„History of Violence” at the 26th Festival
What a very intensive Festival weekend that was! On Saturday and Sunday (15 and 16 February) we presented „History of Violence”, produced by the Aleksander Fredro Theatre in Gniezno.
The spectacle directed by Ewa Marciniak was the first Polish staging of the book by Édouard Louis – 27-year-old star of the young generation of French writers, one of the most-read authors on the Seine. The story is based on his autobiographical experience connected with violence he was the victim of. The main character returns home on a Christmas Eve night and in a Paris street meets a stranger – an immigrant. He invites the man to his home and there he becomes the victim of a violent act.
But the plot is only a pretext for a diagnosis of modern man condition. „History of Violence” reveals many dimensions of fear, prejudice, sympathy, reluctance, escaping loneliness and looking for love. The main character feels he has been excluded by society, by his family and friends; therefore at all costs he is looking for closeness. Getting more and more empathy and understanding he feels what it is like to be alone in a crowd. Being „a stranger” he tries to do his best to defend „the stranger” though he is his torturer. Whie defending „the stranger” he actually defends himself.
Łukasz Drewniak was a moderator during the meeting with the spectacle’s creators after the show. They all came to a conclusion that Édouard Louis is a voice of a young generation fighting with xenophobia and misogyny that are present, among others, in Michael Houellebecq’s works. But how can you interpret this attitude in the context of the final act when the play’s main character admits to his prejudice? What has driven him to this condition? Was it an act of violence on the part of the immigrant? Or was it showing off as well as the hypocrisy of the society that did not want to help him? The society that at all cost wanted to steal his story while concentrating on itself?
We invite you to take part in the following Festival performances!
