„The Last Days of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu” at the 30th Festival

On Wednesday, 20 March 2024, at the 30th International Festival of Plays Pleasant And Unpleasant we presented „The Last Days of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu” by Julia Holewińska, directed by Wojciech Faruga. The spectacle produced by Polski Theatre in Bydgoszcz tells the story of the twilight of the Romanian dictatorship; its fall was watched by the whole world.

The spectacle refers to the true history of the Ceauşescu family; it shows the fall of the dictatorship which claimed the right to set moral standards, to decide on life and death, to destroy a man who had the courage of independent thinking. It is also a story about hypocrisy of those in power who are concentrated on mythicizing their own image and do not imagine that the society are against them. Does the history of the dictatorship correspond to the present reality? What does it tell us about violence and power? Who is the modern Ceauşescu?

The meeting with the spectacle’s creators was moderated by Jacek Cieślak and Jacek Wakar. The artists talked about the process of creating the spectacle which is based on facts but is not a documentary. It is a theatrical interpretation of certain attitudes and positions which have been reflected in history. It is a spectacle about violence which has been present in a man and about his need to dominate.

The actors and actresses told about the process of getting to know the history of the Ceauşescu family and their vision of the country (programme of birth control, abortion ban, discrimination against homosexuals, displacing the presence of AIDS in Romania which led to enormous development of the disease), relations with the Soviet Union and honours coming from the West as well as creating the image of Elena – though she was uneducated, she received honorary degrees from many prestigious European universities.

Thank you for the meeting!    

 

„The Last Days of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu”
Polski Theatre in Bydgoszcz
Directed by Wojciech Faruga
Stage design, costumes and lights: Wojc
Music: Radosław Duda
Vocal preparation: Natalia Kawałek
Choreography: Bartłomiej Gąsior   
Produced by Bartłomiej Chmara, Daria Główczyńska and Magdalena Niedźwiecka Cast: Mirosław Guzowski, Damian Kwiatkowski, Karol Franek Nowiński, Michalina Rodak, Małgorzata Trofimiuk, Małgorzata Witkowska, Marcin Zawodziński

 

Photos Maciej Zakrzewski