2014/2015 season – repertoire overview
2014/2015 season is a jubilee season for Powszechny Theatre for next year we will be celebrating our 70th anniversary. During this exceptional season we plan to have 14 previews – three of them on Big Stage and four – on Small Stage as well 7 previews of Reading Theatre for people with poor eyesight and blind. We will continue our initiatives, we will initiate two new educational projects. And, of course, we will have the 21st edition of International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant.
BIG STAGE
- Hotel Minister by Ray Cooney
Translation: Elżbieta Woźniak
Director: Giovanny Castellanos
Set design and costumes: Wojciech Stefaniak
A classic play by master of farce Ray Cooney in its new, contemporary version. A frantic story of a MP Richard Willey love manoeuvres with some political background.
- Song Factory by Maciej Wojtyszko and Maciej Karpiński (premiere)
Director: Maciej Wojtyszko
Set design: Allan Starski
Music: Jerzy Satanowski
Łódź, 1946. A local paper publishes an article on a new movie preparations – its creators Ludwik Starski and Leonard Buczkowski are looking for songs (both notes and lyrics) that were sung during the Nazi occupation. Song factory is a comedy about love, history, film city of Łódź and about the movie „Forbidden songs” („Zakazane piosenki”).
Taking the opportunity of the Theatre jubilee we want to honour three great artists who have been connected with our Theatre for 60 years and have built its history – Barbara Połomska, Janusz Kubicki and Michal Szewczyk. All of them will appear on stage in Song factory. Apart from outstanding theatrical performance they have also created many great film and television roles while working with Andrzej Munk, Aleksander Ford, Stanisław Bareja, Janusz Zaorski and Janusz Kondratiuk. The director of the Theatre would like to honour the artists by giving them their stars in Piotrkowska Street.
- Brunch by Juliusz Machulski (premiere)
Director: Michał Siegoczyński
The day of marriage ceremony is the happiest day in one’s life. Every girl, since her childhood, dreams of that day, of the guests, of the bridal gown, of the man who will lead her to the altar. But what will happen if these are not the most important decisions for her to be made before that day? The brunch that takes place in an elegant restaurant is the opportunity to inform the family of the engagement. It is also the opportunity to meet all family members and have some serious talks with them.
Brunch is another play by Juliusz Machulski (the others are Next-ex and My son brother’s mother) written specially for Powszechny Theatre in Łódź.
SMALL STAGE
- Stop motion (Stopklatka) by Malina Prześluga (premiere)
Director: Paweł Aigner
Set design: Magdalena Gajewska
This is a story of a young disabled boy, his passions, ambitions, love and rebellion. The author is a promising young playwright who has won may awards and distinctions, among others – of the 6th edition of Metafory Rzeczywistości, a competition dedicated to modern Polish drama, organized by Teatr Polski in Poznań.
- The School for Wives (L'École des femmes) by Molière
- Director, set design, costumes: Janusz Wiśniewski
The School for Wives (just like The Miser – L'Avare ou L'École du mensongeand The Hypocrite – Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur)is one of the most popular comedies by Molière. The play in which the author stigmatizes human nature vices belongs to European canon of drama. The unique production for Powszechny Theatre will be prepared by Janusz Wiśniewski – theatre director, designer, graphic and poster artist, creator of original plastic theatre.
- monodrama by Arkadiusz Wójcik (premiere)
Director: Mariusz Kiljan
- On Contemporary Mystic Women (Rzecz o współczesnych mistyczkach) by Anna Wakulik
Director: Katarzyna Kalwat
Religiousness, sexuality and a need for the absolute created one knot in the bodies and opinions of mystic women. At the same time they were the most emancipated women of their times. A modern mystic woman is a woman from the West who rejects atheism and life in a world where everything is allowed. Can the need for religiousness and spirituality may be a remedy for simple consumption and sex or can your own erotic experience lead to finding a sense of life – this is the most important question of the spectacle.
INITIATIVES
Teatr Powszechny will start two new initiatives within the framework of Theatrical education. Matinées in Powszechny means spectacles for our youngest spectators combined with art and theatre workshops. Its aim is to stimulate the participants‘ imagination through art games connected with theatre. The workshops will take place after every performance of „My Dad’s a Birdman“ and „Mr A‘ Amazing Maze Plays“. A group of children from children’s homes will be invited to take part in every spectacle and workshop.
Another initiative is dedicated to students. Together with Faculty of International and Political Studies of the University of Łódź, Powszechny Theatre organizes a course Open stage. Theatrical criticism in practice. Its aim is to prepare students to a conscious reception of a theatre performance as well as to show them the complexity of theatre art and the relations between parts of the performance: text, production, actor, scenery. The students will learn how to interpret the performance and how to write different types of critical articles. The course will be organized in a form of 30-hours seminar in the summer semester.
Teatr Powszechny will continue its previous initiatives: Spectacles for the unemployed, Spectacles for pensioners as well as Masters of Łódź theatre which started in May 2014.
In March 2015 we will present the 21st edition of International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant.
