Director: Zoltán Balázs

On the 6th of October in 2022, the Jaracza Theater in Olsztyn presented Part II of Adam Mickiewicz's dramatic poem Forefathers’ Eve directed by Zoltán Balázs. The premiere of the performance, realized in a special concept, will be the opening event of the Via Carpatia All-Arts Festival held annually by the theater. The topicality of the premiere is enhanced by the 200th anniversary of the first two parts of the work of art, published in 1823, which the Polish literary and theatrical community will celebrate next year.

Mickiewicz's "reconstructional" work, consisting of fragments written in several parts, which received a truly definitive form through theatrical traditions, is constantly being rewritten. The poem, which is an inexhaustible source of inspiration, has already become an example of the truth inherent in art for many artists and a source of inspiration for expanding the boundaries of art. The Forefathers’ Eve is the actual starting point of the "mythology of the Polish theater". Wyspiański, Schiller, Kotlarczyk, Swinarski, Kantor, Grotowski, Warlikowski and Nekrošius also set the goal of integrating the content-form unity of the romantic work on stage. During the creation of their directorial vision, the biggest challenge for all of them was finding the right way to express themselves on stage. Grotowski concentrated on the moments of the rite, the possibilities inherent in Mickiewicz's text helped him to perfect the form of the avant-garde theatre. Schiller tried to bring to the surface the hidden mysticism of the dramatic text, and his monumental staging was characterized by the synthesis of various art forms. Kotlarczyk was interested in the image of a nation confessing its sins, Polish martyrology, Swinarski in the relationship between national history and myth. Three women dressed in folk costumes entered Warlikowski's Plexiglas and chrome stage...

Zoltán Balázs's direction is devoid of the messianic myth and the political thread, his adaptation of Forefathers’ Eve is another attempt to expand the stage and blur the boundaries between theater and reality. The head of the Maladype Theatre is interested in universal cosmology. His collective artwork focuses on the ceremonial motifs of the Forefathers, the creative energies of "untouched cultures", and the negative processes of the declining relationship between the living and the dead. His vision as a director emphasizes the values ​​of completeness through fragmentation and the "dance of death tailored to its phases". One of the main goals of the stage production, which stirs extraordinary energy, is to bring the "primordial theatricality" and the ancient imagination closer to today's spectators.

Players:

Olga Borys
Joanna Fertacz
Jakub Gola (g.a.)
Agnieszka Giza- Gradowska
Radoslaw Hebal
Cezary Ilczyna
Marcin Kiszluk
Alicja Kochańska
Marta Markowicz
Ewa Pałuska-Szozda
Barbara Prokopowicz
Kamil Rodek
Wojciech Rydzio
Agata Zielińska

Creators:

Dramaturg: Zoltán Balázs
Scenographer: Zoltán Balázs
Costume designer: Agata Uchman
Composer: Marcin Wawruk
Leader of choir: Malgorżata Wawruk
Movement: Zoltán Balázs
Lights: Jerzy Świtoń and Zoltán Balázs
Sound: Marek Kwadrans
Head pieces: Justyna Banasiak
Prints: Ola Czajor
Interpreter: Jolanta Jarmołowicz
Costume designer assistant: Justyna Korzonek
Director assistant: Agata Żuczkowska
Production assistant: Aurelia Poczopko
Creative producer: Huszár Sylvia

Premiere: 06. 10. 2022. Jaracza Theatre, Main Stage, Olsztyn, Poland

Duration: 90 minutes

Supporters: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Poland, Waclaw Felczak Polish-Hungarian Cooperation Institute, Liszt Institute Warsaw