A talented director from the new generation in Poland, Krzysztof Warlikowski has brought to the theatre stage new questions posed by a society which is in upheaval, in shock and upset by profound change that is sometimes beyond control. As usual, with his own questions at the fore and the desire and need to expose what is personal, he and his crew, take us this time along the convoluted meanders of the mother-son link.
"Come back to life, my adored carcass, so that once again, just like when I was small, I can believe that you are invincible." That's Kroum's cry, the hero of Hanokh Levin, in front of the inert body of his mother. On that cry, Krzysztof Warlikowski builds his stage direction of this fable of a classic, published in 1975. Like a skilled jeweller who restores the brilliance to a diamond with his cutting and polishing techniques, the director takes us deep into this violent text, without concessions but full of devastating humour. The conflicting mother-son dialogue, the difficult man-woman relationship, the fear of disease and death, the frustrations of a life endured rather than chosen, the despair faced with a dead-end future, a family breaking-up, are all taken on by the actors who use each word, each gesture, each silence to weave a close bond with the audience and to take them around and about this human tragi-comedy. And when there's laughter, it doesn't come from finding the character on stage ridiculous or grotesque, but because we recognise ourselves in them: it is a laugh of complicity, of closeness, and camaraderie, not of distance. In keeping the play in contemporary Israel, Krzysztof Warlikowski demonstrates his faithfulness to the author's world, but in opening our imagination, he gives it an intense emotional and disturbing force.
Distribution
Stage direction Krzystzof Warlikowski
Cast Stanislawa Celinska, Malgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Miron Hakenbeck, Marek Kalita, Redbad Klynstra, Pawel Kruszelnicki, Zygmunt Malanowicz, Adam Nawojczyk, Maja Ostaszewska, Jacek Poniedzialek, Anna Radwan-Gancarczyk, Danuta Stenka
Polish Text Jacek Poniedzialek
Scenography and costumes Malgorzata Szczesniak
Music Pawel Mykietyn
Lighting Felice Ross
Film Pawel Lozinski
Assistant director Katarzyna Luszczyk
Production
Coproduction TR Warszawa (Varsovie), Teatr stary (Cracovie)
Avec le soutien de l'Onda pour les surtitres
Accueil au Festival avec l'aide du ministère de la Culture polonais
Texte français publié aux éditions Théâtrales sous le titre Kroum l'Ectoplasme