„The Change” at „Teatralne podróże” festival
On Tuesday 25 November we will present „The Change” at „Teatralne podróże” („Theatrical Journeys”) festival for children and teenagers, organized by Zamość Cultural Centre. The play by Monika Czajkowska, directed (on a voluntary basis) by Ewa Pilawska, is the latest show in the „Child In a Situation” project and it takes up the subject of body changes and experiences of adolescence.
The festival’s programme includes six shows for young viewers at any age (from very young to teenagers) produced by professional theatres from all over the country. The organizers emphasize that „acceptance – of yourself, of otherness, of different beliefs, of physical or mental possibilities – is the main subject of all festival activities”.
„The Change”, directed on a voluntary basis by Ewa Pilawska, focuses on changes connected with adolescence – experiences young people encounter when their bodies begin to change. – We take up a topic of our relation with our body. Throughout all our lives we learn to accept our physicality, we try to get used to it and all the time we face it again and again. This process has been going through various stages and the adolescence period is one of the most difficult times in our life. Changes of physicality occur beside emotional and hormonal changes. Everybody has faced it or will face it. The changes are accompanied by a sense of shame and loneliness, generally we live through our change in isolation though in a hard confrontation with the outside world, the society where we function on a daily basis. Sometimes these confrontations has left us with a feeling of trauma for all our lives – Ewa Pilawska, director of Powszechny Theatre in Łódź, says.
„The Change” is the 15th presentation in the „Child In a Situation” educational and revitalization project, created by Ewa Pilawska. It consists of spectacles and workshops – which are an integral part of the project – dedicated to young viewers. The presentations take up various important and topical subjects (which are often passed over) such as homelessness, parents’ depression, internet hate, sexual initiation, transsexuality, violence or cyberviolence. Their goal is to show young people that theatre is a space for dialogue and for asking questions, where important and up-to-date topics are talked over, a place where various views and attitudes are confronted with each other. It gives young people space for discussion and for „being listened to”. It is also important that the project’s shows are based on modern Polish and world literature and they have never been produced on Polish stages before. „The Change” by Monika Czajkowska was specially commissioned and written for Powszechny Theatre in Łódź.
The festival presentation of „The Change” will be accompanied by workshops moderated by Małgorzata Kwiecińska. She is a teacher, art therapist, special educational needs teacher, ethicist, speech therapist and experienced educator. For years she has been working with young people (among others with special educational needs) as well as with adults conducting educational workshops in ecology, tolerance, psychology, cybersecurity and mediation.
Monika Czajkowska
„The Change”
Directed (on a voluntary basis) by Ewa Pilawska
Assistant to the director: Michał Lacheta
Stage design and costumes: Wojciech Stefaniak
Stage movement: Jarosław Staniek
Music: Magdalena Gajdzica
Cast: Marta Jarczewska, Małgorzata Goździk, Michał Lacheta, Kamil Suszczyk
with a special appearance by Jakub Kryształ
The first presentation of „The Change” was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage – Culture Promotion Fund, state-earmarked fund.
The first presentation of„The Change” was sponsored by AMCOR – the strategic partner of Powszechny Theatre in Łódź in the „Child In a Situation” project since its very beginning.
