Teatr Czterech

concept: Justyna Oleksy + collective creation
performers and concept co-authors: Monika Ćma, Ewelina Dac, Elżbieta Dudź, Maciej Makosch, Katarzyna Mazurkiewicz, Anna Lorenc, Krzysztof Sztyliński, Magdalena Sztylińska, Lesław Zamaro
with the participation of Zespół Śpiewaczek Miejskich „Zdrada Osiedla”
guided tour of the exhibition (prelude to the performance): Justyna Oleksy
musical cooperation: Mateusz Rybicki, Marcin Zaremba, Agata Zemla
choreography: Magdalena Górnicka-Jottard
plasticity of the performance: Dominika Chochołowska-Bocian

PPA production: Grażyna Górka

“Gotta Admire The Prima Donna’s Nostrils” is a guided performance. The audience walks around as in a museum but follows a non-traditional and non-museum guide. It is the Theatre of Four, which, in the four locations of the Pavilion of the Four Domes, creates scenes closely related to the objects there. The starting points are the paintings and sculptures, the exhibition’s idea, the artists’ texts and their musical potential:

We begin with the motif of war, which was a kind of trigger for many artistic statements in the second half of the 20th century, and end with the Chat GPT in the context of an attempted conversation with Magdalena Abakanowicz’s ‘Crowd’ – in a context that also heralds war. In between, however, there is an ample visual and theatrical statement about abstraction: musically expressed and experimenting with words, as in the case of Tadeusz Brzozowski’s play, whose phrase became the title of the performance. We want to tell a story about individualism and individual sensibilities – in contrast to the social, unstable framework of present days, immersed both in the post-war era and the aggressive modern times.

fot. K. Gandecki (in the background, the sculpture by Magdalena Abakanowicz “Yellow Abakan from the collection of The National Museum in Wrocław – exhibition in the Four Domes Pavilion).

Direction and script: Kamil Przyboś
Music: Łukasz Matuszyk
Choreography: Maja Lewicka
Vocal preparation: Magdalena Zawartko
Costumes and set design: Damian Banasz

Cast
Natalia Banaś, Antoni Chudzik/Aartur Sezon, Anna Cielecka, Daria Englot, Maja Frejtag, Krzysztof Gogoj, Marika Klarman-Gisman, Jagoda Latuszkiewicz, Milena Libura, Wiktoria Łukowicz, Barbara Ubysz

PPA production: Grażyna Górka

“The House of Bernarda Alba” is a play by the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. In our performance, we want to address a range of social issues that, despite the passage of almost a century since the play was written, are still relevant and have become even more complicated. Through Lorca’s drama, we address issues such as religious fanaticism (its hypocrisy and consequences), social hypocrisy (only sharing one’s successes, hiding problems and pathologies), the dynamics of hierarchy (both social and domestic) and feminism (its power, but also its internal contradictions).

This last theme is explored very strongly in our show, as Lorca’s drama allows us to probe and question the complex nature of a woman, the role imposed by society in conflict with inner needs, the strong psyche contrasted with vulnerability, the clash between the expectations of others and one’s passions.

Our performance does not present a woman as a victim. We do not try to ride the wave of contemporary demonising of men. On the contrary, we show that women are capable of fighting for themselves and being independent and, on the other hand, that they are sometimes their own worst enemies or even their own oppressors.

fot. Milena Morawiec

Script, lyrics, direction: Rafał Pietrzak
Set design: Rafał Pietrzak, Kacper Scheffler
Costumes: Barbara Scheffler
Light design, projections: Kacper Scheffler
Music: Maria Kępisty, Rafał Pietrzak
Sound production: Wiktor Grzegorzewski
Production manager:: Barbara Scheffler
Light production : Kacper Scheffler
Sound production: Wiktor Grzegorzewski

Cast
Rafał Pietrzak, Katarzyna Pietruska (guest)

PPA production: Grażyna Górka

The performance explores the emotional dysfunction of men affected by the ACA syndrome, which describes adult children from alcoholic homes.
Speaking on his behalf, Rafał Pietrzak says that issues such as forming close partnerships, understanding one’s feelings, and self-esteem are often challenging terrain for those affected.
The play is a symbolic summary of three decades of life. It is an attempt to look at how much a grown man has of a child who did not have ample childhood when there was time for it.
“Children’s Day” includes songs from the album: “TrzecieDziecięciolecie” (“The Third Decade”) by Rafał Pietrzak with music by Maria Kępisty.

fot. Grzegorz Stadnik

script, dramaturgy: Robert Guła
direction: Julia Lizurek, Robert Guła

Cast
Hanka Wójciak (Renata – Capitol’s producer)
Robert Guła (Mezi – Capitol’s actor)
Sofia Herian (Tamara – cleaning lady)
Aleksander Kopański (Men aka John)
Magdalena Lamża (Lyricist)
Maja Różańska (Sara – Tamara’s daughter)
Anna Sitko (Joanna – Capitol’s actress)

Musicians: Adrianna Adka Kania, Adrianna Zborowska
Camera and vocal: Agata Maziarz

PPA production: Grażyna Górka

In this quasi-morality play about community, love, xenophobia and revenge, religious symbolism intertwines with the randomness of the protagonist’s fate.

Who is he: a wronged refugee, an outcast, a victim, a pretender, a mysterious seducer, a lover, a healer or perhaps the Messiah? Found in the foyer, he will transform the life of the Capitol Musical Theatre. His story is told through folk songs from around the world, led by the Slavic expression of the hurdy-gurdy.

graphics: Robert Guła in cooperation with AI

Direction and script coordination: Karol Bijata and Natalia Dudziak
Music direction: Natalia Dudziak
Script/preliminary staging: Artificial Intelligence
Music: Artificial Intelligence in coordination with: Szymon Kępczyński, Krystian Grzegorzewski, Bartosz Matuszewski.
Set design/graphics: Artificial Intelligence in coordination with Kacper Scheffler.
Visualizations/ mapping: Kacper Scheffler

Cast
Olga Mleczko, Jagoda Zimała, Michał Skiba, Dominika Banaszek, Katarzyna Gąsior, Zofia Kalisz, Klaudiusz Kawka
Special guest: Gugas

PPA production: Grażyna Górka

Aphex Twin, aka Richard D. James, released an album called “Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2” in 2015. The concept behind the album was to experiment with computer control of acoustic instruments to create abstract and unconventional sounds. James used the computer to control and modify traditional acoustic instruments, such as piano and drums, to create unique and often surreal sound compositions. This album exemplifies his experimental approach to electronic music. – It is a phrase written by ChatGPT during the creation of the material for the show and, in a way, a starting point. It also allows the artists to understand what happened in the project, where the written text escalated into a metaphysical dialogue between the AI and itself.

What can a dialogue with an artificial intelligence lead to when we ask it to write a stage text based on Aristotle’s “Poetics”? What happens when a human and an AI talk about this project? We have created a performance based on the decisions of the algorithms, in which every compositional aspect, i.e. the text structure, the imagery, and the musicality, comes directly from the artificial intelligence and its answers.

In this way, we become less the authors of the performance and more the coordinators and stage managers of the artificial intelligence.

fot. Marta Bratuś

script and direction: Katya Egorova, Tati Lemesheva, Henryk Mazurkiewicz
sand art: Alexandra Konofalskaya
lighting design: Daniel “QMAN” Kuźma
voices provided by: Jacek Zawadzki i Aleksandra Kugacz-Semerci
music: Bibianna Szokalska, Martyn Gill, Tati Lemesheva
recordings: Wojtek Dziedzicki
projections: Tati Lemesheva, Alina Vaneskehyan
video edition: Tati Lemesheva
street survey: Nadia Kościuk, Oliwia Stasiak
photos from the drone: Damian Piestrak

Cast: Katya Egorova, Tati Lemesheva, Henryk Mazurkiewicz, Maksymilian Stryjski

The performance features the covers of the following songs: „У мене немає дому” Один в каное, „Вернуться в Россию – стихами” R.A.SVET, „Месяц” Palina feat. Ketevan

PPA production: Grażyna Górka

Katya is Russian, Tati is Ukrainian, and Henryk is Belarusian. The audience is mainly Polish. Any audience member could have been on stage instead of the three of us, but all the fears have come true – we have taken the job away from you/them, too!

Our performance is an original and personal initiative, born out of a deep inner need to express – to whisper, cry, shout out – something important about ourselves and us, the Slavs. We have prepared a series of “amazing” scenes, situations, secrets, records, songs and opportunities to interact with the audience. It is a colourful and touching mosaic that gets to the heart of what is happening between our four nations. Therefore, even though we are going to “go overboard”, we will not, for a second, forget the message that each of us wants to convey through this unusual venture. Even if it is as simple as saying that it is a shame not to know anything about your neighbour and that even if you hate your government, you can still love your homeland.

We are talking about what is happening here and now, but we are aware that this here and now has its “before”, its roots and its premises. So, while addressing the most controversial issues, we try not to lapse into journalistic ad-hockery. It is possible because we use the “performance as research” method, and our work is also close to documentary theatre. Therefore, “Amazing Slavdom” should be seen as a report on the state of our private research. Nonetheless, we believe in the power of art, its unique language and how it affects the audience.

fot. Nadia Kościuk

 
Producers
Anastazja Sosnowska, Dariusz Jackowski, Igor Tymiński

Cast
Leading vocal, vocal, singing crystal bowls, death whistle, gongs:
Anastazja Sosnowska
Vocal: Julia Ciszewska, Karolina Hozer
Voice: Igor Tymiński
Electronics, jericho trumpet, lap still, suona, technical support: Dariusz Jackowski
Drums, arrangements, orchestrations: Przemysław Michalak
Trumpet: Michał Kurda
Trombone: Piotr Szczepanek
Baritone saxophone: Franciszek Hajduk
Violin: Agata Gołoś
Double bass: Mikołaj Główczyński
Keybord instruments: Adam Koziński
Dance: Paulina Bagińska, Julia Palasik, Dominika Brodzińska Bardzo dziękuje za pomoc. Pozdrawiam Anastazja Sosnowska

Technical support: Anita Jackowska, Dariusz Jackowski.

PPA production: Grażyna Górka

It is the story of a female protagonist and her adventures in a magical world that is fascinatingly similar to ours. The authors ask where the grim continuity of events and the feeling of powerlessness will end and whether the current civilisations of the world are growing spiritually. Are they even able to draw a positive balance? What will free our hearts from fear and indifference?
The authors tackle the issues of exclusion, pride, cruelty and the usurpation of rights for misdeeds. “Tales of the Heart” is a musical-visual performance, a total experience involving all the senses. It shocks and heals the soul at the same time.
The show is composed for a non-obvious ensemble in which we will hear a voice, singing, playing bowls, gongs, a death whistle, electronics, cello, Jericho trumpet and trombone. It combines jazz, folk, and hardcore with white voice and ethnic instruments.

fot. Maciej Botor

script and direction: Katarzyna Hora
music: Katarzyna Bem
set design, costumes, stage movement: Marta Wiśniewska
multimedia: Kacper Scheffler
promotional graphics: Magda Bremer
production: Teatr im. Stefana Batorego

Cast
Żaneta Górecka
Rafał Pietrzak

PPA production: Grażyna Górka

Oskar Kokoschka, the brilliant painter and avant-gardist, descends into despair or even death in his cellar. The unrequited feelings for Alma Mahler push him to the brink of madness. Like Frankenstein, he creates a life-size doll of Alma to distract himself from his longings.
What can happen between a mad creator and his creation, especially when one begins to lose and the other – to gain subjectivity?

“The Oskar Kokoschka Horror Show” is about relationships, about femininity and masculinity, about desire, the need to possess, and a relationship that turns violent.
All this is compressed into a gothic corset, spiced up with glam rock make-up and seasoned with interpretations of Oskar Kokoschka’s paintings in the form of quasi-theatrical short films.

fot. Magda Bremer

Sound dramaturgy, composition: Aleksandra Kotecka, Tomasz Wierzbowski
Visual dramaturgy: Monika Kotecka

PPA production: Grażyna Górka

hidden_intrusions is a project about fear, a creative dialogue between two artists, a meeting of different sensibilities, media and senses: the visual and the auditory, the eye and the ear.

The musical-artistic scholarship of the President of Wroclaw, “Intrusions”, is combined with the documentary essay “Hidden”. It is an immersive collage of human voice, archival material, recordings, and body sounds that works multi-channel to open up personal questions about the nature of fear.

Narratively, the performance encompasses several minutes spent by a woman in a bathroom – moments of intimate immersion in the anxiety which comes unexpectedly in surging waves. Somewhere between the submersion and the next breath, there is a constant chase of thoughts.

Musically, hidden_intrusions are loops and improvisations, overlapping levels, qualities and worlds that result in prayers, improvised mantras of anxiety: words and phrases that swirl around the head and return like waves. The musical dramaturgy is imbued with recordings and sound effects from the archives of the Educational Film Studio in Lodz, digitised for the first time for this project.

Visually, it is a game with the circulation of thoughts, built from the archival material of the Educational Film Studio: unique black and white photographs from educational films of the 1960s and 1970s combined with realised material. It is a record of emotional states with their transience, suspension, irrationality and lack of logic.
hidden_intrusions is a performance in which each element creates its own narrative. The viewer chooses which parts to connect and which to pay more attention to. In this way, guided by their own experience and sensitivity, they put together their own story of fear.

fot. Magda Kotecka
stills are from archival films from Wytwórnia Filmów Oświatowych

Script, direction, choreography, dramaturgy, video, costumes:
Fat and Dumb (Patrycja Kowańska/Dominika Knapik)
Music: Szymon Lechowicz
Light direction, technics: Wolfgang Macher

Cast
Fat and Dumb (Patrycja Kowańska/Dominika Knapik)
PPA production: Grażyna Górka

If you wake up in your 30s or 40s and nothing hurts, you’re dead. We may be roughly (or smoothly) healthy, but year after year, each of us at a different pace, we experience the passage of time first-hand every day. We live long enough to fall apart at some point. Our bodies are walking (or lying) stories of passing.

After “VERY FUNNY”, “VERY SAD” is the next direct encounter between Fat and Dumb. Previously, they created a bittersweet clownery with a Shakespearean twist, exploring the realities of life as active freelancers and their artistic friendship. Now, they invite the audience to journey deep into their bodies, plagued by a variety of physical and mental ailments. The artists will use a sit-up (a form of stand-up for people with back pain). They will talk about the more and less embarrassing effects of overwork and the natural ageing process. The performance will take the form of a performative epigram with musical elements. It will be eclectic, musical, trashy, sensual, sad, and happy.
As Maria Konopnicka used to say:
I have it checked and tried by myself,
Camomile’s best when you’re unwell.
fot. Magdalena Kasjaniuk