Łatwe Rzeczy
Teatr im. Stefana Jaracza w Olsztynie
DIRECTOR AND DRAMATURG: Anna Karasińska
CAST: Milena Gauer, Irena Telesz-Burczyk
PREMIERE: 2021
DURATION: 50 min.
DATES: 1 October | 19:00
VENUE: Arts Printing House, Black Hall
LANGUAGE: Polish with LT subtitles
N16
The presentation of the play in Lithuania is supported by:
“Easy Things” is an incredibly sensitive performance about women. What they are like on stage, in life, next to men, in public, and alone at home. How they see themselves, how they evaluate themselves, how they talk to themselves, how they look at each other. On stage, you’ll encounter two women from different generations, one of whom made history decades ago as the first woman in Poland to disrobe on stage. The text voiced by these women is unusually scarce, reverberating with repetitions, as if it were breathing with the viewer.
Artistic director of the festival
Kristina Savickienė
Being watched is part of the acting experience. Being seen happens on stage but also off stage, it happens to anyone and everyone. In a subtle way, whether and how we are seen sets the boundaries of who we become and what is possible for us.
In Easy Things, the protagonist is the body in the role – an actress in the theatre and a woman in the world, subjected to various oppressions of seeing, including self-oppression. Irena Telesz-Burczyk and Milena Gauer reconstruct the shapes of their bodies and fates created under the influence of different gazes.
The performance gradually moves out of the classical theatrical situation into a performative one and triumphantly restores subjectivity to the performers and their bodies, allowing them to be seen beyond objectifying schemes.
About the director:
Anna Karasinska is a Polish director of the middle generation, whose strength is the ability to speak sensitively, accurately, firmly about extremely fragile matters. Born and raised in Łódź, director simultaneously studied directing at the famous Łódź Film School and philosophy at the University of Łódź. Cinematography and philosophy always distinguish her works from others, as well as her creative methodology – she improvises with the actors, writes down the texts created while improvising and works with them until they turn into an essence, that actors can make part of their stage presence.
***
Anna Karasińska’s latest performance, „Easy Things”, like her previous ones, blurs the line between fiction and reality. It is minimalistic and precise – although open to improvisation.
Karasińska is not afraid of moments of silence.
Witold Mrozek, Dwutygodnic.com