Cząstki kobiety Pieces of a woman

Kata Wéber

  • Theatre
  • Show
The 2021 archive

Kornél Mundruczó

Warsaw / First time in France

When young Maja decides to go against family conventions to face the loss of her child alone, she becomes a true modern heroine.

Cząstki kobiety - Pieces of a woman, Kornél Mundruczó, 2021 © Christophe Raynaud de Lage / Festival d'Avignon

Presentation

Birth, death, child, mother, family... Pieces of a woman is a modern tragedy. A story—the loss of a newborn baby—which isn't exceptional in and of itself, but which in the telling becomes a special case. In the heart of the home where the girls grew up, the family sits at the table. The realism, familiar in its minutest details, hides underlying tensions that transform this normal Sunday lunch into a struggle. The struggle of a young woman who has to defend her most personal pain against her family's opinion and against the conventions they would have her follow in this ordeal she experiences in her own way. Can the loss of a child, a trauma as much personal as familial, lead to a clash of generations? How can one experience one's mourning when it is felt differently not only by one's loved ones but by society as a whole? Kornél Mundruczó doesn't judge nor does he resort to ironic detachment, choosing instead to present the drama's actions and actors as a neutral observer. Tackling a taboo subject, the Hungarian director, surrounded by Polish actors, shines a light on the qualities and strengths as much as on the flaws and weaknesses of men and women, exacerbated by a crisis situation. No one's good or wicked, the tragic situation turns the characters alternatively into heroes or antiheroes, cowards or champions. Humanity as it tries to survive the unspeakable.

Kata Wéber is a Hungarian screen and theater writer. After a prolific acting career, she dedicated herself to writing in theatre.  Together with Kornél Mundruczó they work as the tandem for film and stage creations. Her theatre works are among others: The Bat, Pieces of a Woman (TR Warszawa), Hotel Lucky Hole, Imitation of Life, Evolution. Their first English language movie “Pieces of a Woman” premiered at 77th Venice International Film Festival in 2020.

Distribution

With Dobromir Dymecki, Monika Frajczyk, Magdalena Kuta, Sebastian Pawlak, Marta Scislowicz, Justyna Wasilewska, Agnieszka Zulewska
And Łukasz Jara, Łukasz Winkowski (équipe de réalisation)

Text Kata Wéber
Translation Jolanta Jarmolowicz
Direction Kornél Mundruczó
Dramaturgy Soma Boronkay
Music Asher Goldschmidt
Stage design, costumes Monika Pormale
Lights Paulina Góral
Assistant direction Karolina Gebska
Assistant stage design, production Karolina Pająk
Assistant costumes Małgorzata Nowakowska
Simultaneous translation Patrycja Paszt
French translation Cécile Bocianowski 
English translation Artur Zapałowski  

Gereral stage management Katarzyna Gawryś-Rodriguez

Production

Production TR Warszawa
With the help of Institut Balassi (Warsaw)
Thanks to the Polish Institute in Brussels - Cultural Service of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Brussels

Practical infos

Pictures

Audiovisual

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