Odyssey. A Story for Hollywood
Nowy Theatre in Warsaw
“Odyssey. A Story for Hollywood”
based on Homer’s “Odyssey” and “Chasing the King of Hearts” and “A Story for Hollywood” by Hanna Krall
Directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski
Stage design and costumes: Małgorzata Szczęśniak
Script: Krzysztof Warlikowski, Piotr Gruszczyński and Adam Radecki; collaboration: Szczepan Orłowski, Jacek Poniedziałek
Artistic collaboration: Claude Bardouil
Dramaturgy: Piotr Gruszczyński, collaboration: Anna Lewandowska
Music: Paweł Mykietyn
Lighting design: Felice Ross
Video and animations: Kamil Polak
Director of photography of the "Interrogation" scene: Paweł Edelman
Make-up and hairdresser: Monika Kaleta
Cast: Claude Bardouil, Mariusz Bonaszewski, Stanisław Brudny, Agata Buzek, Magdalena Cielecka, Andrzej Chyra, Ewa Dałkowska, Bartosz Gelner, Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak, Wojciech Kalarus, Marek Kalita, Zygmunt Malanowicz, Hiroaki Murakami, Maja Ostaszewska, Jaśmina Polak, Piotr Polak, Jacek Poniedziałek
Featuring in video: Maja Komorowska and Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda
Coproduction: Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand; Athens Epidaurus Festival, Athens; La Colline – théâtre national, Paris; Printemps des Comédiens, Montpellier, Schauspiel Stuttgart. “Odysseys. A Story for Hollywood” is part of the „Wandering in search of a home: the Ithaca project” cofinanced by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
The show takes us on a journey from Homer and his hero Odysseus to Hanna Krall and her heroine Izolda, a Jewish woman who spent the whole war besting challenges as hard as any Herculean task to save her husband. Two enormous conflicts: one connected with the first human war – the siege of Troy – the other being the outcome of World War II. And today – what does it all have to do with us? Where would we like to return to? What does our Hades look like now? Where are all our gods? Where is Pallas Athene, who sought to capture Odysseus’ heart? And where is the Holy Mother who protected Izolda? Have the gods also lost faith in the possibility of happy returns, seeing a future in which our world has set off on an irreversible course? We all live in fear, and while being alone we cannot do anything about it. We tame it by being flippant.
Homer celebrated Odysseus’ triumphs by referring to the songs of the wondering Aoyds. The story of Izolda who thinks her life would make a wonderful Hollywood film has been turned into “Chasing the King of Hearts”, a novel by Hanna Krall. And what about us being remembered? Is it worth bothering anyone with our stories?
Krzysztof Warlikowski crafts a panorama of unexpected analogies. He leads us on a journey of free associations through surprising landscapes and constellations of characters, testing our ability to take on another global human conflict, and at the same offering us a few tested-and-tried ways of surviving.
With English subtitles
Tickets
120 zloties, reduced: 90 zloties
The ticket holder is entitled to a coach journey from the seat of Powszechny Theatre in Łódź to Nowy Theatre in Warsaw and back. For more information – ask at the Powszechny Theatre Box Office and/or go to the Festival website.
Duration
240 minutes (one intermission)
When we play
