„Once Upon a Long Day” at the 30th Festival

On Saturday and Sunday (6 and 7 April, 2024) the audience of the 30th edition of International Festival of Plays Pleasant nd Unpleasant could see „Once Upon a Long Day” produced by the Helena Modrzejewska National Stary (Old) Theatre in Cracow. The spectacle was directed by Flamish director Luk Perceval. The play by Eugene O’Neill („Long Day’s Journey into Night”) – for which he posthumously received Pulitzer Prize – is an in-depth study of a family that is destroyed by addiction, hypocrisy and lies. The family inferno grows together with mutual accusations and sense of guilt.

Before the pandemic Luk Perceval staged the play in Cologne; the National Stary Theatre’s production has been his new interpretation – he took it on because of his personal experiences and contact with somebody close to him who suffered from addiction. The creators „rewrote” the play from the beginning. They based upon the original texts and at the same time they improvised – in this way „Once Upon a Long Day” was born. The title (referring to the famous movie „Once Upon a Time in America”) also differs from the Polish translation title of O’Neill’s play.

The creators emphasized Perceval’s unique way of work and his methods of work with the body – in their opinion yoga sessions before the rehearsals let the actors and actresses get to the organic feeling of the body and their physicality. Roman Gancarczyk stressed that work with the Flamish director was one of the most interesting experiences in his career. Jacek Wakar and Jacek Cieślak who moderated the meeting with the spectacle’s creators underlined an unusual emotional contribution of the actors to their characters’ building – they mentioned here especially Małgorzata Zajączkowska. As one of the viewers said, she built her role in a holistic way – with word as well as movement which was an equally importamt element.

Stage designer Philip Buβmann told about his way to a minimalistic scenography. A white screen is not only a background of the family events’ projections but also a wall hiding family things that happen behind it and are kept out of sight. The actors said that though the work on the traumatic subject was hard, they felt satisfaction. – If the actors get a kick out of what they are doing, the audience feel it – said Gancarczyk.        

Below you can see our photorelation from the Saturday presentation.

 

The Helena Modrzejewska National Stary (Old) Theatre in Cracow
Based on “Long Day’s Journey into Night” by Eugene O’Neill
„Once Upon a Long Day”
Scenario: Luk Perceval
Directed by Luk Perceval
Dramaturgy by Roman Pawłowski
Stage design: Philip Buβmann
Costumes: Katharina Beth
Light director: Mark Van Denesse
Music: Wojciech Blecharz
Script translation: Karolina Bikont
Cast: Roman Gancarczyk, Paulina Kondrak, Mikołaj Kubacki, Łukasz Stawarczyk, Małgorzata Zawadzka

 

Photos Maciej Zakrzewski