncomplicated storyline about the whim of the all-powerful dictator who spared one of his old friends serves as a mirror for the era of communist tyranny imposed in the name of the good of humanity yet against people. Rubinovas revealed this truth once again with immense strength and artistic truth. It is probably his most mature performance in the one-actor theatre, a convincing proof of how stage performance can become mastery.
Tomasz Miłkowski
ŻERTWA (Burnt Offering) based on Zapluty karzeł reakcji (The Bespittled Dwarf of Reaction) by Piotr Woźniak with excerpts from Pan Tadeusz (Sir Thaddeus) and Śniła się zima (I Dreamed about a Winter) by Adam Mickiewicz
- Performed by: Mateusz Nowak
- Written by: Stanisław Miedziewski and Mateusz Nowak
- Directed by: Stanisław Miedziewski
- Make-Up: Agnieszka Adamczewska
- Audio Recordings: Konrad Biel
- Costume Designer: Magdalena Franczak
- Lighting Director: Marcin 'Kabat' Kowalczuk
- Sound Engineer: Łukasz Szulc
The performance evokes the time of Stalinist prisons in Poland. The protagonist of the story introduces today's recipients of history into a restricted-access world. This world has already become part of the national myth. How can we talk about people of that time whose fate should serve as a warning to us? By writing historical hagiographies? The Polish word “żertwa” means a burnt offering.
Project T1A: HISTORY is a series of stage performances in the form of one-actor theatre, devoted to the history of the twentieth century. Josef Stalin and Stalinist repressions, Margaret Thatcher, the Holocaust and Maria Curie Sklodowska are the characters and themes we want to introduce to the audience in Lublin through the art of monodrama – a full-fledged theatrical form which – due to its more intimate character – encourages a more profound experience of the content and story.
The project is co-financed from the funds of the National Centre for Culture Poland under the 2018 Culture Interventions Programme.