„Threesome/Trzy” at the 31st Festival

With Polish national and sometimes trans and liberating rhythm of oberek Wojciech Grudziński queers the tradition and predominant narrative. He faces the legend of  famous Polish dancers. He tries to recover their carnality and sexuality, at the same trying to recover full identity of queer persons. On 12 April 2025 we saw the first presentation of „Threesome/Trzy”; the spectacle took part in the 31st International Festival of Plays Pleasant And Unpleasant.

In his spectacle/performance Grudziński refers to three outstanding Polish dancers: Stanisław Szymański, Wojciech Wiesiołłowski and Gerard Wilk. All of them lived in postwar, communist Poland. Two of them decided to emigate, one never took the decision. How have their bodies been remebered? How did they explain and express their sensitivity while appearing on the stage? How can we recover and embody those marginalized memoirs nowadays? How can we create a tamless, monstrous, illogical, physical archives of queer past without losing their unique character?      

During the meeting after the spectacle which was moderated by Aneta Kyzioł, Wojciech Grudziński (this year’s laureate of the Polityka weekly Passport Award) told about his work on „Threesome/Trzy” also in the international context – the spectacle has been a co-production of a Swiss festival and several European institions so that it could be intelligible not only to the viewers who know its Polish references. At the same time the artist emphasized that is was always important to him to reach for Polish or Eastern European references and confront them with Western audiences. That is why he chose Polish oberek.      

Grudziński also told about the two-part construction of his spectacle and its expression – in the first part he plays in a mask symbolizing a necessity of hiding your own identity, in the second part he takes if off and dances oberek without it.     

Thank you for the night! „Threesome/Trzy” will be presented again tonight. See you then!

 

„Threesome/Trzy”
Idea, choreography and performance by Wojciech Grudziński
Artistic collaboration: Igor Cardellini
Dramaturgic support: Joanna Ostrowska, Klaudia Hartung-Wójciak
Text: Klaudia Hartung-Wójciak
Artistic consultations: Miguel Angel Melgares
Video: Rafał Dominik
Costumes: Marta Szypulska
Light directing: Jacqueline Sobiszewski
Music: Lubomir Grzelak, Wojtek Blecharz
Produced by Wojciech Grudziński / Fundacja 910113
Co-produced by Nowy Theatre in Warsaw and Belluard Bollwerk
In co-operation with Cité Internationale des Arts, Frascati, Visegrad Artist Residency Program for Performing Arts, Centre National de la Sanse – Pantin i tghe City oif Warsaw

 

Photos Maciej Zakrzewski