Energizing inauguration, „triumph” of agreement among people

It was a very, very energizing inauguration of the Festival! Long standing ovation, the National Stary (Old) Theatre actors encored several times, crowds of spectators and no room even in the aisles. „Triumph of the Will” by the duet Strzępka/Demirski with a big dose of optimism opened the 23rd edition of International Festival of Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant.

We started with the vernissage of the exhibition „Avantgarde Is a State of Mind” (curators – Magda Kulesza and Krzysztof Kelm). It presents artists who in different times (not only in the times of historical avantgarde) tried to break every existing structures not only in the field of art but also in reality. Hence among the presented artists are Antonin Artaud and Arthur Rimbaud, Georges Gurdjieff and Tatsumi Hijikata, Jerzy Grotowski and Miron Białoszewski.

„Triumph of the Will” is a play with an optimistic message, to a certain degree different from the critical theatre typical for Monika Strzępka and Paweł Demirski. Passengers who survived a plane crash are on an island in the middle of an ocean. They pretend to be characters who changed something in their real lives, who did something for the first time: the first woman who officially ran The Boston Marathon, a man who digged a tunnel under a hill with his hands for 22 years in order to get from his village to the hospital, a miner who dared to hitchhike in India, gays and lesbians who supported the miners’ strike in Great Britain. Each story is full of positive energy, each story contains a massage about faith in man. We may differ in our views, the colour of our skin may be different but we know one thing – the world will not exist without it, we do need each other.

After the show there was a meeting with its creators which was moderated by Aneta Kyzioł. The artists emphasized it was an important experience for them to prepare the performance because it was difficult to produce an optimistic, positive play which did not divide the spectators but helped to create a community. Paradoxically it can still be critical towards reality. Before the show Monika Strzępka said she was curious about the reaction of the Łódź audience which had an opinion to be a demanding one. The actors thanked the spectators for their reactions and reception. They emphasized the importance of the interaction with the spectators for „Triumph of the Will”.

Paweł Demirski

“Triumph of the Will”

Director: Monika Strzępka

Set design: Martyna Solecka

Costumes: Arek Ślesiński

Music: Stefan Wesołowski

Cast: Juliusz Chrząstowski, Marcin Czarnik, Monika Frajczyk, Michał Majnicz, Marta Nieradkiewicz, Dorota Pomykała, Anna Radwan, Dorota Segda, Małgorzata Zawadzka, Krzysztof Zawadzki, Krystian Durman, Adam Nawojczyk