“Flights” at the 27th Festival

On Thursday, 21 October, 2021 we had the opportunity of seeing “Flights”, directed by Michał Zadara.  The co-production of The Zygmunt Huebner Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw and Łaźnia Nowa Theatre in Cracow was based on the book “Bieguni” by Olga Tokarczuk. Thank you for this wonderful night!  

 „Flights” („Bieguni”) is a story about human necessity of being in a constant move. Members of the Orthodox sect who are patrons of the book believed that only resignation of a settled life would protect them from the evil. Is it really the only way of  confrontation with the surrounding world? Literally and metaphorically?  “When I embark on a journey, I disappear from maps. Nobody knows where I am. At the point of departure or at the point to which I travel? Is there something “in between” in between?” – says the book’s narrator.

Travelling takes place literally and psychologically. “The psychology of travel” seems to be at the very centre of attention travelling across real and legendary maps, real and imagined worlds, real and fictitious persons. And it is not important to reach the destination but to be on the move…

After the spectacle there was a meeting with its creators which was moderated by Tomasz Domagała. The director and the actors spoke about the challenges of Tokarczuk’s book. How to adapt the book for the theatre without losing the writer’s language, without changing a single word? How to adapt a piece of literature that has never been adapted for the theatre, a work everybody has his own image of? How the reader is confronted with this image? Michał Zadara told about his way to the adaptation that was born in time and on the way, on the move, during the journey.

 

The Zygmunt Huebner Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw and Łaźnia Nowa Theatre in Cracow
“Flights”
based on a book  “Bieguni” by Olga Tokarczuk
Directed by Michał Zadara
Adaptation: Michał Zadara, Barbara Wysocka
Stage design: Robert Rumas
Video – Artur Sienicki, Michał Zadara, Barbara Wysocka
Costumes – Julia Kornacka and Kornelia Dzikowska
Lighting directors: Piotr Pieczyński, Michał Zadara
Choreographic consultations: Tomasz Wygoda
Cast: Sylwia Achu, Arkadiusz Brykalski, Mamadou Góo Bâ, Wiktor Loga-Skarczewski, Karina Seweryn, Ewa Skibińska, Barbara Wysocka

Photo: Maciej Zakrzewski